In his novels, John Updike portrays the spiritual bankruptcy of so many modern Americans who deceive themselves into thinking that disbelief is an intellectual achievement. In his book, “In The Beauty of the Lilies,” the major character ends his life in disbelief and Updike says when the character dies, “He slipped away as an unmoored boat on an outgoing tide.”
Interestingly, this character is a Presbyterian minister, Clarence Wilmot. Princeton-educated, he has all the right credentials but is lacking one essential one. Rather than depend on God’s Holy Spirit to lead him into the mysteries of faith and revelation, he falls prey to the temptation that comes to us all: he substituted MORALISM and RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY for a genuine encounter with God, a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. When God failed to answer his questions with the answers he expected, he began to lose faith. He takes the easy way out. He no longer raises the questions. He is relieved when he finally admits he no longer believes. He is comforted. He leaves the ministry and begins peddling encyclopedias to poor people who need better jobs more than they need facts. He has absolutely no passion for anything except for sex, which becomes a substitute for God.
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Dr. Julian M. Aldridge, Jr., Sermon: Asking the Right Questions!, November 8, 1998, Myers Park United Methodist Church