On Faith, pt. 4

Faith according to Christianity

We now turn to faith as it relates to Christianity in particular.  That faith is central to Christianity and the Bible is clear.  The Bible says things such as, “The righteous will live by faith” (Rom. 1:17), faith “is of greater worth than gold” (1 Pet. 1:7), and even “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).  Jesus commands and commends faith.  “Have faith in God,” (Mark 11:22) he tells his disciples, and to the crowds, “Repent and believe” (Mark 1:15).  To some degree, faith of the Christian kind is just like the faith we find in everyday situations.  As with any faith, faith in the Christian God is faith in something we do not see and that cannot be proved.  Because of this, faith in the Christian God is risky.  A Christian can be confident in his/her beliefs and hopes but not certain.  But just like most faiths that people hold, Christian faith is not necessarily illogical but is usually accompanied by much evidence.  The nature of the evidence and the weight given to each piece of evidence varies from person to person, but no one makes a decision of this magnitude, no one chooses their worldview, without some evidence.  Finally, Christian faith shares a likeness with many other types of faith in that much of its evidence is relational.  Faith in the Christian God means trust in the goodness, faithfulness, and dependability of God Himself.  Let's work through this.

Christian faith has a relational component

Faith, as presented in Christianity, is relational.  The ideas and claims of Christianity are presented within a relational dynamic.  They pertain not just to morality or a way of life, but speak of how one can have a relationship with God.  Jesus, in addition to commanding faith, preached a message of obedience, trust, love and worship.  “Trust in God, trust also in me,” he tells his disciples in John 14:1.  And later on, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (John 14:23).  The claims of Christianity are inextricably linked with the ultimate source of those claims.  Biblical faith is much more than a cognitive, intellectual decision to agree with certain beliefs.  If that were all it were, the Bible’s commands for faith and belief would be empty.  Apart from a relational component, apart from the existence of a trustworthy source, a command for belief and faith is utterly ridiculous.  Unless there exists a trustworthy being or source, we arrive at faith by a weighing of the evidence and reason, not because of a command.  A command only makes sense in a relational dynamic.  

Faith in God as revealed in the Bible

Now, there may be debate about whether or not the God of the Bible exists in the first place.  If the participants in this debate do not permit the claims of the Bible to carry any weight or truthfulness-in other words-if faith in the Bible is not accepted into the debate, then the relational dynamic of Christian faith can hardly be spoken of.  In fact, I’m not sure if any significant aspect of Christian faith can be spoken of at this point.  Not because Christian faith is dependent on the Bible alone, but because Christian faith is dependent on the God who is revealed in the Bible.  Christian faith involves both believing in the Bible’s revelation of God and trusting in the God of the Bible.  Much could be said about this dual nature of Christian faith, but all I will say here is that the two work together and are less distinct then they seem.

Trust in God is the goal of the Christian faith

Once one comes to belief in the Biblical God, he is carried along not so much by his weighing of the evidence and reasoning at each and every point, but by his trust in the faithfulness of God.  Not that the weighing and reasoning don’t play a part, they’re just not the driving force.  Donald Miller, in his book Searching for God Knows What, says, “I realized the gospel of Jesus, I mean the essence of God’s message to mankind...wasn’t a series of ideas we had to agree with either; rather, it was an invitation, an invitation to know God” (14).   The journey towards Christian faith may begin by agreeing to certain beliefs about the world, its beginnings and purpose, but if it never gets beyond these cognitive assertions to a trust in God Himself, it never reaches Christian faith.  A true Christian must move past the point of agreeing to certain truths, and begin submitting to the Being behind those truths.  In conclusion, while firm belief in the validity of the objective truths of Christianity is critical, it is not the main concern or focus for the Christian.  The believer is more concerned with trust, obedience, and worship. This is the nature of Christian faith.  As the writer of Hebrews says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (12:2).

“There’s no arrival, but no denying

There’s something in you that is worth finding

There’s no completion with only reason

There’s no movement without believing

There’s more than these two eyes are seeing

By faith it’s finished, by faith we raise

By faith is every step alive…and this is how we rise

So a risk I will take and I’m letting it go

My need to be right and my fear of unknown

With a chance I’ll be wrong and a chance that I’ll fall

                          I’ll collapse in your arms, cause this is how we rise.”