Richard Dawkins, in his 2006 best-selling book, “The God Delusion,” presents the view that a supernatural creator does not exist, and that religious faith is a delusion. Webster’s basic definition of “faith” is a “strong belief or trust in someone or something.” On the most basic level, we ALL have faith in something, or we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning, right? So, Mr. Dawkins, like every human, has made a judgment about WHAT or WHO to put his faith in. And because he—has NOT seen enough evidence of God to be convinced that God merits his faith, his faith is in what he has discovered through science and reason.
Nobody’s faith is devoid of reason; in fact, faith is arguably the greatest REASON we think or do anything at all!
The Bible makes it clear that we, as Christians should show PROOF of our faith in God:
“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:17
But “faith” in the Bible is different than just simple human faith because–it’s supernatural. There are three ways the word “faith” is used in the Bible: 1. as a gift from God; 2. as the USE of the gift; and 3. the body of Christian beliefs (the faith delivered to the saints which is a subject for different discussion.) (Jude 1:3). We receive the gift of faith from God: “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) When we are saved and receive the gift, God downloads His mind into us and that’s how we know the things He knows. For example, we know for certain: that Jesus is the Christ; that there is an afterlife; that creation happened, etc. (see, Matthew 16:17 and Hebrews 11 for more examples). Then, once the gift of faith has given us “the mind of Christ,” (1 Corinthians 2:13-16) we have to decide to USE this faith; that is, to allow faith to express itself in our life. My brilliant father said it like this:
“The gift of faith is like a light that God gives us. We must decide whether to use it–by keeping it uncovered and shining; or waste it–by covering it with a bushel basket.“
So for those who have received God’s gift of faith, there should be EVIDENCE that He is real in our life in what we do, where we go, what we say, and at the core of who we are. If not, then aren’t we really just living like He is a delusion and–Mr. Dawkins has a very valid point?
It may surprise you to know that I, even as a born-again believer—lived for many years—like God was a delusion!
Let me explain.
I didn’t live as honestly as Mr. Dawkins, who made no bones about his non-belief in God. Rather, I PROFESSED to be a believer in God, but my faith in Him was hidden. I didn’t LIVE like HE was real. So I was LIVING like God was a delusion–right? I mean, let’s be straight-up about this—when something is REAL to us—it’s so IMPORTANT to us that we talk about it, and it affects who we are and how we live. Here are some simple examples:
- Is your job is real enough to make you get up every morning and go to work even though you don’t know how long that job is going to last? You do it by faith in what you know about your job, employer, customers, the economy, etc.
- Are your family and friends important enough for you to invest time, energy, money, love, and your very heart and soul into them even though there are uncertainties about the relationships in your future—e.g., death, divorce, division, etc.? You make that investment based on what you know about in the people you’ve chosen and your need for relationship.
- Is your faith in the stock market real enough to invest your hard earned money in it even though you know it has periodically crashed throughout history? Yes, you know it may crash again, but you invest anyway.
We ALL live by faith in WHAT WE KNOW about something or someone.
The proof of your faith in Christ is—a life that manifests the evidence that He is REAL.
- People know your JOB is real because you talk about it, you work at it, and you talk about the rewards from it.
- People know your FRIENDS and FAMILY are real for the same reasons.
So HOW do you have proof that God is REAL in your life?
YOU MUST KNOW GOD.
You see, when I began to honestly DESIRE to know God and also DESIRED to yield to Him in EVERY area of my life, a POWERFUL transformation began to take place in my life. I DESIRED the God of the Bible—not some fairytale God based on my picking and choosing the parts of Him that I liked. The presence of God shifted my faith from things and people–to the ONE Who never changes. As I experienced Him, the gift grew and produced EVIDENCE of God in my life. Active faith in God changed what I talk about, where I go, how I love, what I do, where I spend my time, how I give of my resources, i.e., every aspect of my life.
When we receive the gift of faith from God and we use it like we KNOW Him–that is the BEST evidence that God is REAL.
To learn more about Kimberly Faith and the mission of Faith Strong, click HERE.
Out Now – Essential Faith, Volume II. Find it on Amazon by clicking HERE.
