If we were all being honest, we would say that we have at some point in our lives had a moment of doubt in our walk with Christ. Perhaps, we faced a rough period in our lives, maybe we were praying and felt like God wasn’t listening. Sometimes, it may even be we are faced with something in the world that doesn’t seem to match up with scripture and we are forced to make a decision. Do we trust the Bible or do we trust whatever theory or study we are looking at? I would venture to say people who call themselves atheist or agnostic do so because they have 1 or more areas where they find reason to doubt, and they have never been able to reconcile it. How are Christians meant to handle these doubts? We have all heard the term blind faith; it gets thrown around a lot. I hear it used in Christian circles as some sort of standard we should be aiming for and then used by atheist as an insult to what they consider ignorance. So, what exactly is blind faith and is it really meant to be a part of my walk with Christ? Am I really expected to follow God blindly? Is blind faith a requirement for believing in God?
First, I think we need to clarify what I mean by blind faith. I have talked to a few people about this and we all seemed to have slight variations on what we considered blind faith to be. On Dictionary.com, blind faith is defined: belief without true understanding, perception or discrimination. This is the definition I am using. Many would use Abraham being called to sacrifice his son Isaac as an example of this type of faith in the Bible. If Abraham was required to have blind faith then it stands to reason, that we would be required to have blind faith as well. After all, God is the same yesterday, today and forever so if He expected blind faith then, He would certainly expect it now. Right?
God created man to be intelligent.
Well, we would have to look at whether or not Abraham was really being asked to exercise blind faith, but before we do that let’s look at some key aspects I think are pertinent to the conversation. First of all, God created man to be intelligent. We are self-aware, capable of logic, reasoning, abstract thought as well as having thoughts outside of ourselves and our own survival. God gave us this intelligence, which begs the question why would God create us to be intelligent if he was then going to ask us to ignore our intelligence and follow Him?
Secondly, in Psalms 19:1 we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Likewise Job 12:7-10 makes a similar point, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hands is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Considering these scriptures and many more like them we must realize that we are surrounded every minute of every day with reminders of God’s glory and power. The problem is that we are often in such a hurry that we never notice them.
Lastly, looking at John 9:39, “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Reading that, I would have to ask if Jesus came to give sight to the blind then why in the world would He turn around a require us to have blind faith? Now, you may read the last part of that sentence and think that he is referring to blind faith. But if you read the verse in context you will see that the Pharisees were there and listening and that phrase was really meant for them and all the others that think they know the truth without knowing Jesus Christ. Christ is going to give them a chance to realize just how blind they are so they can finally see the truth.
Now let’s look at the story of Abraham and Isaac with those things in mind. I’m sure the way that most remember the story is:
God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham takes Isaac up the mountain prepared to sacrifice his son as he was instructed, but just as he goes to perform the sacrifice God stops him and shows him a ram that has been caught in the thicket and the ram is sacrificed sparing Isaac.
I would say that is a decent outline of the story, but the problem with a summary is important moments are always left out as is the case here. For instance, before going up to the mountain Abraham tells his servant to wait here, we (meaning him and his son) will go up and worship and we will be back (Genesis 22:5) showing that Abraham while he was obeying God didn’t expect to lose his son. Then to go even farther Isaac asks Abraham where the actual sacrifice is and Abraham responds by telling him that God would provide the lamb. Some may say that Abraham was lying to keep from scaring Isaac, but I don’t think this is the case. Actually, I think Abraham told Isaac exactly what he expected to happen. If Abraham really thought he was about to kill Isaac he would have been a mess, because he loved Isaac, which would have scared the child. Isaac seems confused, not scared, because Abraham was calm. Abraham was calm not because he was cold-hearted, but because he truly expected God to provide a lamb.
You may read that and think Abraham expecting God to provide a lamb when he was told to sacrifice his son is just an example of the most blind faith of all. You may think that Abraham was blindly trusting God’s love to show through and spare him the deep despair that killing his own son would cause. However in order for that to be true, we would have to separate this story from the rest of Abraham’s life and this story isn’t separated from his life; it is simply a part of the greater story. A story that began with God promising to give and old man and his old barren wife Sarah a son and promising that from Abraham God would make a great nation. In fact, if we look at Hebrews 11:17-19 it actually tells us that Abraham had embraced the promise of God that from him would be a great nation. Therefore, when God tested him requiring Isaac as a sacrifice, it tells us “Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” It wasn’t blind faith that led Abraham up that mountain with his son; it was his trust in God’s promise and his reasoning that God wouldn’t strip him of the son and the great nation that he had promised.
Let me put it like this: my children expect my wife and I to provide them with meals and snacks every day. We don’t have to tell them we are going to feed them they assume it, but I don’t think anybody would accuse my children of having blind faith. We have always fed them from the day they were born and we have always ensured they had plenty to eat. They are simply allowing their past experiences inform their current and future expectations. We all have certain expectations and make decisions like this all the time. We would never call it blind faith in our daily lives so why do we attempt to call it blind faith concerning God?
Does God expect us to follow and obey even if we don’t have all the answers? Yes! Absolutely! No doubt about it!
