One of the first youth groups I lead was in a tiny church, and I only really did things with 3-5 students at most. I have found some of these students on Facebook, and one said student had a really interesting quote on her about me box. She wrote, "Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active." I know that I tried to teach her this, but don't worry I'm not taking credit.
It was awesome to see how an 8th grade girl has grown up into a mature thoughtful Christian adult. The quote is very insightful, so let's ponder it for a second. Believing in something is a very passive thing. All it takes is consent to the existence of an idea. I can believe in anything without really doing anything about it. I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, New Coke (that was a mistake), and the tooth fairy, but I didn't have to do anything other than acknowledge the idea of these things. Belief is not enough.
But once you put your belief into action, then you have faith. Faith is something the should permeate your entire being. Faith requires you to have those belief but then act on them. Sometimes these belief may need to modified along the way, but you don't know that unless you put them to the test through acting. Faith becomes the way you live your life.
Here is a silly example. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" features Linus who believes in the Great Pumpkin. Linus does something with this belief though. He actually goes out into a pumpkin patch to wait for the raise of the Great Pumpkin. Although the Great Pumpkin doesn't make an appearance, Linus still had faith in him. Linus didn't passively consent to the existence of the Great Pumpkin, but actively lived out his belief by sitting all night in the pumpkin patch.
Are you willing to have true faith? Are you willing to take your beliefs and put them into practice? Do your beliefs permeate your being and inform the way you live? Have active faith, not passive beliefs. Don't just consent, but act!
Peace,
mark
I would like to thank Allison and Charles Schultz for the inspiration for this post.
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