You Gotta Have Faith...and a Mind

"Oh you of little faith..."

Often we think of faith as taking a blind step in jumping off a cliff, hoping that Jesus is there to catch us. But this is not what faith is.

Faith is not the first step, rather it is the culminating step in our belief system.
We start from ignorance, and then gain knowledge. This knowledge allows us to believe and with this belief we learn to trust that belief, and we find hope in what we trust. This hope brings us to faith, which is the assurance of things we have hoped for (Hebrews 11).

As Dr. Tackett says, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"

I've always disliked the popular Christian statement which says, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship." This is a dangerous belief because only half of it is true. Christianity is more than a personal, buddy-buddy relationship with Christ. God is the divine, sovereign ruler of the universe. It is not composed solely of heart knowledge, for emotions are fleeting. If we let all our emotions have full control, they will fail us. Rather it is a bonding of the head knowledge with our heart, in that we are assured by what we know that it transforms into our heart. In Biblical language, the word "heart" was often used to describe the mind. Let us not forsake the mind that God has given us. As C.S. Lewis said in The Abolition of Man, "The heart never takes the place of the head but should be committed to it."

It is easy to think of the dangers of having only head knowledge, but we often forget the dangers of only having heart knowledge. Basing our faith only on our gut feelings may produce a faith that is purely subjective of our own needs and desires. If something does not feel relevant to us, are we quick to dismiss it, feeling as if it is not true? Also, if we don't "feel" God, does it mean that he is not near?

Don't be afraid to think.

Toodles,
Me