“Got Faith?”

If someone asked you to define faith, how would you reply? According to the dictionary, faith is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something” or “strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof”. Indeed, many people instinctively equate faith with religious conviction per the latter definition; whereas in reality, faith shows up in a variety of forms:

• Optimism is a kind of faith, choosing to believe that things will turn out for the better in spite of your present circumstances.
• Loyalty is another kind of faith, a willingness to “stick it out” when the going gets tough—not unlike the die-hard fan of a losing sports team.
• Trusting someone to do what they promised is also an act of faith, with perhaps the most familiar example being the exchange of wedding vows.

Thus in spite of faith’s inextricable connection to spiritual matters, it is clear that to a certain extent, faith is simply part of the human experience. Everyone inevitably lives by beliefs in someone or something which are ultimately “unproveable”.

Unfortunately, it is precisely faith’s “unprovability” that leads many to conclude that faith is pure naiveté, a kind of blind trust that relies more upon emotions and feelings than upon evidence and reason. Indeed, faith is often characterized as being the opposite of facts and reason, prompting many to dismiss it as something that is inherently irrational and illogical. And while perhaps this is true in some cases—for we can get caught up in feelings and emotions that inspire an irrational kind of belief—there is clearly a difference between faith that is grounded in reality and that which is not.

As an example, consider the prospects of a 2024 Super Bowl victory from the standpoint of a Philadelphia Eagles fan versus a Houston Texans fan. Both may certainly hope for a championship next year, but only one has any reason to expect that it will actually occur.

This distinction between coherent and irrational faith is important, because many have bought into the notion that all faith is inherently irrational and subsequently little more than a feeling. Especially when it comes to matters of faith in God, far too many people assume that living by faith means believing in spite of the evidence rather than because of it! This, however, takes us into the realm of credulity, not Biblical faith, for the testimony of the Bible is that we have been given ample confirmation of God’s existence:

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20

Granted, not everyone concludes that God exists when they look at creation, and in the final analysis belief in God is clearly an act of faith. Nevertheless, even atheists must admit that they too live by faith each and every day. For while theists cannot prove the existence of God in a scientific sense, neither can the atheist disprove His existence. Thus, even disbelief in God is ultimately an act of faith.

So contrary to popular opinion, faith is not something exclusively reserved for those who are “religious”—faith is inescapable. Furthermore, it should be understood that Biblical faith and reason are not contradictory, they are complementary. In other words, God gave us hearts and minds that are designed to work together, not against each other; faith is meant to take over where reason leaves off, not run in the opposite direction.

Accordingly, the real question is not “Got faith?” but rather “What are you trusting in?”