The Culture of Faith

What is faith?

The best definition of faith I've ever heard goes like this:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

This definition of faith comes from the Bible...the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse one. Whether you consider yourself to be a religious person or not, you have faith in something. Everyone does. For example, if you own a car, how did you know it was going to start the last time you sat in it? There's no scientific formula you can point to that will ensure your car will start. You trust that, because it has started the past several hundred times you've gotten into it and turned the key, it will start again today. Another example...how did you know the sun would rise this morning? You didn't, but because the sun has risen every day for the past however many billions of years, you trust that it would rise again today. These are all things everyone must take by faith. You don't know how or why, but you just "know" that your car will start and the sun will rise. Faith.

What else does faith look like? Here's a recent story I heard that illustrates it quite well:

When [Jesus had] finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him. When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place."

Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for you to come to my house, even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. I'm a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; another, 'Come,' and he comes; my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.

How did this soldier know that Jesus would even respond to his request? How did he know Jesus could heal his servant? He had never even MET Jesus, let alone even seen him face to face! Yet somehow, he just "knew" that Jesus would respond and heal his servant. Faith.

Today, you have faith in something. I have faith in something. So often, my "faith" isn't really faith. I put my trust in the things I can control, in the things I can put my hands on, touch, manipulate and influence. I claim to have trust in God, but do I really believe that he is working FOR me and not AGAINST me, when I can't do anything to affect a situation? God has said in his word numerous times that we can trust him and he is working for our good. Isaiah 50:10 says:

Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

Imagine a group of people who have faith like that of the Roman soldier...a faith that amazes even the son of God! What kind of culture would they produce? What would it be like to be around people like that? Words that come to mind: Inspiring. Uplifting. Challenging. Encouraging. Amazing.

We've all got it. In 2010, let's take it higher than it ever has been before.

Faith.