{"id":54927,"date":"2025-09-19T16:56:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/personal-faith-put-to-the-test\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T09:38:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T07:38:00","slug":"personal-faith-put-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/en\/personal-faith-put-to-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Personal faith put to the test"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text text_lead=&#8221;yes&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;171321&#8243;]Personal faith is at the beginning of an evangelical understanding of faith. This article deals with some aspects of this idea. Apart from the positive, there are unfortunately also negative effects of such ideas. You should be able to talk about it openly.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;698938&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Is it all about &#8220;faith&#8221;?<\/h3>\n<p>Is everything in the Bible about &#8220;faith&#8221;? This is a very popular, evangelical view. What do you think? Is it about whether, what or how I believe? Is God dependent on my faith? Is that an issue?<\/p>\n<p>There is often a strong emphasis on personal faith. This faith should &#8220;save&#8221;, &#8220;liberate&#8221;, &#8220;lead to God&#8221;. With a strong emphasis, one cannot avoid exposing such a belief as a precondition and therefore as an achievement. Only those who &#8220;believe&#8221; will be &#8220;saved&#8221;. There is a causality. In comparison with the Bible, this seems problematic. Let&#8217;s think about it a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>Logically, many people question whether they believe &#8220;enough&#8221; or &#8220;right&#8221;. You often don&#8217;t know exactly. Uncertainty is the result. Faith is nevertheless required, but remains somewhat vague in nature. Faith degenerates into a performance that must be achieved and is measured by the degree of supposedly &#8220;correct faith&#8221;. With such ideas, however, God becomes uncertain, even unpredictable. Those who do not believe correctly are under pressure. Uncertainty is promoted and expressions such as &#8220;certainty of salvation&#8221; arise. Not because this should be a topic in the Bible, but because many people feel insecure.[\/vc_column_text][vc_button button_color=&#8221;accent&#8221; radius=&#8221;btn-round&#8221; border_animation=&#8221;btn-ripple-in&#8221; border_width=&#8221;0&#8243; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fkernbeisser.ch%2Fen%2Fcertainty-of-salvation%2F|title:Heilsgewissheit|target:_blank|&#8221; button_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;747395&#8243;]Heilsgewissheit[\/vc_button][vc_empty_space empty_h=&#8221;2&#8243;][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;174677&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Modern indulgence trade<\/h3>\n<p>When faith is stylized as the all-dominant characteristic of Christian identity, the result is something like a Christian indulgence trade. You make a deal with God. It looks like this: I believe and God saves. Everyone does their part. Faith is the currency with which you pay God. This leads to strange conclusions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Only he who believes will be saved (faith is the key to salvation)<\/li>\n<li>He who does not believe will not be saved (unfortunately God is powerless)<\/li>\n<li>My faith obliges God (He must, because I want to)<\/li>\n<li>Uncertainty is the result: Do I believe enough? Do I think so? (Assurance of salvation becomes an issue).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The problem is a skewed assessment of what faith is. Faith is seen as an achievement and a starting point. As a benefit, it is the payment for God saving me. As a starting point, faith is the beginning of God&#8217;s salvation. Without my faith, God is unfortunately powerless, according to some evangelical ideas. In the Bible, it is the other way around: faith is the consequence, not the prerequisite of good news.<\/p>\n<p>The starting point of the Bible always lies in what God does. This is also a typical starting point for the gospel that Paul proclaims. He speaks of grace because God has already done it before. Grace does not have to be earned. Grace is a gift. I can answer that with confidence. That is my belief then. The message did the trick. Grace leads to gratitude.[\/vc_column_text][vc_button button_color=&#8221;accent&#8221; radius=&#8221;btn-round&#8221; border_animation=&#8221;btn-ripple-in&#8221; border_width=&#8221;0&#8243; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fkernbeisser.ch%2Fen%2Fis-faith-an-achievement-that-i-have-to-make%2F|target:_blank|&#8221; button_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;133178&#8243;]Is faith an effort that I have to make?