Wrong Conceptions on Faith

Faith is one of the most commonly misunderstood concepts, both inside and outside the church.

After centuries of debate between atheists and believers about the existence of God, members of both groups often seem to share the same definition of faith. Sam Harris, a known neuroscientist and outspoken atheist, opines, “It is time that we admitted that faith is nothing more than the license religious people give one another to keep believing when reasons fail.” Time and again, faith is described by devout Christians as believing in the unseen.

When loosely defined this way, faith becomes something that can be easily dismissed as merely intellectual. But what if we redefined faith as a lived experience instead? A local pastor here at Hoboken Grace challenges us to refine our definition to clear up one of the most common misconceptions today:

Faith is choosing to acknowledge God is telling the truth and that He loves us when we have doubts.

Stated this way, faith is not grounded in what cannot be seen or understood. Nor is faith a passive wrestling of thoughts of morality in our heads to justify decisions or actions. On the contrary, faith has to be acknowledged and reconciled with much of the Bible consisting of eyewitness accounts of how God revealed Himself in moments of doubt.

For example, let's consider Luke 5:4–10.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”

In this passage, Simon is a professional fisherman who has spent his entire life providing for himself and his family through fishing. Imagine being in Simon’s position...after fishing all night and catching nothing, Jesus—a carpenter—tells him to cast his nets again. There must have been doubt. Yet Simon chooses to lower his nets anyway because faith cannot be only intellectual. Faith has to include the obedience of action in acknowledgement of God's assurances for us.

The rest of the story reveals how God shows up in the midst of doubt and makes Himself known. It is only by witnessing God show up that my faith grows each time I see it happen in my own life or in the life of someone else.

To those who are quick to dismiss the concept of faith, consider this: why do you place so much faith in a chair, yet hesitate to trust in a heavenly Father who loves you?

How often do you walk into a restaurant or a bar and carefully assess the sturdiness of a chair or inspect the soldering before sitting down? You don’t. You sit, trusting it will hold you and that you won’t fall.

We exercise this kind of trust every day without hesitation. The real question isn’t whether you have faith — it’s where you choose to place it, and why.