The Gap Between Faith and Humanity
Just think about your own gap for a moment, the distance between what you think you should believe about God—how to know and relate to him—and your actual life experience. Most likely, you’ve had to wrestle with toxic and shame-based views of yourself. You’ve begun to see that the faith you once knew has required (and encouraged) you to be less human—less passionate, less honest, less curious, less engaged with reality.
Challenges to Faith and Humanity in Modern Christianity
You wonder if Christianity can bear the weight of your humanity and the ones you love. You’re haunted by questions: Is there a place for me if I’m doubting? If I’m abused? If I’m queer? And why does it seem that in order to be more spiritual I must somehow become less than fully human? Can I ever be allowed to bring all parts of who I am?
You feel stuck in an in-between space. You can no longer accept what you inherited, but you don’t have a coherent way to move forward. You’re searching for an escape hatch, a treasure map, or a key to unlock the fullness of what your heart truly desires.
You’re not alone. Some have already walked away from the faith and claim it’s basically incompatible with who they are. Others remain in the faith but struggle to identify with the evangelical system in which they were raised. And some are in the faith but carrying brokenness that could never be addressed by their churches, pastors, and religious communities.
Calling for Reform: Voices of Change in Faith Communities
Increasingly, voices within the church are no longer willing to silence their own cries.
They are calling BS on power-hungry leaders. They are holding church pastors accountable for emotional, spiritual, psychological, or sexual abuse. They are throwing out purity culture. They are demanding that church institutions examine how they’ve contributed to abuse, oppression, and racism. They are interrogating the assumptions on which their faith was founded. They are questioning the idea of Christian celebrities, whose gifting and platform overshadow their immaturity, narcissism, and emotional baggage. They are challenging traditional roles of men and women, looking at cultural and historical influences. They are questioning patriarchy and empowering women. They are insisting that the church include LGBTQ+ persons and treat them with compassion. Some are questioning the authority of Scripture.
To you, and to all of us, I say: There’s another way. There’s a way of seeing the world, a way of being in the world, that touches the deep hunger in your soul and honors the grappling that life requires. That allows your soul to rest. That allows you to repair what’s wrong in the world and champion justice. That allows you to bring all of your parts and pieces, no matter how broken or unwieldy. That honors faith in God with honesty about what you experience.
A Way Forward: Integrating Faith and Humanity
There is a way forward based on the best of ancient spiritual practices alongside emerging knowledge and best practices from neuroscience, psychology, attachment theory, and human development. A way forward that not only closes the gap but brings together the truth of our experience and faith.
A different kind of delta.
Taken from Sacred Attachment by Michael John Cusick. ©2025 by Michael John Cusick. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
