What, exactly, does it mean to “just have faith”? For many, it easily becomes a flippant expression
for simply throwing up one’s hands when it seems like there are no easy answers
and just hoping for the best. In the
meantime, it also becomes a convenient excuse to go your own way and do your
own thing.
An older man named Mark laughed off serious notions about
God and the Bible, citing various conspiracy theories and suspense novels as
being more interesting. It seems like in
every generation there are major obstacles to a serious consideration of the
Gospel, and ours is no exception. We may
be the generation of information overload, entertainment and distraction, as so
many people like Mark seem thoroughly unconcerned that they might be distracted
away from some of the valuable truths that can be found in the pages of
Scripture.
The subversive ideas of worldly knowledge and entertainment may
seem more interesting in contrast to established Gospel truths, but there may
come a day when the tide is turned and the Gospel itself once again becomes the
radical, subversive idea that so many early Christians received in the first
place.
The problem, as I see it, is that whether the Gospel is
perceived as a pillar of society or a subversive alternative is really
irrelevant. We need it just as much
either way. Mark felt totally at ease
laughing about the various alternative possibilities for what might happen when
we die. He claims he will “just have
faith” and see what happens. This is why
he needed to see his sin and the judgement that awaits him upon leaving this
life. It might be easy to joke and mock
and take lightly the things of God now, but as Jesus said “I tell you that
everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word
they have spoken.”
To “just have faith” isn’t enough, for there are endless
possibilities of who or what we can put that faith in. No, biblical faith is faith in a God who has
revealed himself in history and recorded in the pages of scripture. Flippant references to faith aren’t enough,
for the faith that pleases God is a faith that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews
11)
Thanks, Mark, for a short but interesting conversation! It can be seen HERE at https://youtu.be/5cmp7rTrLqE
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