Focal Passage: Hebrews 11:1-7
Faith may be the most clearly defined term commonly used in the religious vernacular. In the dictionary, regardless of which version you use, you’ll find common words used in the definitions like “belief” and “fidelity.” Most dictionaries have as many as eight definitions of the word! From hymns we hear that faith is “the victory that overcomes the world” and that “our faith looks up to God.” And of course there is Hebrews 11:1, giving as clear a scriptural definition as one will find for any word used in the Bible.
And yet do we really know what it is to have faith? I mean of course we do, but can we “define it” such that others, specifically those without it, can know what we mean? If we explain that our faith is “what we believe in” then a pastor friend of mine has an interesting exercise which makes my point. He says that trying to explain to someone what you believe, is like trying to describe yellow to someone born blind. You simply can’t. None of the terms we would use to describe yellow work for someone who has never seen. Light, bright, pastel — those things mean nothing if you were born blind.
It is a good thing that faith is the evidence of things not seen. Faith is not something we can adequately describe; it is something we live. Faith is not something we can properly delineate; it is something we use to subsist. Our faith is how we live, not some vague part of who we are.
Faith is one of those things that, for Christians, you don’t need eyes to know it when you see it!