2008 Note:  I wrote this in 2002 about 6 months before Mike Breen started preaching on ‘Faith is spelt S.U.R.E’ at St Thomas’ - I felt quite happy about that at the time not in any kind of proud way but just felt affirmed that I was hearing God & his message for our church and that I wasn’t on a random tangent.

I’ve been thinking about that thing that people often quote when talking about faith, “Faith is spaelt R.I.S.K.” The more I think about this, the more evidence I gain for a supposition that this really couldn’t be further from the truth. The actual dictionary definition of the word faith varies considerably through the 8 dictionaries I’ve looked it up in - most talking about loyalty to, reliance upon, though one spoke about a “belief founded without evidence“. Cheeky! There were other untruths like faith being having something to do with a mental assent of some kind. For the purpose of this ramble, we’ll think of faith as ‘reliance upon’ and ‘loyalty to’.

Faith, according to Romans 10, comes from ‘hearing a message from Christ which comes through the written word of God*’. The kingdom offers to break in - it’s just a question of submission from here on in. You hear a message from Christ, (either through the bible, or through friends/family, or direct to you as a sense (through all your filters, experiences, nature and language, etc.), or observation of his work around you, etc.)…  You hear a message from Christ and according to Hebrews 11 it takes one of two formats.

The message is a message of absolute truth: hard, solid, reality - more real than the world you see around you, and quite frankly, more reliable than the world around you. A simple, typical example is the faith I have that I am fully accepted, (because Christ says I am accepted) where the world would say you need to be xyz to be accepted and belong. Perhaps it’s about the future, and God gives you insight into his will. Here God is offering you something, just like personal vision/prophesy, the default is that it is offered to you rather than placed upon you irrespective of your will & choice - you see it is more about submitting to his will/accepting his plan than it is anything else.

Sometimes the message is an insight into seeing something (you, friends, situations, the world, whatever) the way it actually is - the way that God sees it. I hate it when people, even in a non-patronisting way, say “You’re beautiful in God’s eyes”. The last 3 words in that sentence, “in God’s eyes”, are absolutely redundant and indicative of where the minister is - keeping the way that God sees things out of reality, when actually, the way that God sees things is reality - if our perception of reality differs from God’s perception of reality we decieve ourselves. Thankfully God understands we that we have poor insight and incorrect perceptions but when God does give us his insight he also challenges us to submit our perceptions, and where they came from, to Him to be remoulded!

When God gives us insight into his perception of reality, our response must be to put our reliance and loyalty, our action, our faith, upon it - or to put another way, we would be taking a risk if you put our faith in our own perception and not in God’s insight. Faith is spelt N.O.R.I.S.K: 2 Corinthians 5v17. When we don’t submit to the challenge that God’s insight brings, perhaps the word falling on deaf ears, or just plain not accepting it, then we don’t hear the word (listen and take on board), so that word cannot bring faith.

The only risk that appears is where you get the word from/the accuracy of the word, and that is the primary form of attack from the devil - we know this because it literally was the first form of attack from the devil in the garden of eden. “Did God really say…?” which also often reappears as “maybe I made that up - perhaps I shouldn’t eat tabacco for breakfast”, etc. Now, if the word comes from the the bible and is specific to a situation you can be 100% sure of it’s accuracy “Don’t kill people” being an adequate example. But when you’re thinking about specific situations that aren’t covered by the bible, it becomes increasingly hard to guarentee the sender of the word, and increases the opportunity for flakeyisms - seeing meaning in the flicker of a lightbulb, for example. My personal opinion is that if you put your faith in a word that you’re not 100% sure is from God you also need to put your faith in the intelligence and redemptive strength of God and be alert for a message - God is able to bring things to a head and turn us around if we are humble and poised for his input.

Besides. What do you have to lose?  What is there to risk?  Surely God owns everything, including your life. In the same way that he gave it to you he can take it away again, and then regive it if he so chooses. There are no risks with God - he’s too far ahead in the game.

I’ve rambled for far too long now. Summary: The way God percieves reality, is reality. Faith comes by receiving a message of God’s insight into reality or his will. That insight brings a challenge to submit, and our submission to his insight/to him lets him change us, our perception and even allow him to carry out his will in our lives.

*(c)2002 Parkins paraphrased and quite possibly heretical translation of the NIV.

Related posts
Faith is spelt N.O.R.I.S.K (part II)
Inclusivism, but not Pluralism
Gospel of Power not of words (Part 2)
Feeling Down?
The point of life and fruit that will last