Faith Is Not a Book

There isn't enough room in your mind for both worry and faith.  You must decide which one will live there.

-- Anonymous

Faith isn't a feeling or an emotion, it isn't something tangible, it isn't something you have to work for.  Faith is simply a conscious choice.  For those who believe in a power greater than themselves, faith is a choice to put all your trust in that power.  For those believing in God, it is a choice to put all your trust in God, in your darkest hour, even if all looks lost.  It is a choice to believe, and in that belief rests the faith that, even if you fail, you will be judged as having tried.  It is an unwavering acknowledgment that, no matter what happens, good or bad, everything will be as it should be; as God intended it to be.

Faith isn't a book of scripture.  Putting faith in a book will garner nothing.  What the book says, however, might show you how and why to have faith, because your decision to have faith is a choice.  We are inundated in film and book by images of the faithful holding the Bible in front of them as if it is some indestructible shield against evil.  They hold the cross out as if it is a sword of God.  They place it on the forehead of those possessed by evil and it burns a cross brand into the flesh.  We are made to believe holy water has this same effect simply because it is blessed.  Faith isn't in a book, or a silver crucifix, or tap water that's been blessed by someone that we're told has been blessed by someone else who's been blessed.  One has to finally take a moment to ask, "Who is doing all of this blessing?"

I would like to say that faith is all about going to church, saying prayers and praising God, every Sunday.  I'd like to say that.  I was brought up a Catholic, a Christian, and spent years learning to do everything wrong when it came to worship, religion, and faith.  "Why was it wrong?"  you might ask.  Because nowhere in the Bible does it say to worship in a "church" or to offer umpteen different prayers to God.  Nor does it make our salvation as difficult as organized religion would like us to believe.  I offer up for review some verses from Matthew:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

-- Matthew 6:5-6

“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’"

-- Matthew 6:9-13 

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

-- Matthew 16:18

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

--  Matthew 22:36-40

One might say, by looking at my evidence, that I have a thing for the Gospel of Matthew.  I would say to these folks, if you find something that works for you, stick with it until it doesn't, and then let it go only after a good fight... or, a damned good explanation.  Of course, much of this is also restated elsewhere in the Bible.  Repetition is a great teacher, and makes it more difficult for clergy with "agendas" to refute the idea being put forth.

In this new millennium we face numerous challenges to faith.  It seems families no longer put impetus behind having any religious faith or belief.  The family unit itself is being torn apart by the lack of it.  Atheists and non-believers attack religion at every turn and, by association, seem to wage a war of will against those that do believe in a power greater than themselves.  It would seem as though history is repeating the Jewish Holocaust, only, this time, including all religions as evil.  I wait the burning of books and places of worship, and the internment camps that will inevitably follow.  And, yet, faith and religion are seen as unnecessary evils.  One can only guess at who will destroy God first; the League of the Perpetually Offended, or the sociopathic terrorist army.  Is there really any difference?  It boggles the mind, and is yet to be seen.

So, where was God as the Nazis led 11,000,000 people to their deaths in the Holocaust?  God's question was, "Where was the rest of mankind?"  Where was humanity?  We dare to shift blame upon God for our inaction in the early days of this genocide?  The Jews died because we allowed it.  How very Christian of us to place blame on God instead of owning our own shortcoming of a faith we seem to only practice once a week.  We blame the Nazis and God, yet the blame rests squarely on us.  Now we are faced with the leftovers from the Nazi regime.  

Now we are faced with radical Islamic terrorism, taught to radical Islam fundamentalists by the Third Reich in World War II.  Now we seem content to watch as history, once again, repeats lessons we refuse to learn.  When will we take the first step, this time?  How many humans have to die before the threat becomes obvious enough to be of concern to... us!  Where is our faith now, and who will we blame when we are late to the conflict against this evil?  ISIS is a heretical terrorist organization of sociopaths using Islam as an excuse to murder everyone in their path.  What they are doing is not Jihad.  They have made it Jihad by murdering the innocent of Allah, in Allah's name!  They made it Jihad when they began murdering Christians and Jews.  The murder of innocence is misplaced faith in an evil which righteous faith must confront, regardless of the peace our faith would proclaim.  If the righteous of faith do not take a stand, there will be no righteous left to care.  Where is our faith then?

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith is dying for your beliefs.  Faith is dying for the right to worship your God.  Faith is proof to all of your willingness to die before denying your faith, your God, or the Son.  Faith is something no one can take from you, unless you allow them.  And, if you allow them, it only proves the faith was as weak as the mind that claimed it.  We tend to place our faith in a God before we have any faith in ourselves.  We must have faith in ourselves to rise above our trials, to be more than we are and all that we can be.  Only then will we truly be able to stand in the face of evil and unabashedly proclaim our faith for our God.  We will do so in the light of day, without a scarf hiding our features, and without a knife held at the throat of innocence.  We must first choose to have faith in ourselves, in our own abilities, before we can make a choice to have faith in God.  How do we reconcile asking God for help when we have already admitted to God we will fail?

“I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.”

-- Homer, Ancient Greek author and poet

We may not know what the future holds; only God can know that.  But having knowledge and faith in ourselves, gives us a leg up in knowing who holds the future.  God gave us an ability to be more than we are, to discover the secrets of the universe, and to fulfill our greater destiny for God's own greater glory.  God also sent us faith, forgiveness and love, in the guise of a prophet.  If you want to have faith, perhaps you should take a first step.

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."

-- John 14:5-7

These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.  1) And He said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."  2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

-- Coptic Gospel of Thomas

God does not have stupid children, nor are they blind or deaf.  Question everything; listen with an active and opened mind.  Read the words, adding and subtracting nothing, as the meaning has already been made clear for each of us.  Most of all don't let your faith be blind, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24)

Are the teachings of Christ really so difficult?  We have been programmed by religious "leaders" to not see the forest for the trees.  When we finally discover the keys to heaven have been right in front of our eyes, we will have right to become troubled that we were so naive, then we will be astonished at how simple God really made it for us.  Our path will become as clear as our faith, and they will be as if one and the same. 

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.