Category: Christian Living

One common area of concern for believers is finding the “will of God.” Usually, this means that we don’t know exactly which course to take or which decision to make, and would like God to tell us clearly which is the “right one” in order for us to avoid as much discomfort as possible. Some decisions are clear, and don’t require such searching for God’s will: a career in prostitution, for example, is not an option for a believer, nor is life as a master thief. We don’t need to “find God’s will” when faced with such options.

When faced with decisions for which the Bible doesn’t clearly provide answers, however, we sometimes speak of “stepping out on faith” that the course we take or decision we make is the “right one” that God will bless for us. The Bible certainly seems to use such language: we “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7); “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). Additionally, in the “faith hall of fame” in Hebrews 11, we are told that several of the faith heroes “stepped out in faith,” as it were, such as Abraham when he left Ur at God’s command and later offered Isaac as a sacrifice, and Noah when he built an ark for an ocean that did not yet exist.

Yet we should take care when we characterize certain of life’s decisions or options as the same sort of walking by faith that Abraham and Noah did, especially when there is, in fact, a different  way in which we actually do step out in faith in like fashion. Let me explain.

When we talk about “stepping out on faith,” it is usually in a situation such as beginning a new career, starting a new business, or even proposing marriage (or accepting a proposal). The one who has lost his job of many years and is faced with selecting a new and different income opportunity is said to “step out on faith” that God will bless his choice. The one who has decided to go into business for himself is said to “step out on faith” that God will make this new business fruitful for supporting his family. The one who buys the ring and pops the question is said to “step out on faith” that she is “the one” that God has for him.

The difficulty is that these situations – as significant and potentially life-altering as they are for us – are nothing like what the Bible describes as walking by faith.

Abraham, for instance, was given a specific command by God to leave Ur. He “stepped out in faith” that God knew the destination, even though Abraham didn’t, and that God could fulfill his promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations, though the circumstances didn’t look that way at all. And Abraham was given a specific command by God to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham “stepped out in faith” that God could, potentially, raise Isaac from the dead, and that even if he did not, God could somehow, someway, nevertheless do what he had promised to do, even though Abraham could not see the solution himself.

Noah was given a specific command by God to build an ark. He “stepped out in faith” that God could forecast the weather even though there had never been the sort of water on earth that would require a boat.

Both men were prepared to face the consequences of obedience to God’s explicit command, even though they could not anticipate what those consequences would be, and whether or not those consequences would be pleasant or miserable for them. For us, the equivalent would be if God tells someone in as clear and as simple terms that he is to quit his job and move to Africa. In that situation, he would be “stepping out on faith” to turn in his resignation, sell his house, and purchase passage across the ocean without knowing what his task would be, where he would live, and how he would support himself.

This sounds romantic and all very “spiritual.” The problem is that we can’t count on God talking to men this way any longer. We believe that God has revealed himself and his will for man in the Scriptures, the Bible. Of course, the Bible does not contain specific answers for every decision we face, though in it God reveals a few specific aspects of his will for us that shape and guide how we live our live on a day-to-day basis. For instance, God wills that men be saved (2 Peter 3:9); that his people be wise (Ephesians 5:17-18); that believers be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4); that Christians be submitting  (1 Peter 2:13-15); and that we be rejoicing/suffering (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Does God want you to start a business? If it doesn’t violate salvation, wisdom, sanctification, submission or suffering, go for it!

Outside specific commands that we not sin, and outside these general expressions of God’s will for us, we are to choose among the many options that face us daily according to wisdom granted to us through the study of his Word and the operation of the Holy Spirit, and obey where there are explicit commands. Therefore, undertaking a new career path is not so much “stepping out on faith” as it is attempting to “walk in wisdom” in an area that God has given us a range of viable options.

Is there any sense, then, in which modern-day believers “step out on faith”? Absolutely.

The businessman who is asked to cook the company’s books must honor the biblical admonitions against theft and false witness. He “steps out on faith” that obeying God is in his best interest, despite the potential of losing his job and standard of living.

The parents who are tempted to give in to “the terrible two’s” (or “they’re just boys,” or the pre-teen syndrome, or the teen years) must consider God’s command for them to “bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.” They “step out on faith” that the long hours, hard work, and sacrifice (yes, parents…sacrifice!) is God’s best and in their children’s best interest.

The believer who is introverted, shy and has trouble speaking in public must nevertheless obey Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations” through personal evangelism and witnessing. He “steps out on faith” that any persecution he receives, or discomfort he experiences is worth being faithful to his Lord and participating in God’s call of his people for salvation.

Obeying the commands of Jesus Christ, therefore, require us to “step out on faith.” Let’s exercise faith in that respect before we speak of “stepping out” in what amount to matters of wisdom.

