Week 9 - Trust
This week in summary| Day 1 : Faith | James 1 |
| Day 2 : How Then Should We Live? | James 2 |
| Day 3 : Sight for the Blind | James 3 |
| Day 4 : Prepare | James 4 |
| Day 5 : Planning | James 5 |
| Day 1 : Faith | James 1 |
| Day 2 : How Then Should We Live? | James 2 |
| Day 3 : Sight for the Blind | James 3 |
| Day 4 : Prepare | James 4 |
| Day 5 : Planning | James 5 |
Faith, Believe and Trust come from the same word. The Bible uses these words interchangeably. Real faith is active. It is not a passive belief in a historic event nor is it an acknowledgement in the existence of God.
When Jesus says believe in God, he doesn't care about your opinion on the existence of God. He wants you to trust God in a way that makes you vulnerable to Him. How does trusting God make you vulnerable to God? How does it change the way you live?
Faith bears immense importance in the Bible considering the subject is brought up over 900 times. But its ultimate significance is not held in the sheer frequency of the word's occurrence. Rather, we find the importance of faith established in this: "without faith it's impossible to please God," and, "the righteous will live by faith" (Hebrews 11:6 and Habakkuk 2:4). With that level of importance attached to it, we should probably safeguard ourselves against misunderstanding what the Bible speaks of as "faith," for if we begin with a bad foundation, we'll end up with a towering monstrosity.
What most people think of as "faith" might not square with how the Bible describes faith. Frankly, when one looks at how the word "faith" is used in the totality of scripture, it becomes obvious that it means something far different from what many-including much of Christianity think it means.
In another article, we'll explore more about how-and possibly why-the word "faith" is misunderstood and wrongly defined. But for our discussion here, it will suffice to say that much of the world defines faith as believing blindly-a leap in the dark, so to speak. Nothing could be further from the truth. But let's explore a couple of popular verses.
"Now faith is the foundation of things being hoped for, the conviction of unseen realities." Hebrews 11:1 It doesn't mean that the Bible is here describing "blind faith" per the narrative of both popular Christianity and atheism. What the author is here conveying is a simple truth that is axiomatic to all of life: if you have hope for something, you must also have trust in the means of that hope. That trust that you have is the foundation for your hope. When you board a plane, your hope is that you reach your destiny. The foundation for that hope is your trust that you will get there. However, trust always has a reasonable foundation. Let that sink in.
Consider our airplane analogy for a moment. We have a reasonable trust in the technology because it has proven over and over that it is capable. But we still know that something along the way might fail. Anyone who refuses to fly is likely doing so out of what we might call an irrational fear-that the most unlikely of events will transpire and they will lose life or limb in some freak incident.
So then, we have these layers: hope is grounded in trust. Trust is grounded in good reason, which our current text doesn't mention because the author is only concerning himself, here, with establishing the nature of faith as the foundation and confidence for hope. He doesn't concern himself with the foundation for trust. The foundation for trust is proven character or reasonable and sufficient evidence. Does the Bible support that? Look at the Bereans in Acts 17:11. They were considered nobler because they checked Paul's assertions about how the life of Jesus lined up with scripture's portrait of the Messiah. There was discussion. There was thinking involved. "Test everything," Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:21). "Test the spirits," John wrote (1 John 4:1). Christianity is not a brainless endeavor, but neither is it a troll's playground for mere intellectual dopamine highs. There are some in this world who just want to argue and nothing more. Jesus said not to throw pearls before swine or give what is sacred to dogs. He was basically giving us leeway to not feed trolls (Matthew 7:6).
Well if Hebrews 11:1 doesn't teach blind faith, surely John 20:29 does! Jesus says, "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe." That, surely, is blind faith! Au contraire! Note that Jesus only pronounces a blessing on those who have not seen Him, His wounds, etc., and yet they believe. He wasn't pronouncing condemnation on those who want empirical evidence; otherwise, what of Thomas? Why is his faith journey displayed so prominently in John's gospel? The main theme of John's biography is faith in Jesus and Thomas's faith journey is highlighted as a beneficial example.
