Christians Are People Of Faith. What IS Faith?

Churches using the Revised Common Lectionary are in the midst of            lengthy scripture readings about faith.  Faith is one of those words we use without bothering to give it a clear definition yet with certainty that we know what it means.

The problem is that there is no ‘we’ in understanding what faith is. Each of us has our own more or less intuited understanding.  Moreover we’re likely to assume others have the same intuited understanding as we do.  It can lead to a lot of confusion.  For one thing just how much faith do we need?  Jesus said not much, only a little, faith no larger than a mustard seed.  With such a small amount of faith one can metaphorically move mountains.  Yes, but what kind of faith?  Faith in what?

I think understanding what faith means comes in two large categories, themselves not easily defined: belief and trust.  For example, belief that holding certain things to be true is the kind of faith one is supposed to have.  A popular example of that is the acceptance of Jesus as one’s personal lord and savior as the necessary statement of faith. Another example, for those of us who adhere to the Nicene Creed, is that accepting the doctrine of the Trinity, with Jesus as the eternally begotten word of God made flesh, is a required, if not sufficient, statement of faith.

The other broad category of trust is to simply trust God, God in Christ Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life.  Call it blind trust with eyes wide open.  It’s a leap of faith that many theologians talk about.  I’m a great fan of the Letter of James and think trust is the kind of faith he writes about.  With trust in God, one will do as God commands and follow where Jesus leads without having the need to satisfy a deeper understanding.  In fact, wrote James, one shows one’s trust by what one does in everyday life. 

The two kinds of faith are not mutually exclusive.  They are not the same but they always overlap in ill defined ways.  Maybe it’s that lack of definition that makes talk about faith so fuzzy.

Is everyone left on their own to come up with a comfortable balance of belief and trust about who God is, and what it is to be a Christian?   Does that mean each one is to discover for our faith through a preacher who claims you must believe or trust in such and such a way to be a Christian? I think not!  That’s the way of religious charlatans, and there are plenty of them around.

I think a more reliable way of understanding faith is to “trust” in the sloppy, messy, slow, process faithful council leaders outline for us. Through hard work, prayer, and led by the Holy Spirit, these leaders articulate a realm of belief and trust within which the Church, the body of Christ, can faithfully exist. It’s an ever changing realm because our ability to understand where God is leading us is ever changing.  It’s a process of godly trial and error – frustrating for those who want clear, definitive answers.

It is always provisional truth, which makes trust the more important element of faith.  Statements of belief must always be somewhat provisional because we are humans of limited ability to understand who God is and where God is leading us. We must always be willing to listen and learn.  God is not done speaking. 

I personally believe that statements of belief in the Nicene Creed draw a large enough circle to accommodate everyone.  But if the Creed proves to be inadequate, I trust God to lead us to a fuller understanding.

The coinage of the United States states that “In God We Trust.”  I wish that were true.  Maybe it will be some day when we can trust that a nation of “mixed races” is a good and valued thing, that God is at work among those who do not believe as we do, and that it is right to take seriously God’s admonitions to tend to social and economic justice for all persons, and creation itself.