Faith is Not About Blind Allegiance, but Trust

I was a Kierkegaardian.

The Danish theologian-philosopher cast Christianity in a dark and dour light, imposing on readers the sense of guilt and shame about their sin before God.

I recall one of his sermons, in which he wrote: "You are always guilty before God."

At first, a lot of this heavy-handed moralism sounds good and true.

The truth is, however, that it is false.

Kierkegaard's theology is just as wicked as any other false preaching out there.

One of the most dangerous aspects of his philosophical system argued that faith was somehow irrational, a blind hope, and leap into absurdity.

That is simply not the case.

There is so much in our experience based on what other people say.

The notion that faith is a some mystical felling and that we have no assurance about anything -- that is a fantasy all to itself.

Biblical hope is not about "maybe" or "could be".

It is all about "He did it all" and "It is Finished".

We are not called to believe on something which may or may not be true.

We are invited to trust in Someone who has already proven Himself Trustworthy.

He took the leap onto the Cross and rose again. He took us all with Him, too.

Faith is not about a physical effort, If we belong long enough and hard enough, then whatever we are believing comes to pass.

As the writer of Hebrews clearly defines: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

Just because something is invisible (to us), does not mean that it does not exist. Just because I do not see or clearly understanding something in my midst does not mean that it is not true, either.

Faith is not a fantastic pressure placed upon us. It has nothing to do with our feelings or the facts in our face.

It is the foundation of what Jesus did at the Cross, and our growing awareness of all that He accomplished there.

I used to think that it was up to be to believe right to believe hard enough and long enough, to ensure that God was going to be there for me.

So much wrong teaching, so much misleading doctrine, too much emphasis on myself created this morass of confusion.

I was so convinced taht everything -- everything! -- in this life depended on me.

For a while, I knew that I needed to let go, and then He would take care of everything.

Then when things would go well, I was convinced, by lies and misleading frauds, that now I had to start doing something.

Never once did I understand that I was stepping into a Finished Work in every way.

I have been surrounded by church people who have been talking "Do! Do! Do!" all their lives.

Jesus was not kidding when He cried out on the Cross: "It Is Finished!"

And yet so many Christians run around hurrying and scurrying, as though everything in our lives will collapse if we do not hold it all together.

Once again, faith is not some kind of human effort to hold on in the face of painful opposition. Faith is an intelligent acceptance off something which He has already accomplished.

We are not jumping into the Unknown, but rather we are receiving By Him who is Known, and more importantly knows us!