Mark here. As I read the chapter for this week (How could you not read a chapter with a title like that?), there are several questions that emerge regarding the meaning of faith.
Miller tells the story of his conversation with his friend Laura, who talked about feeling like God was "after her". We often talk about conversion as "coming to Jesus". Does conversion also involve God chasing after us? What do you think this pursuit feels like?
Laura said that she is resisting God because "... it is all so stupid, so completely stupid." Miller explains her comments about faith by saying, "Laura was looking for something rational, because she believed that all things that were true were rational." Is reason a part of faith, or do you have to suspend reason to have faith?
Isaiah 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Mark 12:28-30 - "One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, 'Which commandment is the first of all?' Jesus answered, 'The first is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'"
Are there things about faith that confuse you? Do these things make faith difficult?
Miller talks about having a "radar" inside him that says to believe in Jesus. Though he can't explain it, this radar always leads him right. How does your "radar" work? What aspects of Christian spirituality help fine tune your radar?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The more I think about it, I often think God does more of the chasing than we go chasing after him. Whether it be through another person, another circumstance, kind of like Stephanie's Jesus video incident, I think God pursues us or guides us towards Him. Are we forced? No, because that takes free will away, but like a father, He urges us and motivates us to do the right thing. I think Frank Peretti in many of his fiction Christian novels really captures that idea of God chasing us - whether it be through spirits, others, or situations.
I think reason is a large part of faith - for me anyway. I have come across Christians who are both emotional and rational. For those who tend to emotion, worship experiences, feelings of faith, etc. really guide their faith. As for those who lean to rational, which I find myself doing, research, reason, and logic help feed my faith. For rational thinkers, books like "Case for Creator" and that series, really help speak to my faith and feed me. I do not think you have to suspend reason to have faith - I actually believe you might lose something if you do.
I thought Miller's discussion of a radar was very interesting, and never really thought about it in my own faith. I am still working that one out...
I think that reason is an important part of our faith, but I think taking that initial step as God pursues you, requires a suspension of reason and rationality. That's what faith is all about-- believing in what is unseen. For me, I had to let go of needing physicial, tangible proof and accept that there are things we can know in our hearts without any physical evidence. As we grow in our faith and learn about God, however, we must use reason to discern and grow. Faith is both an effort of the head and heart.
Post a Comment