I spoke Sunday night at church on the topic of faith so since I put so much time into studying on that I felt like I had to get it out again so here goes...
What is faith? Better yet, what is the difference between pop culture faith and biblical faith?
Pop culture faith tells us that faith is characterized a blind leap, or leaping into the dark. It's also defined by some as the opposite of reason, and has been said that if you have evidence you cannot have faith. It's even considered by some to be blindly following a religion. Well that's not the biblical concept of faith.
The Christian definition of faith is based on evidence and reason. In 1 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." Well I for one don't believe that my faith is futile, and Paul doesn't mention that faith doesn't require evidence. Instead, he places the entire basis of Christianity on an event that can be tested by reason, evidence, and documentation. If Jesus did not rise from the read then Christianity is a lie. Biblical faith is not "blind" faith. It's an active faith based on the historical even of Christ's resurrection. Some people will argue that it can't be real because they didn't see it, well I wasn't there either. I also never saw George Washington in person but I believe, and have faith, that he was the first president of the United States of America. Why? Because it's been documented by men for years in historical books. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Again, I never saw Jesus on the cross, but I never saw George Washington either. And the word assurance is defined as "freedom from doubt; certainty about something". It's being sure of what we cannot see, and knowing that it's real.
Let's look back at a biblical story about faith from Exodus. It's one of the more well known stories where God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He chose Moses to lead the people to freedom but Moses did not have the faith to even to listen to what God said at first saying to him "What if they don't listen to me?" So God showed him his power by appearing to him in a burning bush, having him cast his staff on the ground and it turning into a snake, and having him place his hand in his cloak and removing it covered with leprosy. (Exodus Ch.3-4) He also showed himself through supernatural attacks on the Egyptians. He sent waves of plagues against them including frogs, gnats, flies, plagues on livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness for 3 days, and a plague on the firstborn. (Exodus Ch.7-11) He didn't have to do all those things just to get the Israelites freed. He did them "that they may know that there is a God in Israel", a phrase which is used at least 10 times from chapters 4-14. God didn't show up and tell the Israelites to just have faith and come with me into the desert, He gave them amazing signs. "And when the Israelites saw the might hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant." - Exodus 14:31 You see, in this story, the evidence came first and faith came as a result of seeing.
Another story of someone who needed evidence to believe came be found in the gospels after Jesus' resurrection. He has appeared to most of the disciples and to Mary Magdalene but Thomas was not present at the time. He did not have faith and doubted Jesus had risen saying "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Thomas wanted evidence before believing. A week or so later Jesus appeared to the disciples again, this time with Thomas present and he saw that Christ had risen. Jesus said to him "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
So what is "blind faith"? Well an example would be if I really want the new iPhone coming out and I just keep hoping and hoping that one day a new phone is going to show up at my house. One day I'm feeling good about my hope and stop by Best Buy to get a cover for my new phone. Well that my friends is blind faith. Or maybe I've at least signed up to win a free iPhone in an online contest or something. Well at least now I have a real "hope" of winning it but no guarantee or assurance that it will actually happen. "Blind faith" is like throwing a coin into a wishing well or making a wish on a shooting star, there's really no substance to it.
So what about evidence faith? Well let's say that I go online and order myself a new iPhone. Later on I get an e-mail saying "thank you for your purchase". A few days later I get an e-mail from FedEx with a tracking number and an expiration date. Well on that day I'm pretty excited and I check online and they tell me my phone is on the truck to be delivered. This may even happen to be a day that my wife is at home and she sends me a text letting me know the phone came in. So now when I get off work, I'm feeling pretty confident that my phone is going to be at home when I get there so obviously I have stop by Best Buy to get that cool new cover today. Well I've got faith that the phone came in simply because I have evidence...I still haven't seen it yet. That's the biblical concept of faith, having evidence, that leads to knowledge, which gives you assurance of things you cannot see. Sound like Hebrews 11:1 faith?
