Faith: A Journey, Not a Pit-stop

To be completely honest, I feel that out of faith, hope, and love, faith is the one that I know the least about. I almost feel inadequate writing on this subject, because I feel like often I have grown up thinking that I am someone who has such little faith. So what better place to start a blog than with something that I know little about? I hope it will be a learning experience for the both of us.

Now, first off, I do not think that I would be doing my good Christian duty if I tried to talk about faith without mentioning that wonderful chapter in Hebrews 11 that talks about the faith heroes. These are the guys who as Christians we are taught to aspire to be and hope that maybe one day we will have faith like them.

This chapter starts off with a definition of faith, the classic definition that is recited in most Sunday School classes when starting a discussion on faith. It goes like this: "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see" (Heb 11:1, NLT). For years I thought this was the only way to define faith. I didn't really fully understand it, but I tried to live by it. That doesn't even make sense! As a result of this belief in something I didn't fully understand, I would end up kicking myself whenever my faith wavered and when I found myself doubting God or what He could do.

I knew that Christians were supposed to have unwavering faith. Everywhere I looked I saw examples of great spiritual leaders living lives that, as far as I could tell, were full of unwavering faith. Surely these people never doubted God or His power. I felt really weak and inadequate as a result of this misconception of what faith is.

It was only this year that I started to get a picture of faith being more than some sort of absent minded belief that God is the way and the only way, and if we ever doubt that truth, bad things are bound to happen to us. I was writing a paper for my International Development and Missions class on the topic of Mission and Education and I had a bit of a revelation on the subject of faith. In the process of writing this paper, I knew that the all-knowing Gus Konkel had written many articles on this subject in the past, I was able to obtain some of those articles from Gus himself to aid me in my writing of this paper (for those of you who are unaware, Gus Konkel was the president of Providence University College up until this year). I came across a quote from Gus in one of these articles that was very unexpected, but yet very powerful. It went like this:

"Faith is not a claim of always knowing what to believe. Faith is a pilgrimage of learning about life, of discovering the unknown and correcting error." - Gus Konkel

I had to double take while looking at this quote. Here, Gus was saying that I don't always need to know the answer to what is right and wrong? That realization was a huge weight off my shoulders. I had always thought that if I didn't have an answer for a spiritual question that I simply didn't have enough faith. But this was not the case at all. I just had a wrong view of what faith actually is.

I am still currently immersed in learning how to live out this faith. This is not a faith based on spiritual highs, nor a faith that is ruined every time I experience doubt. Rather, this faith is something that I am attempting to grow in, through the grace of God. It is not a pit-stop where I can come back and refuel myself on spiritual highs before running out of gas again, but rather a journey that takes time and effort to get through. It is not always easy and not a guaranteed path of perfection all the way, but yet is the way we are called to live as Christians. I hope to be advancing in this journey everyday, in an effort to walk more in step with God every day.



I have attached two articles from Relevant magazine that speak on faith. The first one talks about living a life of spiritual highs, and the second talks about faith and doubt. Enjoy.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/blog/29017-qi-used-to-be-on-fire-for-godq

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/24847-why-doubt-isnt-a-dirty-word