The Fabric of Our Faith

A number of years ago I worked in the men’s clothing section of a large department store.   I was not there long but I did learn a few things about the garment business. One key thing I learned was about the quality of various fabrics. Fabrics are the basic textile materials out of which various garments are made.  Some garments are made of wool fabric, some are all cotton, others are silk, etc. Many are made of synthetic fabrics. Many fabrics these days are actually combinations of various textiles woven together to improve fabric durability and color combinations.

The Christian worldview is something like that. It is a combination of philosophical concepts, doctrines, and moral values all woven together to form a fabric of belief and way of perceiving the nature of reality.  The same is true of other world religions, but they utilize entirely different materials for weaving their worldviews. So, the question becomes which is the most durable and conforms best to the nature of how the universe actually exists? Our contention is that only the Theistic Worldview, and the Christian Worldview in particular, that explains reality as it is.

We must be careful, however, because there are counterfeit fabrics people try to pass off as the real thing.  If you ever visit New York City you will see on many street corners venders selling name-brand merchandise at rock bottom prices. Expensive looking watches, wallets, purses, jewelry, jackets, shoes, DVDs, etc. are available right on the sidewalks. The problem, of course, is that they are all knock-offs. That is, they are counterfeits that look almost exactly like the real things. However, if you carefully examine the fabrics and materials used in their manufacture you will find they are cheap imitations of poor quality. But, as they say, you get what you pay for.

The same is true for faith. There is only one authentic Christian faith.  No, I don’t mean one true denomination. The “faith once for all delivered” (Jude 1:3) is found in many denominational and nondenominational churches around the world. They preach the Gospel and teach the Bible. Nonetheless, counterfeit movements deceive people to accept faiths made of false and corrupt fabrics.  As church leaders we need to better educate our people to know the truth and to recognize counterfeits they may encounter. They need to know the fabric of our faith.