The Cotton-Candy Faith

Every year around Christmas, some Catholics like to anticipate miracles and epiphanies from Mother Mary or Jesus. You will often hear claims that the image of Jesus or Mother Mary was sighted. One said he sees the face of Jesus in the tortilla (a flat bread Hispanics enjoy) he baked. Another swore that the mosaic pattern in the freeway underpass resembles that of Jesus’ face. A few who work in a chocolate factory insisted that a chocolate they made is formed like Virgin Mary. These claims have often been followed by the enshrining of these objects and prayers being offered, hoping that miracles or healings might occur.

In response to that, the Diocese of the Catholic Church issued a statement to remind the Catholics to see the face of Jesus in the poor, the destitute, and the hungry, not in the tortilla, the chocolate, or the mosaic. How perceptive! How true!

>> Drawn to the Superficial

We are living at a time when instant gratification, personal desires, and materialism are prevalent. To appeal to the crowd, we are tempted to cater our messages to the success-driven and self-serving generation in order to get hold of their loyalty. The message of sacrifice, commitment, and discipline are often shunned, not only by the world naturally, but by some Christians intentionally. It gradually produces a generation who prefers the “cotton-candy faith” to the requirement of the disciples to take up the cross to follow Jesus. Like the cotton-candy, it is appealing, but not very filling. It can serve as a snack, but not the nutritious main dish which sustains life.

While there is nothing wrong with enjoying and seeking God’s blessings on the one hand and accepting the cost of following Jesus as a reality on the other hand, my fear is that it is overtly tilted towards the sweetened pinkish cotton.

Paul exhorted Timothy to watch out, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great numbers of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim 4: 3-4, NIV). This is a warning we should all heed today.

The pressure is mounting for those who want to remain faithful to their calling to seek alternative routes to draw crowds. After the crowd gathers, there is no substantial training to deepen their faith and strengthen their commitments. The crowd treads in the shallow water with no intention to advance to the challenge of the deep. No wonder Eugene Peterson laments that “We don’t know how to grow deep, so we grow big.” He was not blasting at impressive ministries indiscriminately, rather, he was pleading for us to create ministry with substance, which is able to stand up to the tests of time and pressure. You see, when you squeeze the cotton candy, it is reduced to a small chunk of sugar, but when you squeeze the solid food, it remains what it is-- solid food!

>> Stick to Your Calling

Paul further exhorts Timothy to stick to his calling: “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Tim 4: 5, NIV). There is no substitute for hard work, backbreaking labor, and due diligence in God’s ministry. Paul is exhorting us to serve with watchful eyes, looking for signs of troubles in the congregation. He wants Timothy to pay the high price of leadership, focus on the preaching of the Gospel, and be faithful in his responsibilities. Our faith must move beyond seeker-level attractions to committed followers of Jesus Christ.

Bubbles will burst, the air will leak, but those who deepen their faith in the Word of God will last.

Dr Albert Ting, Principal
Singapore Bible College