I had a wonderful opportunity to speak at a conference within the last year that caused me to recognize an interesting phenomenon. I was finding several adults who had made it their goal to learn more about the Catholic Faith. And yet, as they shared the real struggles of their lives, it became evident that while they knew the truth of Christ, they were not living their lives based on it.  

The knowledge was present, but there was no trust (faith) in it or God. I am finding plenty of Catholic adults who are finally engaging in educating themselves about the Faith. Personally, this gives me great hope. However, I believe we are falling short of the mark if we, those charged with forming disciples (that’s all of us), stop with just giving knowledge about our doctrine.

I believe that most of those who have achieved some level of spiritual maturity could give witness to the process of growing faith. It isn’t enough to simply know the truth. The real battle is in the transition of living one’s life based on the truth that Christ has revealed. It appears that many are satisfied with simply learning more stuff without ever entering the struggling of making it the substance of their lives.

Rappelling and Rock Climbing

Having taught high school students and adults on how to rappel and rock climb, one critical truth was absolutely evident. Every person in a dangerous and precarious situation cannot rest until they feel secure with whatever is holding onto them. In other words, I could instruct them on the equipment and its capability all day long, but only when they are hanging one hundred feet off the ground by that equipment will they come to believe that it will sustain their lives.

Applying this principle to the development of disciples, there is no substitute for leading people to those places where they must entrust their lives to God.  We can either enter that process of trusting God or we will find God putting us into them BECAUSE He wants to heal and grow our faith.

A great and common example is working for someone who is asking you to lie to and/or cheat a customer.  You know that this is wrong, but your fear of losing a job and the income justifies your doing what is wrong. Do we not believe that God knows that we are in this situation? Do we believe that God wants us to hold on to the truth and live it out in this instance?

We are quick to compromise, or are compromised, out of fear. Yet we were made for the truth. What is the value of truth if it is not lived? What is the value of salt if it has no taste or preservative abilities?

Training people in faith is very difficult because it takes much more effort and time to cultivate faith in the people participating in our programs.  So what do we do?

1. We will have to evangelize them – lead them to encounter Christ through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
2. Encourage them to draw close to the Holy Spirit and seek to listen to and obey the promptings of the Spirit.
3. Create opportunities (like small group ministry) where participants discuss not only what they understand of the truth presented, but share the struggle of applying it to their lives.

Without actual models of faithfully-lived lives,
people will only learn how to live fake-filled lives!