When our faith becomes a fad

What is a fad? The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as 'an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived; a craze'. It is a temporary trend or idea that is popular for a while, and followed enthusiastically by people for the time that it is in vogue. Very quickly however it will be replaced by another trend and that which had previously been in fashion is discarded in a manner that belies its earlier popularity. We can see this on social media, in how people dress, in what music they listen to, and in many other things. People will go with what is in, and whenever it ceases to be so they will move on to the next trend.

The question we wish to ask is this; is it possible for our faith to become a fad? Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians warned them against being 'tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine'. Of those in Athens it was said that they 'spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing'. Whilst those whom Paul wrote to in Ephesus were believers, and those in Athens to whom he preached to were not, yet all could be susceptible to the same fault of looking for and following after new and fanciful teaching.

Conviction, belief or opinion

It can be said of any Christian witness that for the first generation of believers their faith will be a matter of conviction, for the second generation it will only be a belief and by the time of the third generation it will be nothing more than an opinion. They may openly proclaim the same faith, yet in reality their attachment to those truths is vastly different from the generations before them. Although this may be most apparent in the youth of the church, yet it can also be the case in older believers also. It is evident today that many professing Christians have fallen away from that position of conviction which their predecessors have held and are 'carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness'. Their faith has become at best a belief and at worst an opinion. In considering what the difference is between those three positions it is easiest to reject that of an opinion, for opinions are subjective to the desires and views of those holding them. One opinion can never be truly considered to be of greater value than another opinion. As such we should never consider our scriptural standards as opinions, for John 17:17 says that ‘thy word is truth'. The doctrines of the Bible are not opinions but God’s revealed truth, a truth that is absolute and unchangeable and what it teaches can never be considered on a par with other ‘truths’.