Some people recommend avoiding a few topics during dinner conversations. Those to avoid tend to be politics and religion. I am not one to shy away from the importance that faith plays in our lives. Faith has become a vitally important area of my life.
Now, to start, let's lay out a few definitions of what faith is.
1. Faith is believing that something I cannot see is real.
Like Gravity.
I cannot see gravity, yet it is a very real force that still exists, whether I believe in it or not.
I could choose to try to ignore gravity exists since I cannot see it.
I could choose to walk off the edge of my roof, believing I will fly off to Neverland like Peter Pan. Yet gravity will take over, and I will plummet to the ground.
Faith is believing that something I cannot see is real.
2. Faith is like sitting in a chair.
When I sit in a chair, I do not spend time inspecting it closely. I do not test it with my hands to ensure it will hold me, before I sit and put all of my weight on it. I do not examine each leg to ensure someone has not sawn halfway through, which would allow the chair to buckle under me when I sit down.
I have faith that the chair will hold me.
Why?
It’s twofold: First, my past experience has taught me that most chairs I sit in will hold me up.
Second, my past experience has taught me that most people in my circle are not evil-hearted to saw a chair leg halfway through, just to see me fall on my butt when I sit down!
In both examples, faith is based on past events. It is based on the track record I have had with each thing.
Faith is like sitting in a chair, yet Faith is also this:
3. Faith is a deep belief inside of us that there is something more, something else, some other purpose or way of living that goes beyond the surface of what we see every day.
It is not something you can see, but it’s more of something you can feel. It’s a deep yearning and a deep knowing that you were made for something else, something more.
Some people say it’s simply our human ego wanting to be more important and significant than we actually are in the whole scope of the universe.
Yet I disagree.
If we let ourselves hear it, faith is calling us to a higher level of living.
There is a better way to live here on earth, a better way to think, to interact, to work, to behave.
Because of that unseen belief that arises from within us, I want to lay out one last definition of faith.
4. Faith is a way of seeing the world.
Because faith helps us connect with the purpose of life and how to live with others, it becomes our lens of how we see everything.
For me, my faith has become rooted and developed within the church. I know for many, that can mean a lot of different things, yet for me, it has become a grounding practice that keeps me rooted each week.
I attend a church with my family, where we plug in and get involved.
We host a small group in our home multiple times throughout the year.
I am on a team that helps organize a quarterly men’s event, and my wife is on a team that helps organize a quarterly women’s event.
We have fun, and we connect with others.
While doing this, we talk about what we feel God is speaking and teaching us.
This is my current experience! It fuels me in the other areas of life.
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Before we go deeper into the topic of faith, let's pause and ask a few questions.
How has your faith experience compare with these definitions?
As you look at your life through these definitions, what is your faith centered on?
I would love to know! As you reflect on these questions, would you be willing to leave your response below?
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