[\/vc_button][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;159850&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>The evangelical seduction<\/h3>\n<p>We read in the Bible about people who lived out their faith. They trusted God. They were confident and counted on God&#8217;s work. That is precious. The problem, however, lies in comparing your own everyday life with these individual testimonials. What individual people have experienced once or a few times in their lives must suddenly apply to all believers every day. That can&#8217;t go well. Faith becomes personal, which can be both good and questionable. Personal is good, but if God has to be experienced personally at every turn in life, you want something that is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. The more personal a belief is supposed to be, the more detached the understanding of faith tends to be.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Positive<br \/>\n<\/strong>&#8211; faith is indeed personal, because how could someone else believe for you?<br \/>\n&#8211; Of course you want to believe authentically.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Negative<br \/>\n<\/strong>&#8211; The more personal something has to be, the more oblique the belief.<br \/>\n&#8211; God can only work if people believe. God becomes dependent on man.<\/p>\n<p>A personal belief is often understood to mean that everything depends on the individual. Scripture tells us that God meets us with grace. It is a good message that brings about faith. In the evangelical self-image, it is often the other way around. First you have to believe in order to gain access to God&#8217;s grace. This reversal of the biblical message is the seduction of evangelicalism.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=&#8221;0&#8243; back_color=&#8221;color-731465&#8243; overlay_alpha=&#8221;50&#8243; gutter_size=&#8221;3&#8243; column_width_percent=&#8221;100&#8243; shift_y=&#8221;0&#8243; z_index=&#8221;0&#8243; content_parallax=&#8221;0&#8243; uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;711887&#8243; back_color_type=&#8221;uncode-palette&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;116025&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h4>Reversal of the biblical message<\/h4>\n<p>The evangelical seduction can be recognized by this reversal that takes place:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bible: God works &gt; that causes faith, trust and gratitude in me.<\/li>\n<li>Evangelical: People believe &gt; as a precondition for God to work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Manchmal ist es auch eine Mischung beider Komponenten. However, critical questions are appropriate: if a person&#8217;s faith determines their salvation, healing and the like, where does the power of healing lie? With God or with the people who &#8220;allow God to heal&#8221;? And conversely, if God really is God, why would he still need our consent or our pleading? Maybe then you will find some answers. However, none of these answers, as far as I have come across them, point to a &#8220;necessity&#8221; for our efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The attractiveness of evangelical ideas perhaps lies in the fact that great attention is paid to people, that people are placed at the center of everything. This is attractive for people who like to &#8220;do&#8221; something, who like to be &#8220;religious&#8221; or who are taken in by &#8220;magical thinking&#8221; (&#8220;God thinks, but man directs&#8221;). It is a seduction because God is no longer God and man can no longer be man.<\/p>\n<p>This criticism also applies when one speaks incessantly of &#8220;Jesus&#8221;, because that is the projection through which human effort must pass. In the Bible it is the other way around. The Father works through the Son, completely independent of our consent or effort. Recognizing the foundations of one&#8217;s own assumptions can be a key to a liberated faith. This is the case when we no longer rely on our own efforts, but on God&#8217;s efforts. That is what is called &#8220;radical&#8221;. The appreciation of grace begins there. Grace is the end of all our own efforts and the beginning of a clear trust in God.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243;][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;764485&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Personal faith<\/h3>\n<p>Striving for a personal faith is understandable, good and useful. However, if everything is made dependent on man&#8217;s faith, God&#8217;s omnipotence falls by the wayside. Nowhere in the Bible is faith a constant flight of fancy. We are not comparable to God. Anyone who always has to feel and sense faith, who constantly expects confirmation from heaven, is in a special state of intoxication.<\/p>\n<p>It is useful to listen carefully when people describe their experiences of faith. You can also hear their understanding of God in it. The understanding of God is often magical. It is the belief that if you just press the right buttons, God will do everything as you have imagined. Experiences or expectations of faith that conjure up an effect of God for everyday life can lead to invocation rituals. I have experienced this several times, for example in prayer at the bedside.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Anyone who always has to feel and sense faith, who constantly expects confirmation from heaven, is in a special state of intoxication.