drowning in ignorance

‘Faith is believing God and asking no questions,” reads a letter to the editor written in to the newspaper I work at.
When I called the gentleman who penned it to inquire about the source of the quote, which he had indicated was from the Bible, he explained that he read a book on faith years ago and he carries that quote around with him.

Pardon me while I scream and slam down the phone.

Now, I don’t know the name of the book, or of the idiot author who is either very messed up or does not know how to communicate well. Either way, please, please, please, never fall into this blind conservatism trap (or stay in Lancaster County, Pa. For too long).

Close consideration and exploration, the only kind, really, needs to be delved into in the scriptures. Not some book. Not some biased, self-shoving beliefs un-based in scripture book.

Lets take a look at a couple of stories. Some logically provided by my brilliant-as-ever husband.

First, my favorite: Abraham. Great Guy. Went from a two-syllable name to a three-syllable name, very significant with the whole God changing your name/identity bit there. God hung out with him, appeared randomly to him, promised him basically the world.
And yet, repeatedly, Abe questions. And not even the philosophical, debating, weighing options type of questions, shouting at the sky and all that (though I’m sure much of that was involved). He openly acted in doubt. He impregnated a concubine, doubting the very word of God from the Dude’s own lips! And this is not some stranger who God freaked out by appearing in a long-forgotten dream. This is a guy who knew God, personally, conversed with him, was hand-selected to build an entire nation of the world by Him. Seriously.

Next example: Joseph. Poor dude, this guy’s life story is rife with conflict, muckyness, and downright depression. Now, the moral of the story is that he trusted God to do what was best for him. The reality of the moral? You better believe when he was thrown down the well, left for dead, sold into slavery, sent to prison, etc., that he had some shouting matches with God. Joseph, though young and apparently colorful, was no pushover, he rose to be the second greatest commander in Egypt, a very power-hungry place! There is NO WAY Joseph didn’t question God’s plan. Not one iota of way there.

Lets skip to the new testament. What better example than Jesus himself? He trusted God, absolutely. He had faith. But he did not live his life as a door mat (pacifist, but not doormat). He literally said to his own father “please take this cup from me,” Hows that for questioning. Hey, the one thing you want me to do in this world? I’d be okay if you would just leave off, lets not and say we did. Wha…?! Yes, Jesus himself, man and God, questions his own destiny, his own faith in his own mission, the only mission to ever be able to save the world!

I am abstaining from the fourteen exclamation points now.

And those are just the stories with examples. That’s not even considering the directions specifically stated in scripture, like 1 Thess. 5:21, “prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” Or Acts chapter 17, when it talks about the church searching the scriptures to find proof for what they were being told.

People. Faith is trusting without concrete, tangible evidence, yes, but faith is not, and is not meant to be, trusting without conversation. Without asking, without exploring, without THINKING about what you believe. Heavens no, as my mother would say.

Faith is real. And real is dirty, gritty, doubtful, joyful, painful, fearful, triumphant. Faith is not believing and asking no questions. Faith is believing amidst the questions.