In the last edition of fledge, we began refreshing the lost word "faith" from its many sloppy definitions.  In this issue we'll conclude with how meaningful faith is to human life.

faith as we use the word today does not occur in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Hebrews used the word "faithfulness."  Nobody suspects "faithfulness" means "blind" or "gullibly sincere."  When we talk about a "faithful" husband in marriage, we picture someone who puts in the hard work of cultivating his love for his wife and keeping his promises in sickness and in health.  When we talk about a "faithful" friend, we think of those who stand with us when not many other friends would.  When we think of a "faithful" witness, we think of someone who tells the truth.  This is "faithfulness."  And this is linked to faith.

I have come to understand that faith is "trusting in the character of someone dependable."

When we trust a person, it is faith.  When a person is trustworthy, we call him or her faithful.  See how tightly connected these words are?

Whenever you see the word faith in the Bible, you can usually replace it with "trust" or "confidence" to help you see the meaning of a passage.  This is what the Jewish New Testament has done to help the modern reader.

Now here's our task: what are we to do about it?  We can only trust the character of someone we know exists.  So we need reasons to believe our friends exist or God exists or Jesus came to deliver us.  We cannot trust something without good reasons.  Abraham had good reasons.  He knew God existed.

And we also need good reasons that the person we trust is trustworthy.  Do they have good character?

We don't ask a liar to tell our friend a message for us?  We don't ask the thief to run for mayor?  Why? We can only trust people who have good character. 

In the story of the Blind Man (Luke 18:35-42), he knew Jesus was of good character.  He had heard of Jesus' reputation.  He knew Jesus was capable of healing, was true to his word, that those he healed didn't relapse into their sickness. And he cried out the Messianic title of "Son of David" because he connected this Man, Jesus, with the deliverer of the Old Testament, the only one capable of "giving sight to the blind" (Isa 61:1).  He knew the character of the one he called.

Once we have good reasons to trust someone, then we can trust.  And for many this is the hardest part of all.

We get emails from those who struggle with becoming a Christian.  They have reasons for the Christian God's existence and his good character.  Many have studied the Bible, apologetics, and philosophy.  Yet carrying wounds from past relationships, from neglectful parents, and from betrayal of old friends, they have a hard time trusting.  They shield themselves by trusting no one, not even God.

Kathleen Norris notes, "No small part of my religious conversion has been coming to know that faith is best thought of as a verb, not a 'thing' that either you have or you don't." 

Faith isn't merely "believing" something.  It is an action of regularly, repeatedly putting our defenses down, allowing God to peek over the wall we’ve grown comfortable hiding behind.

Our walls need bulldozing, brick by brick.  Even though the evidence shows us the risk is worth taking, we have to risk what will happen when we drop our guards.

Maybe this explains the anger many atheists flare against faith.  Maybe this is why the word has become twisted.  It's a word that calls us to reveal ourselves, to be vulnerable, to rest on Another.

Trust opens the gate for us to experience the wide country of God's goodness.  Faith is the beginning of love.

© 2007 Dale & Jonalyn Fincher