The Meaning of Faith

For many, faith is an uneasy concept to grasp. In business it is rarely a topic for discussion. For the prejudiced and uninformed, faith has been used as an antagonist agent. Take for example what I recently found at a quote website I visited. The quote read, “The alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short circuit destroying the mind.” There were an enormous amount of positive quotes about faith that out numbered the few like this one which neither educated nor edified. I pondered the words and reflected for a moment on the poor soul who anonymously left the quote. I felt sorry for this person for if they only understood the real intent of the concept “faith” they would instead be so inspired, so encouraged, so filled with hope, and empowered.

Consider “faith” outside the context of religion for just a few moments if you can. My selected quote today is from one of the 66 books found in the bible. It is believed to be written by the apostle Paul. A secular reading of it says: “Faith is the assured expectations of things hoped for, the evident demonstrations of realities though not beheld.” – Hebrews 11:1. There is no mystique here for me, no magical, mystical convoluted words to be easily misrepresented. It is a clear and simple definition. One that could be, and should be put in our secular dictionaries.

However for those that may be stuck with this wrong-faith-concept let me de-mystify it for you. Saying it another way, knowing for sure that the thing(s) hoped for will happen is faith. Entire businesses are built on this concept. For example, a metal paint shop such as one I worked in when I was 18 years of age assembles painted fuse boxes. At one end of the line is the finished fuse box; at the beginning of the line is a flat sheet of stamped metal that has to look like a fuse box when it is finished. When I worked there the boss had faith that his sheet metal was going to look like a fuse box at the end after the workers applied their skills and labor to that box that passed through the moving conveyor belt. It always came out a fuse box at the end. I know it because I was there and I witnessed it. I did my part by applying the paint to the surface of that box.

Faith is the “assured expectation of things hoped for”… did that not happen in the case of the painted fuse boxes? Was faith needed to build those fuse boxes? Yes at first definitely. Well perhaps there were some doubters, but the boss knew it would happen for a certainty, and so did the linemen I worked with. Now let me throw some confusion into it. The day I started the job, it took faith for me to believe that a few men and women along with me, were going to turn that sheet metal into a painted fuse box outside of a few minutes. But, as I got used to the job, I had proof certain that we would produce such an object, and so knowledge did away with faith. I no longer needed faith as certain knowledge continued to grow and replaced faith.

The greater the proposed invisible object to build, the greater the faith required. Imagine walking onto a submarine base where they actually build the nuclear class attack subs, or imagine walking into a jet airplane manufacturing company like Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and realizing for the first time that you would have to contribute to the building of the aircraft. Imagine the faith that recquires?

Another example is a simpler one, but one that brings more of the miracle aspect into it. You can buy a packet of corn seeds in a store. You can build a mound of soil in your garden and plant those seeds in the mound. You can water that ground for 6 to 12 weeks and you are going to get tall stalks of corn come the end of that growing season. You had faith it would happen, or you applied faith in “the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld” to put it the way the good book says. Now in this case there is a miracle going on because you really don’t know how this seed turns into a tall corn stalk. That’s why it will always take a small degree of faith to grow something because there is never a certain knowledge that can displace faith. You will never know how that seed turns into a corn stalk. However, a biologist or a horticulturist would posses more knowledge and would require less faith to believe.

With every grain of knowledge one acquires, a piece of faith is no longer needed. For example, let’s say that cousin Jenny heard about this phenomenon of growing a corn stalk out of seeds from her cousin Earl. She knows Earl to be a man with sterling qualities and he has never lied. That might be enough for Jenny to believe. She still would need faith, but less of it to believe.

Well now let’s talk about the reasons why faith can do remarkable things like inspire, or encourage, or empower someone. It’s because faith is a building block, plain and simple. We don’t need it forever, but as observed it is essential for a while till it gets us to certain knowledge about a thing, and then more knowledge. When we have a dream to do something, without faith we can not get it done. That’s why it is so destructive for someone to say “faith is only a short circuit destroying the mind.” Faith is essential for the mind to grow; otherwise we would eliminate many possibilities in life. Faith is needed as we hope for the thing we believe will happen. Faith says, “Well, I saw a plant grow, so this is possible too!” Just words of faith that one speaks to one’s self are the coaching words that are needed to sustain us through times that may seem dark. I remember watching the Super Bowl last week. The favored Patriots lost to a 5 seed pick team (the Giants) who worked their way back by winning their last 10 road games. In the final quarter when it was a 3 point difference, the Pats were leading, Eli Manning of the Giants threw this wild pass after re-appearing from out of a pack of Patriot defenders only to be caught almost miraculously by David Tyree. This miraculous catch set up the easy last Giant touchdown which won them the game. This pass and catch has been called the miraculous play on http://NFL.com. Take a moment and view the highlight on film.

This game illustrates more than any way I can explain the benefits of applying faith. The Giants saw in their mind the invisible possibility of winning. Even though they were down and out ready to lose by 3 points that Giants had faith and they used that temporary stepping stone to get them their win at Super Bowl 42 this year.

It is difficult to believe in things we can not see. Think about it, 100 years ago you would have thought it was crazy that someone could have electricity, drive in a car, fly a plane, travel to the moon and back. It’s amazing! Computers that can talk to each other instantaneously (Instant Messaging), wireless telephone devices that you can talk to people anywhere on the planet as you walk down the street, all these things would require immense faith 100 years ago. Most people would say, no way you can’t do that. Can you see the enormous advantage in having faith? If all of mankind were without it, we would have never progressed to the level we are with inventions. Someone saw the vision of such things in their minds and though they did not exist, they had assured expectations that it would come to be. But it is so hard to believe in things we can not see. Faith gives us a stepping stone. It says “I’m sure”.

Now if you are bold enough, bring religion back into our discussion for one moment. Do you see how important it is to have stepping stones to believe some of the things you are asked to believe in your religion? It takes a huge amount of faith. But I will promise you this, keep applying faith to that which is not seen and you will see with your own two eyes miracles that even our greatest elders of times past have longed to see but were denied. We are living in a time of miracles. You haven’t seen anything yet! Keep applying faith and watch your strength grow. You too will become empowered, and when you do you will strengthen your brothers.