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Personal belief is not a formula for success. It merely means that you personally, i.e. yourself, believe. However, this is no guarantee that everything will (perhaps or certainly) go according to your own ideas. Personal faith is usually understood as a relationship. However, it is not a relationship that we as humans have with each other. For example, people think that God speaks through the Bible. We talk back through prayer. If we become silent in prayer, God should also be able to speak to us, but this speaking cannot be compared to an ordinary conversation. There are no special effects to confirm this. So what are the limits of personal faith? What are the limits of such relationships?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Personal belief is not a formula for success.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And if there are no special effects, is it still real? You should be allowed to ask that. This is not doubt, but an authentic confrontation with what moves you. Do we understand how we believe? Do we recognize what this means and does it explain to us how we imagine God, who can neither be seen nor heard?<\/p>\n<p>Personal faith is often intangible, inexplicable, inaudible and invisible. Spirit is also similar to the wind: you cannot see it, but you can hear it whistling through the leaves (John 3:8). So if something is not visible or audible and cannot be fully proven, this is no cause for concern. However, we should be allowed to ask how what we believe in actually happens. Perhaps, however, everyday life will not be all flights of fancy. There are also days with no wind. Does your theology and internalized image of faith offer room for this?[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;151707&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Belief is subjective<\/h3>\n<p>Everyone has their own faith before God, writes Paul (Rom 14:22). Faith is personal. Moreover, belief is highly subjective. Is that why Paul says that everyone can only keep their own faith and do so before God? Everyone stands alone before God with their own understanding, so to speak. Paul does not disapprove of personal faith, but neither does he deify it. Personal faith is just that: personal. We should therefore not judge others.<\/p>\n<p>One of the arguments against any ideas of faith is precisely the subjectivity of beliefs. You can only agree with him. Faith is not absolute. Faith is not a &#8220;thing&#8221;, but a verb. It&#8217;s something you do. People can &#8220;believe&#8221;. That&#8217;s why you can&#8217;t pin down &#8220;faith&#8221;. You can only nail down the content of faith. This can be described. Belief itself remains unaffected because it expresses an activity.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Faith is not absolute. Faith is not a &#8220;thing&#8221;, but a verb. It&#8217;s something you do. People can &#8220;believe&#8221;.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You can only travel with faith. Anyone who believes that faith is absolute is confusing their own trust with divine authority and the content of their faith with absolute truth. That&#8217;s where self-righteousness and arrogance begin. The claim to absoluteness of some contemporaries, regardless of their denomination, is perhaps just a way of concealing insecurity. Those who want to be right set themselves apart from others. The endeavor has nothing to do with &#8220;being able to believe&#8221;. Being able to believe is human. Belief is subjective because people can never be anything else.<\/p>\n<p>Subjectivity can be accepted, even if one is committed to the truth. You can be committed to the truth without possessing it. In an imperfect comparison: if you head for a lighthouse at night, you don&#8217;t own the lighthouse, but you use it to point the way.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;118590&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Instrumentalization of God<\/h3>\n<p>It is not uncommon for God to be instrumentalized for personal goals. You expect God to do certain things. That might sound like this: &#8220;If God saves, that&#8217;s just his job. My faith should trigger this.&#8221; Or you expect other things, such as that God should solve your life situation. In this way, one sits self-righteously on one&#8217;s own throne and God becomes subservient to man.<\/p>\n<p>Expectations of God are always insidious. He is not a wish fulfiller. He is God. Our expectations often lead us astray. It can be about salvation, healing, prosperity or something else. The person who thinks this way ultimately wants to determine what God should do. He sees himself as central. There are different varieties, but only one problem: Evangelical thinking is deeply anthropocentric (man is central). The consequences of such teachings are disturbing in two ways: God is humanized and man is deified.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Expectations of God are always insidious. He is not a wish fulfiller. He is God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In many ideas, faith is the precondition for salvation. This is not mentioned anywhere, but it dominates the evangelical narrative. One is based, for example, on the story of a prison guard who went down on his knees before Paul and Silas and said <em>&#8220;Sirs, what must I do to be saved?