In conclusion, "blind faith" is more like wishing on a star whereas biblical faith is more like tracking a package.
What is faith? Better yet, what is the difference between pop culture faith and biblical faith?
Pop culture faith tells us that faith is characterized a blind leap, or leaping into the dark. It's also defined by some as the opposite of reason, and has been said that if you have evidence you cannot have faith. It's even considered by some to be blindly following a religion. Well that's not the biblical concept of faith.
The Christian definition of faith is based on evidence and reason. In 1 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." Well I for one don't believe that my faith is futile, and Paul doesn't mention that faith doesn't require evidence. Instead, he places the entire basis of Christianity on an event that can be tested by reason, evidence, and documentation. If Jesus did not rise from the read then Christianity is a lie. Biblical faith is not "blind" faith. It's an active faith based on the historical even of Christ's resurrection. Some people will argue that it can't be real because they didn't see it, well I wasn't there either. I also never saw George Washington in person but I believe, and have faith, that he was the first president of the United States of America. Why? Because it's been documented by men for years in historical books. Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Again, I never saw Jesus on the cross, but I never saw George Washington either. And the word assurance is defined as "freedom from doubt; certainty about something". It's being sure of what we cannot see, and knowing that it's real.
Let's look back at a biblical story about faith from Exodus. It's one of the more well known stories where God freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He chose Moses to lead the people to freedom but Moses did not have the faith to even to listen to what God said at first saying to him "What if they don't listen to me?" So God showed him his power by appearing to him in a burning bush, having him cast his staff on the ground and it turning into a snake, and having him place his hand in his cloak and removing it covered with leprosy. (Exodus Ch.3-4) He also showed himself through supernatural attacks on the Egyptians. He sent waves of plagues against them including frogs, gnats, flies, plagues on livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness for 3 days, and a plague on the firstborn. (Exodus Ch.7-11) He didn't have to do all those things just to get the Israelites freed. He did them "that they may know that there is a God in Israel", a phrase which is used at least 10 times from chapters 4-14. God didn't show up and tell the Israelites to just have faith and come with me into the desert, He gave them amazing signs. "And when the Israelites saw the might hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses his servant." - Exodus 14:31 You see, in this story, the evidence came first and faith came as a result of seeing.
Another story of someone who needed evidence to believe came be found in the gospels after Jesus' resurrection. He has appeared to most of the disciples and to Mary Magdalene but Thomas was not present at the time. He did not have faith and doubted Jesus had risen saying "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Thomas wanted evidence before believing. A week or so later Jesus appeared to the disciples again, this time with Thomas present and he saw that Christ had risen. Jesus said to him "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
So what is "blind faith"? Well an example would be if I really want the new iPhone coming out and I just keep hoping and hoping that one day a new phone is going to show up at my house. One day I'm feeling good about my hope and stop by Best Buy to get a cover for my new phone. Well that my friends is blind faith. Or maybe I've at least signed up to win a free iPhone in an online contest or something. Well at least now I have a real "hope" of winning it but no guarantee or assurance that it will actually happen. "Blind faith" is like throwing a coin into a wishing well or making a wish on a shooting star, there's really no substance to it.
So what about evidence faith? Well let's say that I go online and order myself a new iPhone. Later on I get an e-mail saying "thank you for your purchase". A few days later I get an e-mail from FedEx with a tracking number and an expiration date. Well on that day I'm pretty excited and I check online and they tell me my phone is on the truck to be delivered. This may even happen to be a day that my wife is at home and she sends me a text letting me know the phone came in. So now when I get off work, I'm feeling pretty confident that my phone is going to be at home when I get there so obviously I have stop by Best Buy to get that cool new cover today. Well I've got faith that the phone came in simply because I have evidence...I still haven't seen it yet. That's the biblical concept of faith, having evidence, that leads to knowledge, which gives you assurance of things you cannot see. Sound like Hebrews 11:1 faith?
In conclusion, "blind faith" is more like wishing on a star whereas biblical faith is more like tracking a package.
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