“Religion and faith are just a crutch,” one of my coworkers used to tell me. “Religion and faith are for weak people that can’t handle life on their own.” I was so stunned I didn’t know what to say or how to respond. So I walked away.
As I have had more time to think about what she said I’ve realized that faith is an essential linchpin of Christianity and it definitely is not for the weak. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines linchpin as “an indispensable person or thing.”[1]
The author of Hebrews describes the importance of faith for us as believers writing, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1, NASB).[2] An important note here is that faith gives reality and proof of things unseen. The late theologian Charles Ryrie defines faith this way, “Being convinced or giving credence to something or someone, especially to the truth of the Gospel.”[3] Faith treats those unseen things as if they have already been seen. It is more than just hope.
As you read the Bible you see some of the giants of faith. Abraham left his family, possessions, and everything he knew and went to a land he had never been before. Moses went head-to-head with the Pharoah of Egypt in order to free the Israelites from slavery. David endured fifteen years of persecution from Saul. These people were heroes not because of their great accomplishments, but because of their faith. Because of the way they trusted in God and his promises when it probably didn’t make sense. And because they trusted in his promises they eventually saw God work through their circumstances to fulfill his promises because of their faith in him.
Faith pleases God. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek him”(Hebrews 11:6). But where do we get faith? How can we grow our faith? Warren Wiersbe says, “Faith is not a feeling that we manufacture. It’s a confidence we have that God tells the truth and that truth is in His Word. The people of God who read the Bible daily and meditate on what they read will grow in faith and learn to trust God.”[4]
My coworker thought faith was for the weak, but it is for the strong. And the more faith in God we have, the stronger we get.
[1] Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1997), 144.
[4] Warren Wiersbe, The Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2018), 95.