Faith
Not too long along we celebrated Easter. Naturally, that morning we talked about the resurrection with our students at church. While we have had some great conversations with our students lately, this was not one of them. Going off the assumption that the resurrection did indeed happen we asked them: so what? In other words, what does it mean for our lives today that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the grave 2,000 years ago. All we got were blank stares.
It wasn't that they were confused by the question, rather they had never really thought about it before. For them, and I think many of us, there seems to be this basic assumption that as Christians all we need to be concerned about the resurrection is that it happened. In other words, all we need is faith.
But this got me wondering....is that really what faith is? Or least, is that the type of faith we see in the bible, or the lives of the saints?
It has been my experience that more often than not when we as Christian say we have "faith" what we mean is that we agree that something happened or something is true. Faith = intellectual ascent. But if that is what "faith" is, and "faith" is what saves us, then how are we any different from the devil? Or to push that a little further, if faith is agreeing that something is true then why isn't the devil "saved" because Paul is pretty clear that even the devil and his angels know that Jesus rose from the grave and they "shudder".
Maybe faith is something more....maybe even something else entirely.
I think if we are really to have a biblical understanding of what faith really is we will see that it has very little to do with agreeing that something happened. Instead, I think we see it played out predominately in two very distinct ways.
First, the faith of the saints isn't passive, it's active and VERY much so. Their faith has fruits and if their faith isn't bearing fruit, i.e. if they are loving the unlovable, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, etc., then there is no faith. It's something you do, not an intellectual stance that you take.
Second, and more importantly, faith in the bible is worship. It's not simply the intellectual acknowledgment that "Jesus is Lord", it is life lived in a posture of worship. It is a life of death to self. A life lived on bended knee. A life entirely dependent upon God wherein the creation doesn't try to put itself in the place of the Creator. Faith is the position our lives take at the feet of God.
Looking back, it's really no surprise to me that our students had that dumbfounded look on their faces when we asked them what the resurrection meant for their lives. For them, and so many of us, faith simply means intellectual ascent. Maybe it's just me, but I think we need to do a much better job of teaching and understanding what it means to have "faith."
It wasn't that they were confused by the question, rather they had never really thought about it before. For them, and I think many of us, there seems to be this basic assumption that as Christians all we need to be concerned about the resurrection is that it happened. In other words, all we need is faith.
But this got me wondering....is that really what faith is? Or least, is that the type of faith we see in the bible, or the lives of the saints?
It has been my experience that more often than not when we as Christian say we have "faith" what we mean is that we agree that something happened or something is true. Faith = intellectual ascent. But if that is what "faith" is, and "faith" is what saves us, then how are we any different from the devil? Or to push that a little further, if faith is agreeing that something is true then why isn't the devil "saved" because Paul is pretty clear that even the devil and his angels know that Jesus rose from the grave and they "shudder".
Maybe faith is something more....maybe even something else entirely.
I think if we are really to have a biblical understanding of what faith really is we will see that it has very little to do with agreeing that something happened. Instead, I think we see it played out predominately in two very distinct ways.
First, the faith of the saints isn't passive, it's active and VERY much so. Their faith has fruits and if their faith isn't bearing fruit, i.e. if they are loving the unlovable, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, etc., then there is no faith. It's something you do, not an intellectual stance that you take.
Second, and more importantly, faith in the bible is worship. It's not simply the intellectual acknowledgment that "Jesus is Lord", it is life lived in a posture of worship. It is a life of death to self. A life lived on bended knee. A life entirely dependent upon God wherein the creation doesn't try to put itself in the place of the Creator. Faith is the position our lives take at the feet of God.
Looking back, it's really no surprise to me that our students had that dumbfounded look on their faces when we asked them what the resurrection meant for their lives. For them, and so many of us, faith simply means intellectual ascent. Maybe it's just me, but I think we need to do a much better job of teaching and understanding what it means to have "faith."
posted by Zack | 6:27 PM
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