Brian McLaren, in his book Finding Faith, provides an intriguing
definition of faith: “Faith is a state of relative certainty about matters of
ultimate concern sufficient to promote action.” He breaks down this definition
into four parts:
1. A state. Faith is
a condition we find ourselves more or less “in.” It’s the context in which we
feel and experience and think about everything in life. It includes data—propositions,
ideas, specific beliefs—that form an intellectual framework, a paradigm, in
which all other phenomena take place and by which they are evaluated. It is a
person’s worldview; how they look at life and how they interpret what they
observe and experience in life.
An analogy of the computer might be helpful. The
operating system of the computer is the “state” in which the computer operates.
It provides the foundation and framework upon and within which all the
operations of the computer occur. Faith is, in this analogy, the operating
system of the computer. It is the state or condition or system a person operates
in. That is not to say it is “static” or changeless, though. Genuine faith
continually self-modifies, like an operating system that continually upgrades.
So using this analogy of the computer operating
system, we would say that everyone grows up with faith, a framework and
foundation in which to interpret life. A lot of this is determined by what
family a person is born into, the influences a person experiences as a child,
and what exposure to the rest of the world a person has. Everyone has this
faith.
But even as it is important to upgrade the
computer operating system to include new and more useful features to meet the
ever-changing technological advancements and needs, so our faith must
continually be re-evaluated and “upgraded” to meet the diversity and growth and
dynamic nature of life. We’ll talk about how to do this later.
2. Relative certainty. The reality is that there is very little in this world that we can
face with absolute, unquestioned certainty. Even the best, most brilliant
scientists face their explorations with a degree of awe, humility and sense of mystery.
Spirituality is no different. We don’t have all the answers and those who try
to convince people that they do are misguided and arrogant. So we acknowledge
our predicament: that we have to function in relative certainty which always
includes relative uncertainty. Genuine faith acknowledges this reality.
3. Matters of ultimate concern. Faith is involved with the core values of life, universal principles,
those issues that go to the heart of human existence such as meaning, purpose,
destiny, process, origins. We aren’t simply talking about mathematical
equations or scientific formulas or, as Brian McLaren puts it, the middle name
of the vice president or the cost of green beans at the grocery store. “Matters
of ultimate concern” refer to how we live our lives, make our decisions, solve
our moral dilemmas, face death and the possibility of an afterlife for
ourselves and other people, how we cope with suffering and loss, how we decide
whether life is worth living or not, etc.
Faith is the worldview that informs those kinds
of conversations, decisions and paradigms. It’s a way to describe our
perspective on reality, the truth of our world as we see it. This kind of faith
isn’t satisfied with make-believe or pretending or fantasy. It’s a serious
search for truth and reality as far as is possible, not simply accepting things
that are “nice” or make us feel good. As iron sharpens iron, so genuine faith
is willing to be shaped and molded and sharpened by exposure to alternative
views and paradigms, willing to be engaged in exploration and discussion and
challenge and questioning. The goal of faith’s search is to find the most
universal truths and intents for what is real and true “in here” (subjectively)
and “out there” (objectively). Anything less than that is “bad” faith.
4. Sufficient to promote action. The ultimate goal of faith is action. If a professed belief or
paradigm of life (worldview) is not sufficient to promote action, then it would
better be called an opinion or idea or concept. We may hold it as data in our
memory banks, but it does not constitute part of our operating system. If an
idea (say, for example, that God exists) doesn’t promote action (say, to search
for God or pray or monitor one’s own moral behavior or love one’s neighbor), it
isn’t genuine faith at all, it’s just an idea.
So the question is: How much certainty is sufficient
to qualify as faith? The answer revolves around whether or not that understanding
of reality empowers a person to act on it, to lean into it, to engage life from
within it. Faith that leads to action is genuine faith.
One of the ways to evaluate whether the faith a
person claims to have is helpful or not is to perhaps evaluate the kind of
action that it prompts. If that faith empowers one to act in harmony with the
universal principles of love and compassion and service to others, than that
faith is based upon a meaningful world view (assuming that love and compassion
and service are truly life-enhancing universal principles). And most people of
faith would make that assumption.
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