The Nature of Faith

Do you remember when Indiana Jones was searching for the Holy Grail? He came upon a test, called the leap of faith. In order to reach the Holy Grail, he had to cross a huge gorge--which he knew was much too wide for any man to jump. And, as always with Indiana Jones, time was running out. He had to either trust in the notes left to him by those who went before and step into what appeared to be mid-air, or face death at the hands of his enemies and allow them to capture the artifact (which, supposedly, possessed the power to grant immortality). So, at the last moment, Indiana took the leap--he stepped into mid-air, fearing in his gut that he would plummet to an ugly death upon the rocks hundreds of meters below. But, to his great surprise, he didn't fall. He was standing on an invisible bridge--an optical illusion--a plank painted to resemble the opposite canyon wall. I often think of this scene when the subject of faith comes up, but I have to admit, I don't think of faith in this way. Faith was never intended to be a leap into the unknown. But before we discuss what faith is, here are some things faith is not:

• The effort to convince ourselves to believe in something we kind-of know isn't true. Why deceive myself? Why put on an act? If there is a God and if that God is all-powerful, loving and interested in me, wouldn't He also be able to communicate with me and reveal Himself to me? So, if I want to have a relationship with this God, why should I try to believe in Him before I know Who He is? Shouldn't I first ask Him to make Himself known to me? Shouldn't I humble myself to recognizing that He is more than a belief, but a Being and may have His own way to touch my heart? Shouldn't I seek out what He says about Himself in the Bible rather than follow rumors?


• A hope that when we die we'll be on the winning side. I can't imagine anything more frightening than going to my grave, hoping somehow I'd done enough good deeds to outweigh my bad deeds. If God really loves me, He would have provided a way for me to be absolutely sure about the condition of my soul--otherwise I'm simply living in fear.


• A strong desire for something to be true. No matter how you slice it, I simply can't convince myself to believe that my desires have any effect on reality. I can sit here for hours, concentrating on believing that a large bar of dark chocolate will magically appear, but, sadly, it never works. I'm certainly not willing to stake my soul's eternal condition on that kind of foolishness.


• The decision to follow a certain set of beliefs in exchange for some physical or spiritual pay-off. Some people follow a religion, including Christianity, to escape Hell, make it to Heaven, get blessings from God in this life, etc. However, genuine love for God is about desiring God Himself. God's desire is for us. He wants to be intimately involved in a love relationship with us. And while we should desire the good things this relationship brings, like peace, love, joy, forgiveness, etc., it's a fallacy to assume that knowing God is going to make our lives easier, wealthier, healthier, or free from suffering.


• The decision to follow a certain set of beliefs until they prove themselves false or useless and then to implement plan B. This is not faith; this is a trial run. There is nothing real about this kind of belief system. It's like a marriage that can only take place if there is a signed, iron-clad prenuptial agreement in place, surrounded by a team of beady-eyed lawyers. Not for me, thanks. I want something real.


• Aligning ourselves with a belief system in order to please someone else. As much as I love my mother or my husband or the people in my community, I'm not willing to stake my eternal soul on what they expect from me. I doubt that when I stand before God on the day of my death any of them will be there to put in a good word for me. No. If the truth really is out there, it's up to me to find it for myself. Once I'm dead, it will be too late, and relying on anyone else in the meantime is one risk I'm not willing to take.

Looking back over that list, I see that these ideas of the nature of faith are nothing more than self-deception, fear and foolishness.

So, what is faith?

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith is "being sure"? Faith is being "certain"? How can that be? You know, I've searched over 20 different translations of the Bible and didn't find the phrase "leap of faith" in any of them. In fact, I'm not even sure where that phrase originated or how it ever got applied to Christianity. Faith is not a leap! Faith is taking the hand of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

When I married my husband, that was not a leap of faith. It was the decision to continue and deepen the love relationship we had already begun. I didn't marry him for his money (which wasn't much). I didn't marry him so I would have security or a nice home or a father for my children. I married him for him. I wanted to be with him, to experience his love for me, and to express my love in return. I wanted to know him more deeply. I wanted us to share our dreams, our desires, and our lives. So, when I walked down the aisle, I was walking toward someone--not toward a belief or a cognitive process or a pay-off, though all of those were involved. I was walking toward him.

How does one describe falling in love? How does one calculate its value or plot the mysteries of love on a graph? How does one define the steps one must take to falling in love? We cannot. It is a mystery. And yet, I knew I was in love and I knew he was in love with me. My faith in him and in his love was not a leap, it was a secure knowledge and certainty. My faith in my husband was based in my intimate relationship with him--in knowing him. In fact, anything less would be rather barbaric. What would you say if I married my husband because I believed it would make me rich someday? What would you say if I married my husband because I sort-of hoped it would work out, but really believed it wouldn't. What would you say if I married my husband because my sister had assured me he was the right one for me? Obviously, none of these reasons is good enough to enter into that kind of binding relationship.

Yet, marriage is much less binding than death, is it not? What kind of relationship would it take to carry me through my final journey? It would take a deeply committed relationship to and with the only One Who has power over the grave--Jesus Christ.

So, how does one obtain this kind of faith? If it is falling in love, how does one go about falling in love with Jesus? Well, that's not something that can be defined exactly; however, if you were to hear of a wonderful person who you knew was deeply interested in knowing you, too, wouldn't you go out of your way to meet him or her? Wouldn't you read the letters they send you? Wouldn't you answer their emails and send them messages of your own?

God has given you all you need to learn about Him in nature, in the Bible, in the counsel of wise people--but He's willing to do more. He's willing to meet you exactly where you are, if you are willing to humble yourself enough to make yourself available. He's willing to speak to you and answer your questions, if you are willing to listen for His voice. He's willing to touch your heart, if you are willing to open yourself to His love.