&#8221;<\/em> (Acts 16:30-31). Detached from the context, this is the evangelical understanding in one sentence. Here&#8217;s a question: What was the prison guard hoping to be saved from? Should he be saved &#8220;from&#8221; or &#8220;for&#8221; something? Why is he okay? We read that he &#8220;rejoiced that he had become a believer in God&#8221; (Acts 16:34). Is there more to the context?<\/p>\n<p>Because of an emphasis on personal faith in evangelical communities, one would expect similar statements on every page of the New Testament. But this is not the case. The topic of &#8220;faith&#8221; therefore seems to be overemphasized. This leads to derailments. The starting point is no longer a good news (&#8220;gospel&#8221;), but it begins with your and my faith. It is no longer &#8220;God works&#8221;, but it is about &#8220;my work&#8221;. These are not subtle differences, but grossly negligent changes.<\/p>\n<p>This criticism is not intended to be disrespectful. I am moved by the effects of such teachings on people. I keep hearing about states of anxiety that are caused and intensified by &#8220;doctrines of faith&#8221;. The effects of &#8220;you must believe&#8221; are often catastrophic. Theologically speaking, the emphasis on human achievement is a corruption of God&#8217;s grace.<\/p>\n<p>The core of grace is based on &#8220;It is finished&#8221; (John 19:30). This is the good news. It&#8217;s about God&#8217;s work, not my performance. It is not dependent on me. Mercy is therefore not cheap, but already paid for. Grace leads to faith. The reversal is the evangelical seduction. Grace is not granted on the basis of my faith, but grace is the gift with which God meets a person (Eph 2:8-9).<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;151666&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Individualism<\/h3>\n<p>The idea that faith is personal is understandable. The flip side is the term &#8220;individualism&#8221;. An emphasis on personal faith can obscure the fact that faith is also a communal experience. This is emphasized by the Roman Catholic Church, for example, or by the Orthodox faith communities. They cultivate community, from which faith can blossom. Evangelical circles are shaping the opposite path with their ideas. Personal faith leads to community.<\/p>\n<p>The Bible knows many communities. Think of Israel, of the church, of the family. When God speaks to Israel, he addresses the whole people, not just the super-pious. God deals with Israel as a whole. That&#8217;s how many other people understand it. They are part of a community, are part of a tradition and learn what faith means. I think this is a sober way in which the community has great value for the individual.<\/p>\n<p>Logically, these paths remain different. Because of the emphasis on individual decisions of faith, evangelical Christians often come into conflict with social developments. However, those who courageously and critically examine their own beliefs also gain a great deal of freedom and confidence in differentiating other issues.<\/p>\n<p>Individual beliefs, because they are and remain subjective, can also degenerate into special doctrines. The special nature of the experience takes center stage. This is accompanied by ideas such as &#8220;Jesus told me&#8221;, &#8220;the Lord showed me&#8221; and other special insights. Who is allowed to doubt these reports?<\/p>\n<p>This is precisely where many of the problems of individualistic ideas arise. Uncertainty can be concealed with special knowledge or with &#8220;God&#8217;s guidance&#8221;. They are almost &#8220;proof&#8221; that God has a special bond with you or me. Or is it?[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;987017&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Is faith a projection?<\/h3>\n<p>No one has ever seen God. When the Bible tells us that God speaks, we hear a &#8220;voice&#8221; but do not see God. God is spirit (John 4:24). Neither voice nor appearance can be determined by Geist. That is precisely why it is spirit. What we imagine God to be, how we experience him in the world, also remains hidden. We can perceive something &#8220;as from God&#8221;, but this remains our interpretation. It is not proof.<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s assume that someone says: &#8220;God has shown me&#8221;. What is meant by this? Is it about internal security? How was this achieved? Like a bolt from the blue? In prayer? After careful consideration? Through comparisons with biblical statements? In conversations with others? Or did God himself send a WhatsApp message? Questions about questions.<\/p>\n<p>Certain insights are recognized within Christian communities as &#8220;God&#8217;s promises&#8221;. This is a special context. Viewed soberly, these may be human insights, but they are accepted &#8220;as from God&#8221;. This is also possible. But what is the absolute truth? Can this be determined? Or are you learning and learning every day? The realization comes as part of the learning process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Here is an example: Many consider glossolalia, &#8220;speaking in tongues&#8221;, to be from God. That is an interpretation. Incomprehensible words do not automatically mean that this is what is written in the Bible. On the contrary, Paul emphasizes that it should be understandable at all times, i.e. that it must be translated in the church and that only a few are permitted to do so (1Cor 14:13; 1Cor 14:27). I have attended several services of charismatic groups in which almost everyone spoke in tongues at the same time. How would Paul have reacted? Glossolalia is not an exclusively Christian phenomenon. Shamanism and other religions are also familiar with these effects. There are also modern attempts to explain this phenomenon in an attempt to understand what is happening here.