One view of Christian faith is that it is a very woo-woo, head-in-the-clouds, belief in something with no more reality than a child’s story. People tend to not be very attracted by that. I fully agree: I would never want to base any decision I made on such a thing, either. Luckily, that is not at all an accurate description of the kind of faith meant by Christians.

Everyday Faith

We rely on faith all the time in our everyday life.

• Each time we get into a car, we expect it to start.
  • When we pull out onto a road, we expect other drivers to (pretty much!) follow the same rules we do: stay on their side, stop when they are supposed to, don’t do donuts in the middle of traffic.
  • When we follow a map or a GPS, we expect that it is fairly accurate and has a high probability of getting us to the right destination.
• Each time we get on a plane, we expect it to take us safely to the correct destination, with our luggage (usually!).
• Each time we sit in a chair, or stand on a ladder, or cross a bridge, we expect it to hold up under our weight.

Every interaction with another person involves faith.

• We wouldn’t give the store clerk our money if we didn’t think they would record the payment honestly and put the money where it belongs.
  • And the clerk wouldn’t give us the product if they didn’t think that the money was real, or that the payment card was valid.
• We wouldn’t discuss something personal if we didn’t think our friend would respect our privacy and confidence.
• We wouldn’t go to the doctor if we didn’t think they had the knowledge and expertise to make us feel better.
• We wouldn’t make plans if we didn’t expect the other person to follow through and be there to meet us.
• We wouldn’t take a job if we didn’t expect to be treated well and paid accordingly.
  • And we wouldn’t get hired if we weren’t expected to show up and do a decent job.

For all of these expectations, and many more, we know that we are sometimes disappointed. Cars, planes, bridges, and people do sometimes fail. Still, we go with the odds, and trust ourselves to something that we can never be 100% sure of.

Biblical Faith

Faith in God is very similar, but also has distinctions.

• It is more important.
  • It trusts for not just a travel destination or a scheduled plan or a personal transaction. It trusts for a definition of reality, a worldview, a foundation for all other decisions. If I’m depending on God to be real, and on the Bible to be telling the truth about Him, having that let me down would be devastating.
  • On the other hand, if I am depending on something else for my foundation, and on God and the Bible to NOT be true, having my false foundation crumble when I see God face-to-face would be even more devastating!
• It has better odds.
  • God has provided extensive evidence, in creation and in history. People keep trying, but no one has really succeeded in proving Him wrong or false.
    • Every time someone says “Aha, got ‘im!”, there is another, more reasonable interpretation, or new evidence is found that disputes the “Aha”.
  • That remains true even though it involves some things that are beyond my comprehension

One thing it is not, is “blind”. God invented reason, and gave us minds with the capacity to think things through. He wants us to make use of that ability to find Him. He’s not far away; He wants to be found (Acts 17:24-31). His original followers used reasoned persuasion, not rhetoric or fake emotion, to make their points (2 Peter 1:16). He wants very clear-sighted followers.

In fact, to miss Him pretty much requires deliberately looking the other way, and then complaining that I don’t see Him, as Paul describes in Romans 1:18-22.

Meaningful Faith

Christian faith, like everyday faith, isn’t just a mental head game. I can say that I trust the car, but that is meaningless unless I actually get in, start the engine, and get moving. I can say that I trust the store, but that means nothing until I put my money where my mouth is. I can say that I “believe” in Jesus. Goodie! As James 2:19 says “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

When the Bible speaks of “faith” or “believe in”, it doesn’t mean simply accepting a fact to be true. The Greek word “pistis” has the connotation of “trust, cling to, rely on”. (See a couple of good word studies here and here.) My profession of faith in Jesus is empty until I actually put my weight onto Him.

That means not hedging my bets: It means giving up on any other explanation of reality or any other method of gaining God’s approval. It means not trying to be “good enough” — I can’t be — and fully relying on Jesus to cover me. It means not trying to mix that faith with other philosophies in a “belt-and-suspenders” approach. It means allegiance to Him at the expense of any ties that are in contradiction to Him.

It’s not always easy. I’m the type that wants to research and absolutely know the end before I start. Sorry, but that is God’s prerogative (Isaiah 46:10, Revelation 21:6/22:13), not mine. He has deliberately left room for me to continue to deny Him if I choose; He’s not forcibly holding my head and making me see Him.

But He has proven more reliable than my car, my doctor, or the other people in my life (although I have been more fortunate in that regard than many others). Of all the potential recipients for my faith, someone has to win; eventually I am allowed only one “final answer”.

He wins.