These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31
Again, this kind of trust isn't blind, but is a trust born of former foundations. In other words, because of a previously existing relationship, Thomas could have chosen to trust his companions. Again, His words don't exclude this blessing from people who want to do some investigating. He only means to express the smile on God's heart when He no longer needs to constantly go through the "A, B, C's" of what it means to trust Him. Just as no parent wants to constantly have to win his or her child's trust each and every painstaking time they need to rely on their child's trust in the situations that arise in life, so God also wants us to get to a point where we trust Him without Him having to go through all the proofs each and every time. This is the essence of having a mature relationship with God.
To be sure, there have been charlatans who have taken advantage of people's good trust in the Lord. History is replete enough with examples so as not to waste the reader's time. But just as bad news attracts more attention than good, the reader would do well to familiarize him- or herself with good examples from history of men and women of the faith who have not abused the privileges the Lord gave them, but actively worked to promote goodness, love, hope, and trust in God.
Not one of all the LORD's good promises to Israel failed; each one was fulfilled. Joshua 21:45
Knowing that faith, as scripture relates to it, is not blind...
Knowing that faith is simply trust, but not a blind trust...
And knowing that faith without action is dead (James 2:17)...
How does this change the way we live?
That's really the task of each person and each congregation in the Lord: to discuss with each other and to speak to the Lord in prayer and listen to His leading.
Some questions, then...
What ways do you as a person think or feel God calling you to trust Him?
Are there issues that have undermined your ability to trust? What are they, if any? (For example, does the Bible still appear too much like fairy tales to you? Or do you have a lifestyle you don't want to sacrifice-that is, it still "works" for you? Hint: "I dunno; I just can't" isn't an answer with which one should ever feel satisfied. That's like the religionist who says, "Don't think! Just believe!")
How might you begin to work through those issues? (For example, do a little more homework on the history, archaeology, and other background work on how the Bible came to be? Research your apparently harmless thing you do and think through long-term consequences? Dig deeper than "I dunno's?")
Do you understand that God knows and can accommodate the one who might simply say, "I believe. Help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24)?
What about corporately-as a community of believers? In what ways have we allowed the wrong understanding of faith to affect the power of our influence with others?
How shall we perpetuate a biblical definition of faith in a way that invites others to adopt it (Hint: sound bite responses work well, as long as they're truthful; is there a way to convey a confident, but not arrogant, correction to those who say, "Faith is blind")?
What does the world say about faith?
In preparation for this article, I posed a question to my social media wall asking what my readers' gutlevel, knee-jerk reaction to the word "faith" is. The respondents were a mixed bag of believers, former believers, and full-on atheists. What did they have to say?
Things like: Believing something you know isn't true. Belief in the unseen. Believing in what you can't touch or see. Hoping something is truth without substantiating evidence. Like faith in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Or the Tooth Fairy. It's what kids can cling to for the sake of building a sense of security. Trust. What you believe with your heart (brain optional?). Belief when there is no proof. A leap into the dark. Blind (and that's a bad thing).
Google offers these two suggestions: Faith is
1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something
2. Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof
It's interesting to note that the first definition is entirely correct, a Bible-believing person could get on board with it since that is faith as the Bible presents.
The second definition is entirely false and unbiblical because of the qualification "spiritual apprehension rather than proof." The first ascribes confidence to the foundation of that trust. The second one poisons the well; it leaves questions like, "what is this 'spiritual apprehension' of which you speak," and, "what do you mean by 'proof?'"
Perhaps the most insidious aspect to note about all of this is that both the unbelieving world and popular Christianity are founded on the second definition of faith.
1. What is your current knee-jerk reaction to the word "faith?"
2. In what ways does the "blind faith" definition play to the advantage of the unbelieving world?
3. In what ways does the "blind faith" definition play to the advantage of popular Christianity?
Identify 3 opportunities facing you right now that may advance your purpose and vision
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Identify 3 threats facing you right that hinder your purpose and vision
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| Strengths | Weaknesses | |
| Strengths - Opportunities | Weaknesses - Opportunities | |
|---|---|---|
Opportunities | Prayer: Plan: | Prayer: Plan: |
| Strengths - Threates | Weaknesses - Threats | |
Threats | Prayer: Plan: | Prayer: Plan: |