Copyright 2013 Rob Faircloth

Russell Moore has a good article about Halloween and how people of different Christian persuasions treat it. See where you fit on Moore’s spectrum:

An evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for Halloween.

A conservative evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up for the church’s “Fall Festival.”

A confessional evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as Zwingli and Bucer for “Reformation Day.”

A revivalist evangelical is a fundamentalist whose kids dress up as demons and angels for the church’s Judgment House community evangelism outreach.

An Emerging Church evangelical is a fundamentalist who has no kids, but who dresses up for Halloween anyway.

A fundamentalist is a fundamentalist whose kids hand out gospel tracts to all those mentioned above.

I’ve always wondered why churches sponsor “Trunk or Treat” activities and “Fall Festivals.” The kids are dressing up, and there is lots of candy, so there is little to distinguish them from Halloween celebrations other than the fact that they occur on church property and no one speaks to strangers.

OK, so I get the fact that putting on costumes, playing games, and eating lots of candy is fun. But there is already a day for that: Halloween.

Some churches would say that they do Trunk or Treat and Fall Festival in order to provide a safer alternative to Halloween, and to provide opportunity to reach out to the unchurched community and witness the gospel to those participating in the activities.

But here’s a little test. Today is Halloween. It’s also Wednesday, the traditional mid-week, prayer/supper/Bible study day for many churches. How many of your churches are having Trunk or Treat or Fall Festival today? And how many faithful Trunk or Treat and Fall Festival participants will be noticeably absent from church services tonight?

I’m just asking.

Peter challenges his readers in 1 Peter 2:2-3 with a reference to newborn infants. But here he is not calling them “babies” as a pejorative to challenge them to grow with respect to biblical truth (Hebrews). Here, Peter calls them — and us — to be “like babies” with respect to pure spiritual milk.

“Pure spiritual milk” here is the Word of God, the teaching of the gospel, revealed truth.

And followers of Christ are to crave that Word as an infant craves it’s mother’s milk. Here are a few things we should remember in keeping with Peter’s imagery:

Infants don’t need to be told to crave milk. Parents don’t typically waste time suggesting to the baby “try it you’ll like it,” or “drain your bottle and you can go ride your bike.” Infants know — with a God-placed desire — that it needs milk to survive and thrive. Believers should be the same toward the Bible.

Infants don’t need fancy methods to consume milk.Despite angled bottles, PBA-free plastic, and a plethora of nipple apertures (you parents know what I’m talking about), God designed a very simple method of delivering a mother’s milk to the baby. We, too, get distracted sometimes with the various Bible-reading tools, when the simplest thing is to simply read the Bible.

Infants are single-minded in their focus on getting milk. Sure, infants are troubled by gas and need to be burped. Sure, milk is digested and produces by-products (hopefully) caught in the diaper. But for the infant, the burping and digesting and eliminating is all simply creating space for more milk. That is focused devotion. Believers should be as concerned to consume the Word.

Infants don’t confine their consumption of milk to a schedule. For some believers, the schedule of Bible consumption is merely weekly: they might hear a little bit on Sunday morning. For some, the schedule includes Bible reading during quiet times and devotions. But a schedule is a schedule, and we would be very concerned if an infant only desired milk for thirty minutes before work each day. Babies consume milk anytime, anywhere. Believers, take note.

Infants aren’t concerned with who sees them nursing. Nursing mothers are understandably sensitive to the time and place that they feed the baby, because of others who might be around. Unwanted attention could be embarrassing for all involved. But have you ever seen an infant check for privacy before nursing? Do you avoid carrying your Bible because of what people will think? Would you only read it at lunch if you could hide it behind the newspaper?

If newborns and infants don’t crave milk, we know that something is terribly wrong.

Crave the Word.

Proverbs 27:5 says “Better is open rebuke, than hidden love.”

Really? Who welcomes open rebuke? Who welcomes hidden rebuke?

Who even welcomes rebuke that really looks like something else altogether?

All of us have had the experience in which we ask, perhaps only in our mind and to ourselves, “what does he or she really think of me?” He or she may, in fact, have great affection or love for you, but the unknown renders the reality ineffectual.

Charity toward another — “love” in the Proverb — is not meant to be hidden. Love is to be expressed. Or demonstrated. This is why we should be quick to understand love not merely as emotion, or feeling, but as the emotion or feeling expressed and demonstrated toward its object.

One might even say that love as emotion and feeling is not true love until it is expressed toward its object.

“Love consists in this…that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10, CSB).

So, as with many Proverbs, the truth is in the comparison. Hidden love is relatively worthless, both to the one holding it and the one (not) receiving it. Open rebuke, by comparison, at least has value, even if only to confirm where the rebuker stands.