Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Is Faith Always Dumb?

I may offend, so if you are sensitive, stop reading now. This is more of a brain dump post for me today. A couple of weeks ago I had this exact conversation with C. He found it 'odd' that I said faith is dumb or it wouldn't be faith at all. Dumb as in the logical, well thought out thing. Not dumb as in believing and following God is dumb.

The American Heritage Dictionary gives one definition of faith as:

"2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief, trust."

Taking a step in faith means to do something, believing that it is what God wants you to do, that probably does not make sense to anyone else but you.

Given our current situation, and the recent developments of many Communitas Launch Team members, faith is at the front of my mind.

If we are blessed to be able to move to NYC next month with Pete having his job still for another 60 days, then we are taking a HUGE step in faith. We believe it is what God wants us to do. It's the only door that has been (assuming it does) opened for us. We believe it is a blessing. We believe that God will provide my Man with a new job within that 60 days. He may not though. That may not be His plan. We pray that it is. But if it's not and we run out of money and have to move back to Michigan, did we hear wrong? Were we not walking in the right path? We pray that the Lord will set our path straight as we try to discern His will for us right now. So, that's dumb, right? To most people it would be. It's not logical. The logical thing is for us to wait here until my Man has a job there. Then move. But that's not allowing God's glory to shine through us. If this 'fails', then does that make God look bad? Or us? Or are we just dumb?

But then take E for example. She landed a SUPER job in NYC while still living here. She moved there after settling on a GREAT salary. She got a GREAT apartment. 7 weeks later her boss has told her that it's not working out. She did the logical thing. But she is still now without a job in 6 weeks if she can't find another one making close to the same salary in order to be able to pay her rent. That wasn't dumb but yet she is still having a hard time.

Brigzy moved to NYC 3 months ago without a job because he had faith that that is what God wanted him to do. 3 months later and he is still unemployed. Did he make a dumb move by moving there without a job? I don't think so. I think he was taking a step in faith and whether or not he finds a job and stays there or not, he is following the Lord.

We believe that if we are following God as best as we can and seeking Him daily, then that is what matters. What happens to us here on earth doesn't matter. It's what happens in eternity that matters. As M reminded me so clearly yesterday, Jesus suffered. Suffered the ultimate price. For us. And we don't deserve it.

So, No faith is not always dumb. That's the point of it being called faith. There is no emperical evidence for it.

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