<\/p>\n<p>The point of this example lies in the interpretation. It is interpreted that the practice is &#8220;biblical&#8221;. That is the starting point. A comparison with 1 Corinthians 14, for example, immediately casts doubt on this. The practice deviates from the Bible. It takes a lot of projection to want to derive glossolalia from the Bible. There are also similar phenomena outside of Christian communities. An interpretation is therefore not &#8220;automatically Christian and correct&#8221;. Should speaking in tongues now be the most important sign of divine presence, as some still hold today?[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=&#8221;127805&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h3>Discovery of own claims<\/h3>\n<p>If you imagine that faith is a projection, that is not unbelief. You don&#8217;t question the experience. Instead, we question the internalized context and the claims derived from it. The projection arises from the internalized belief system that is linked to certain external characteristics. You think and formulate the context and then believe this claim. The interpretation explains what is right and speaks of real things, even if it cannot be proven. It becomes a world view. Of course, this fulfills various and very good functions. What kind of worldliness are you looking for yourself, why and for what purpose?<\/p>\n<p>Being able to believe seems to be a human ability. It is part of our humanity. What we believe and how we interpret it, on the other hand, is strongly dependent on personal decisions and the cultural context. One&#8217;s own religious community is also part of the cultural context. Beliefs are important, but they are human. If these ideas are considered to have divine authority and absolute truth, they are likely to be projections. It makes sense if you can perceive a projection as such, but without immediately evaluating it. Reflection may ask why this is the case, where it comes from and what it is intended to achieve. This teaches you to differentiate your own assessment.<\/p>\n<p>Projections do not have to be wrong. The distinction begins here: Confusing one&#8217;s own interpretation with absolute truth is suspicious. One&#8217;s &#8220;own interpretation&#8221; can also be recognized by a sentence such as &#8220;but it is written in the Bible&#8221;. Anyone who shifts the authority of an interpretation from themselves to the Bible is concealing their own projection. It is a sure sign that you have fallen for your own interpretation as the &#8220;absolute truth&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>You detach &#8220;belief&#8221; from &#8220;belief content&#8221;, in that &#8220;belief&#8221; comes from the verb &#8220;glauben&#8221;. The activity of &#8220;being able to believe&#8221; is different from the &#8220;content of faith&#8221;. If we succeed in differentiating this, it suddenly becomes clear that people all over the world believe, but have different beliefs. Being able to believe connects all people. But what they believe can be different.<\/p>\n<p>If you are aware of your own demands, you can better recognize how you have believed up to now and examine how you would like to believe in the future.<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space empty_h=&#8221;3&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"pld-like-dislike-wrap pld-template-1\">\r\n    <div class=\"pld-like-wrap  pld-common-wrap\">\r\n    <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"pld-like-trigger pld-like-dislike-trigger  \" title=\"\" data-post-id=\"54927\" data-trigger-type=\"like\" data-restriction=\"cookie\" data-already-liked=\"0\">\r\n                        <i class=\"fas fa-thumbs-up\"><\/i>\r\n                <\/a>\r\n    <span class=\"pld-like-count-wrap pld-count-wrap\">0    <\/span>\r\n<\/div><div class=\"pld-dislike-wrap  pld-common-wrap\">\r\n    <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"pld-dislike-trigger pld-like-dislike-trigger  \" title=\"\" data-post-id=\"54927\" data-trigger-type=\"dislike\" data-restriction=\"cookie\" data-already-liked=\"0\">\r\n                        <i class=\"fas fa-thumbs-down\"><\/i>\r\n                <\/a>\r\n    <span class=\"pld-dislike-count-wrap pld-count-wrap\">0<\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When your performance of faith determines everything<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":54918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[759],"tags":[670,593,700,560,692,748,594,562,567,760,570],"class_list":["post-54927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rethinking-faith","tag-church","tag-dispute","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-jesus-en","tag-jesus-christ","tag-lifestyle","tag-new-testament","tag-postevangelical","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Personal faith put to the test &#8226; 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