So last night at our Tuesday Night Gathering we talked about faith? Hebrews 11- the Hall of Fame of faith. But how do you really define faith? It would be easy to quote the author of Hebrews and say, “it’s being sure of what you hope for and certain of what is unseen.” But what does that even mean? That’s easy to quote, but hard to put action behind.
We landed on a couple of different analogies- faith is hope in action. It’s more than just memorizing information about God, it’s being transformed BY God. Not having faith is like being a chef who has memorized a cook book but never actually cooked anything, what a waste! Not having faith is like creating an amazing chair but never putting your weight on it and letting it hold you. HAVING faith is like looking at a “magic eye” poster and “getting it”. Even if the world around you can’t see the picture, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you see it.
That’s how it is with Christ. Even when the world around you says they don’t understand, having faith is being certain of who Jesus is! Having faith is being sure that God is who he says he is and he’s going to do what he says he’s going to do.
So what is your faith like?
How would you describe your faith? Is it mental assent or is there action behind it?
Chapter 11 of Hebrews has a lot of action words- does your faith have action? Not works- just stepping out in faith, trusting God is who He says He is and God will do what He says He’s going to do.
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Here’s a helpful way of understanding faith: the KAT model - Knowledge, Assent, and Trust.
First you must have an object of faith (or Knowledge). Faith is not just a condition, an emotion, or something you catch (like a cold); it is a disposition toward something or someone. For us Christians, what that something or someone is, is important.
Second, you must assent to that something or someone, or have a positive disposition toward it. This speaks more to the cognitive or rational side, for example, being able to say you believe that the chair will hold you.
However, faith does not end with assent; it must also have trust. This is where the heart comes in, for example trusting that the chair will hold you - actually sitting in it if necessary. True biblical faith as I understand it requires all three: Knowledge, Assent, and Trust, involving both the mind and the heart.
For me, I lived most of my early years thinking that faith was merely the first two. My Christianity was part of my identity, but honestly it wasn’t much more than a label; at most it was fire insurance (something I kept stored away, hoping I would never have to use it). My faith had little transforming impact on my life from day to day, and for that reason, I don’t think my faith was “true” until much later when I made Christ Lord of my life. That is when my life changed and my relationship with Jesus became much more real.
Hope in Action. A few years ago, in the summer time, I found myself sitting alone in my back yard, feeling very lonely, hoping that I’d find a girlfriend. At least, that’s what I said I was doing. But when you look a bit closer, it become obvious that just sitting alone in my back yard would never get me a girlfriend. In fact, by doing nothing to help me find a girlfriend, I wasn’t actually hoping for one, but instead wishing for one. We all have heard that ‘wishing upon a star’ song, or have been told to make a wish when blowing out the candles, or have dropped a penny in a fountain and made a wish. We all know that it does nothing. It doesn’t actually work. Wishing for something does not ever make it happen. Wishing is hoping without action. So then hoping is wishing with action. In order to hope for something, there must be a chance that it will actually occur. Otherwise you know it wont happen and your simply wishing for it. So the phrase “faith is hope in action” is redundant. There is no hope without action, that is wishing. Therefore a less redundant line would be that “faith is hope”. Faith in god, (that is to say, faith that there is a god) is Hope in god.
Knowledge, Assent, Trust. The model of what faith is that Greg talked about said that in order to have faith in something, you must first know about it (knowledge), you must then choose to agree with it (assent), and you must then rely on it (trust). This seems like a more in-depth view of what faith is. The two notions of faith do not necessarily contradict each other. In fact, I’ll attempt to put them together. Faith is, (that is, in order to have faith you must have): knowledge of what it is you are about to commit to. You must then choose to accept it (this is regardless of weather it is correct or not, for this simply involves your own choice). You must then put your trust in it, and rely on it. Finally, you must hope that it is correct, since you are now relying on it.
So, to have faith in God, is to first hear what others say is true about there being a God. To read the bible and see what it says God is. Then choose to agree with what you’ve learnt. (This one is tricky, in that some people will need to learn more than others about God, in order to justify to themselves the choice of agreeing in the existence of God.) Then you must rely on the existence of God. (This is also a tricky one, because it is difficult to find something to rely on god for.) Then, as you rely on it, you hope it will actually happen, else your wasting your efforts.
But I think “Faith is Hope” will do just fine.