A Definition of Faith

Faith. It’s such a normal part of our lives as Christians, but how easy is it to define? What would you say if someone asked you to describe what you think faith is?

Recently, I asked one of my non-Christian friends how he would define faith. I was a little surprised at first by his answer, but gradually realized that how he saw faith was a pretty common perception amongst Christians and non-Christians alike.

His response was: “You can have faith in someone, which is similar to trusting them, except it’s like…not just about knowledge but in their actions too. It’s like saying you know something to be true that can’t be proven to be true. Or at least you feel that you know it…It’s believing something to be true about another’s potential actions without any universal justification.”

As Christians, our usual response to this question of the definition of faith would be to fall back on the much-quoted Hebrews 11:1 ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’ These two responses would suggest, from the exterior, that faith, specifically the Christian faith, is trusting in someone blindly, believing completely that they will be true to their word when you have no guarantee that they will live up to it. Sort of like giving your car keys to a random person walking past and trusting that they will return them to you eventually.

This is blind faith, and it is not a realistic portrayal of the Christian faith. I do not put my trust in a God that has no record of trustworthiness, nor do I believe in a God that I have no evidence for. My faith does not exist because someone once told me about God and I believed in him on the spot. Nor does it exist simply because my parents are Christians. I put my faith in a God that I know I can trust, because He has proven himself, time and time again.

Now, I am not disproving Hebrews 11:1. What the verse says is true, but it must be approached from the right angle. I trust that God will do certain things, even though I can’t see them happening. That is the Hebrews 11:1 part of faith. I believe without having seen. However, my faith is not blind in the trusting sense, as I know that the One that I put my faith in is faithful.

Faith is that spot that sits in-between blind faith and knowledge. Blind faith is completely unfounded, while knowledge is firmly founded. Faith has no knowledge, but it has well-founded trust.

I once read a good example of faith in a book, but I cannot remember what book it was. I will try to rewrite it as I remember it. A man has been married for thirty years, and his marriage has been a happy, loving, committed one. The couple have never been unfaithful to each other. One day, the man sees his wife in the mall, holding hands with another man. He has faith that his wife is not cheating on him. Although the evidence suggests that she is having an extra-marital relationship, the man knows that his wife is not cheating on him, not because of blind faith, but because she has been committed and faithful to him for thirty years and he knows that he can trust her. He cannot see that she is not cheating on him, but he has a well-founded faith that she is not.

‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’ Yes, we have faith that the unseen will happen, a faith that is firmly based in a faithful God. So, what will your response be, if tomorrow, someone asks you what faith means?

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