Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
A few years back, I was fortunate enough to be able to take a trip to Israel, and it was mind-blowing to be able to put my eyes on so many of the locations that we read about in Scripture.
During that trip, there were all different types of side conversations, and the guide would lead us to show us some different things. I remember one time one of the instructors was talking about faith. This conversation that unfolded was one that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
Understanding Faith Through Different Lenses
We were there discussing something about one of the sites, and somebody mentioned this idea of faith. The person that was leading us had more of a Middle Eastern lens of the Scriptures. In other words, they understood through the culture and through the language that would have come from where these scriptures were written primarily.
They were talking about faith and how in the West, where we live here in the United States, faith is primarily thought of as a noun. In other words, it's something that we hold on to. It's something that we stand on. You'll hear phrases like, "My faith is really important to me. I hold it true to my heart."
It's sort of a thing that informs the way that we live as Christian people.
Faith as a Verb
Then they went on to describe how faith from an Eastern set of lenses—someone who might live there in the Middle East—would say something a little bit different about faith. It isn't as much of a noun as much as it's a verb.
They would even say that there are certain instances where, if you were to translate the word faith in the Bible, it would be more like an English word "faithing," which we know isn't actually a real word. What they were getting at is that faith in more of a Western context might be us holding it as something to have—"It is mine."
Whereas faith, from the perspective of the biblical author and probably reader, it would be an expression of what is held internally. In other words, faith is an expression of what comes out of you as a result of what you believe.
The Evidence of Belief
For example, if I were to say, "Hey, what do you believe about..." and fill in the blank there. Many of us, in our explanation of what we believe, would say things that are very articulate and maybe even passionate about those beliefs, and it would probably be counted to us as belief.
What I realized is: if you were to talk to someone in a context that would be similar to where the biblical authors would have been, their thoughts would have been, what is coming out of your life that shows what you believe to be true internally?
In other words, there is going to be evidence that your belief is real.
Faith Demonstrates What We Believe
That whole long thing comes back to the verse that we just talked about today. It says that faith shows the reality of what we hope for. In other words, because of what we believe, there are things that are true about our lives. It also goes on to say that it's an evidence of something that you can't see.
The Hidden Life
I often will say that if we don't have a hidden life with God, our public life for God cannot be fruitful. This comes from a man named Henri Nouwen. When he talks about this, he's saying that who we are in hidden places will be evidenced out in the world if we have a real connection with Christ. The evidence of that faith will show itself to be true.
Cultivate the Hidden Work
Today, wherever you find yourself, maybe the thing that we need to cultivate isn't just the appearance that we have faith, the appearance that we're showing ourselves to be allegiant to Christ. Maybe we're cultivating the hidden work with God—the things behind the scenes, the relationship that we are rooted and grounded and built up in Him in that informs who we are in the world.
That our faith would show the evidence of real connection to Christ. Let's think about that as we go through our days.