Listen, The idea of blind faith may seem like a fantastic idea, but it isn’t what God expects or wants from us. Does God expect us to follow and obey even if we don’t have all the answers? Yes! Absolutely! No doubt about it! But, with the knowledge of his power, love, mercy and the constant reminders of his glory, is it really even possible for us to have blind faith? He has surrounded us with reminders to ensure that we don’t need it. If you remember the story of Gideon (Judges chapter 6), after hearing a message from God, he asked God to make a fleece wet and the ground it was on dry if what he heard was really true. The next morning the fleece was wet and the ground dry, but still not satisfied, Gideon asked God to make the fleece dry and ground wet if the message was really true. Again, God made the fleece dry and the ground wet in order to reassure Gideon that He would be with him on his mission. This isn’t an isolated incident in the Bible of somebody asking God for a sign and the sign being provided. Does that sound like God wants us to have blind faith? Seems to me He is more than willing to ensure that we don’t need it.
He doesn’t want the blind leading the blind. He wants us to have an intelligent faith so we can lead people to him and help them see the truth.
Not only is blind faith not what God expects or desires for us but it is actually a disservice to God. Remember 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. It would be hard to give a reason for the hope that you have if you are just operating on blind faith. He doesn’t want the blind leading the blind. He wants us to have an intelligent faith so we can lead people to him and help them see the truth. In fact, I would go even farther and say that He doesn’t just want us to have an intelligent faith but a pro-active faith. By pro-active, I mean a faith actively seeking the truth. We aren’t just sitting around waiting for somebody to give us some new information, we aren’t just assuming what people tell us is accurate we are checking the facts and information ourselves. As a result of this active search for the truth, we will begin to realize we can’t just let a lie stand. We will have a deep desire to challenge it and attempt to bring those that believe it to the truth.
If you don’t answer those doubts and questions when they first come up I can pretty much promise, once you hit that low Satan will start to bring those doubts back up.
A person with “blind faith” might see a scientific study that goes against their worldview and although it raises some questions in their mind, they just shove it to the side and continue on. They don’t acknowledge their doubts; they don’t attempt to answer their questions. They just tell themselves that God has to be right and keep on living their life. They may be reading the Bible and read something that seems like a contradiction but they just ignore the doubt and questions in their mind and continue reading because the Bible has to be right. At the time it would seem fine, it may even seem commendable. After all, they are whole heartedly trusting God and not allowing anything to shake their faith. Chances are you ignoring the doubts won’t have any immediate consequence because if you are reading the Bible you are most likely in a good place in terms of your relationship with Jesus. However, times change and all Christians know that we have ups and downs not only in life in general, but our spiritual life as well. If you don’t answer those doubts and questions when they first come up I can pretty much promise, once you hit that low Satan will start to bring those doubts back up. Whispering in your ear telling you it is all a lie. He will take those lingering doubts and unanswered questions no matter how small and insignificant they may seem and he will add to them and expand them until he can use them to place a wedge between you and God.
If Jesus is the truth and he came to testify to the truth then I can understand why the secular world is so afraid of it but why do so many Christians seem scared of the truth?
Refusing to make the effort to find the truth even when you are faced with your own doubts isn’t blind faith it is lazy faith. Don’t be lazy, instead take a more pro-active approach. A person with pro-active faith placed in the same situations as the ones above would have immediately starting digging until they found the answers that satisfied them. Jesus told Pilate that he came to testify to the truth. (John 18:37) He also said he was the way the truth and the life. (John 14:6) If Jesus is the truth and he came to testify to the truth then I can understand why the secular world is so afraid of it but why do so many Christians seem scared of the truth? The only reason I can think of besides laziness that we wouldn’t look into our doubts and satisfy our curiosity is because we are afraid of what we are going to find. However, I can tell you from experience, if you start down a journey of answering your own questions not only will you be amazed at the answers you find, but it often gives you an even better appreciation for God’s glory and in the end strengthens your relationship. Once you seek for the truth a couple times and find these awesome bits of information and start to understand and know God better you start to hunger for the truth. If we had more Christians who were truly pro-active in their faith and hungering for the truth the world would be a far different place. Unfortunately we have a lot of blind, lazy and complacent faith in our culture. God was pro-active in creating the world and sending his son to us. Jesus was pro-active in His teaching, His obedience and sacrificing himself. The Holy Spirit is pro-active in speaking and leading us to the truth. Go through scripture look at Paul, David, Moses, Abraham, John, the list goes on and on. They were all pro-active in their faith. They all acted on what they knew and they sought clarity for the things they didn’t know or understand.
God was pro-active in creating the world and sending his son to us. Jesus was pro-active in His teaching, His obedience and sacrificing himself. The Holy Spirit is pro-active in speaking and leading us to the truth.
Like I said earlier, a person with pro-active faith would actively seek the truth and as a result would no longer be able to ignore the lies of the world. They would have a strong desire to bring others to the truth of Jesus Christ. Do you know what we call a person like that in our culture today? Christian Apologists. And as your faith becomes more pro-active and you start hungering for truth that is what you will become. Perhaps not on the same level as Ravi Zacharias or Lee Strobel, but undoubtedly a pro-active faith would lead you to sharing the truth with others and isn’t that exactly what God has commanded us to do? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19) Its time we got pro-active and followed the examples of those before us. It’s time we sought the truth and shared it with the world.
“You will know the truth and the truth you will set you fee” (John 8:32)
