What is faith?
Kevin Knox is the pastor of Mosaic Berkeley. On the video podcast for “Broken Finances” he is highlighted in a video clip. Where it fit in the overall service at Mosaic L.A. I do not know, but on the video podcast it occurred between Greg Soohoo’s sermon and Gary Natisch’s interview.
Kevin shared many things about his life, but what I wanted to focus on was his definition of faith. He put it like this:
A better question is what does it mean to have faith? I think for a long-time people have decided that faith is all about beliefs, is all about some sort of theology, and faith has less to do with what it is you believe and more to do with what it is that your doing with your life. In fact I think that faith is dead without risk…In taking great risks I’m living a life of great faith.”
Now when I consider the teaching that comes out of Mosaic my first question is always, where in the Bible does it teach …? In bringing that question to Kevin’s comments I have to ask where in the Bible does it say that faith without risk is dead? Now I know what your going to say, James tells us that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:18), but is Kevin teaching the same faith as James and the rest of the Bible teaches?
In order to determine if Kevin’s definition is correct we must first determine what Kevin is saying about faith and then compare it with the Scriptures.
Kevin says that faith is less about beliefs and more about what we do, but is faith what we do or is what we do an evidence of the faith in our life? If we consider Kevin’s statement we could conclude that if someone is “doing” something that they have faith. Kevin makes that clear when he states that his great risk is a life of great faith. The problem with this thinking is there are many people who are doing “great” things, but they have no faith at all. So then “doing” does not produce faith, nor is it always an evidence of faith. The kind of person that James is talking about is the one who claims to have faith, but not just any kind of faith, but faith in God.
Kevin is right in saying that faith is not only about belief. James tells us that even the demons believe in God. But neither is faith about “risk.” The faith that the Bible calls us to first is faith IN Christ. The object of our faith is the primary concern of the scriptures. Faith in the Christ who lived a perfect life that I could not life, who died on the cross in my place, taking on the wrath of God which was reserved for me, bearing the penalty of my sin. He died and rose from the dead on the third day so that his righteousness could be imputed to me, not by my works, but by grace through faith, a gift of God, so that my boasting is in the Lord only. In response to such a great love, grace and mercy I evidence my faith by the good works I do which include but are not limited to being a good father to my children, being a faithful husband to my wife, to financially provide for my family, and to be faithful in teaching the Word of God to those God has entrusted to me as their pastor. Good works can also include such things as digging wells in Africa, giving shoes to the children of Ethiopia, and bringing food rations to the poverty stricken in Asia. However, none of these good works will have eternal value unless I also and primarily make my faith about the proclamation of the facts of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So then faith is not about what we do, but who we have faith in for our salvation. Any other definition of faith is lacking the true biblical perspective and puts peoples eyes on the wrong object – what they do instead of what Christ has done.
Mosaic Madness 