The idea of witnessing faith often
brings up a checklist of what it means to be a “good Christian”: pray, read the
Bible, reflect on spiritual writings, attend church, etc. These items are
wonderful if they are viewed as the fruit of faith; however, they are vastly
insufficient as the foundation and fuel for faith.
The problem for me is that far too
often these “good Christian activities” just become something else to strike
off my to-do list. When I get attached to the idea that I can fuel my faith by
my own actions, I become entrenched in a perfectionistic, self-centered and
control-craving mindset. The theological
problem with this version of faith is that the focus is on what I do and not on
what God has done for me. And the
practical problem is that this type of checklist faith becomes dry, brittle and
boring very quickly.
In contrast, the faith that I read
about in the Bible is passionate, adventure-filled and mysterious. For example, faith led David to slay a giant,
Daniel to fight lions, Esther to stand up to the King and countless prophets
and apostles to travel to the ends of the earth. That’s the kind of faith that I want! And I
love the definition given in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” What a beautiful, profound mystery!
So what’s the difference between a
checklist faith and the living, active faith that I see in the Bible? I think
the key is found in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of
works, so that no one may boast.” Therefore,
when God is truly at the center of my life and His love and grace are the fuel
for everything that I do, then I will have the kind of faith that I desire.
That faith will undoubtedly blossom into the fruit of powerful prayer, a
passion for God’s word, meaningful reflections and a longing to worship with
other believers. What a wonderful
witness to God’s goodness that fruit-bearing faith will be!
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