How Info-Centric Christianity Enables Doubt
When I talk with Christian doubters, I notice a theme running through their stories. I recognize it because it was part of my journey through doubt as well. Doubters can fixate on this question: what are the exact beliefs I need to have to be a Christian? They’ve internalized something I call “info-centric” salvation. Let me explain what I mean.
A Path to Spiritual Rock Bottom
Info-centric Christianity starts with churches boldly declaring, “All you need to do to be saved is believe.” And that, of course, is true. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved (Acts 16:31). But, sadly, in some churches, salvation through belief can be warped to mean, “Agreeing with our doctrinal statement is what makes you right with God.”
This pattern of thinking reveals itself in a church’s culture when the assumption is that those who go to our church are good Christians (except for a few bad apples) because we have proper doctrine. The assumption about other Christian traditions is a lot less charitable–it’s basically the exact opposite: “Maybe they have a few people who are good with God, but their Christianity is a distortion of God, Jesus, the Bible, and the truth! I mean, are [Insert Denomination or theological tradition] even real Christians?”
If that sounds familiar, info-centric salvation may have become part of your church culture. And this is why info-centric thinking is so troubling for doubters: they think, “If I’m saved by agreeing with proper doctrine, but now I’m doubting those doctrines… then am I even a Christian?” You see, doubting even one doctrine can mean doubting one's personal salvation.
Unfortunately, it gets worse for doubters. They have piles of tricky and nuanced questions about the Bible, God, Jesus, the church, heaven, hell, free will, and much more. While buried under the mountain of unanswered questions, they realize that they will never be educated enough to sort it all out. Who has time to become a philosopher, Bible scholar, historian, and scientist? So, the doubter becomes skeptical that there even are clear, trustworthy answers to be had!
At this point it’s tempting for the Christian leader to back-peddle a bit, “Christians don’t need perfect theology–after all, no one has perfect theology–but there are core teachings you must believe.” Unfortunately for a doubter, this comment only adds more questions to the pile. What are the essentials? Who decides? If you miss one “essential” do you go to hell? What am I allowed to get wrong? Again, what are the exact beliefs I need to have to be a Christian?
The info-centric doubter has come to believe being a “real Christian” means they must perfectly agree to an undetermined list of endlessly complex doctrines. Shortly after they accept this criteria for themselves, they become hopeless about their faith. Wouldn’t you?
A Way Forward in Faith
Thankfully, I think there is a way forward with faith, since info-centric Christianity does not make the best sense of how the Bible presents faith in Jesus.
In the second chapter of the book of James, he writes, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” I think James is being cheeky and making it clear that even if Satan could get an A+ on a doctrinal quiz that obviously wouldn’t make him right with God.
In Sacred Pathways, Gary Thomas addresses the info-centric problem by saying, “When we reduce all Christian worship to mere intellectual assent, we force Christians to worship God in a stunted and muted existence.” You see, the belief spoken of in the Bible means much more than belief as modern Christians tend to understand it. When we read the words faith, and believe and trust in the Bible, different things come to mind. Of the three, we tend to lock belief in our head, completely separating it from relational ideas like trusting someone. But we shouldn't! Often those three words–faith, believe, trust–are all translated from the same Greek root word, pistis. In the eyes of the New Testament writers, believe is an inherently relational term, the same way trust is.
We can see this in how Jesus talks about followers of his. He frames salvation in terms of relationship with him. “Do you know me? Are you known by me? Are you one of my sheep? Do you recognize my voice?” When Jesus says the crushing words “depart from me,” it’s because “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). So, read this familiar Bible verse with fresh eyes, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him [has faith in him, trusts in him] will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). When the New Testament talks about salvation through belief, it means something way more than ticking intellectual boxes. Being a believer in Jesus is inseparably linked to relationship with him.
Now, I want to be very clear. I’m not saying that doctrine doesn’t matter or that beliefs are irrelevant to our relationship with God. That certainly isn’t true. Since we can’t trust in something we don’t think is true and we can’t trust someone we don’t think is real, our beliefs dramatically shape our relationship with God. But the problem with info-centric Christianity is not in thinking intellectual assent matters. The problem is in thinking it’s all that matters, to the neglect of our encounter with the living God. The key question of salvation is, “Am I a child of God?” not, “Do I have perfect theology?”
While leaders may grow comfortable with discipleship meaning something like doctrinal education or biblical literacy, Jesus had that and much more in mind: a relational, side-by-side, ongoing encounter with him. For the sake of the students we serve, let’s begin to shift from a paradigm of info-centric salvation to a paradigm of relational encounter with God. Let’s confidently help students discern their relationships with God like the Apostle Paul did: “Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:15b-16).