Monthly Archives: July 2013

“Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.” John 20:29

Have you ever taken a leap of faith? The “leap of faith” is a commonly used phrase to describe the final act of a person to believe that a particular direction is in keeping with God’s will. It apparently dates back to Kierkegaard, who actually wrote “leap to faith.” The phrase was his description of the final act of will to embrace the paradoxes of the Christian faith.

In other words, you take a leap of faith when the commitment seems unlikely, un-provable, or counter-intuitive. We come to the end of a process of analysis and find a cliff. Something does not make sense. At that point, you embrace faith and make the leap.

Now have you ever made a leap of faith? I have to say, I can’t think of a time when I have. That may surprise you, but after hearing the phrase a number of times in different contexts, I believe it is overused and misapplied. Let me explain.

To say that we often must make a leap of faith implies that God has left a great chasm between you and the truth or direction you seek. But is that the case? Not at all. Yes, some aspects of the Christian life require tremendous trust and commitment, but I don’t find any of the Christian life or faith lacking considerable empirical support.

Even at the beginning of faith, when a person first commits to Christ, even that act is not really a leap against all logic and evidence. When faced squarely, sin has made a mess of our lives, we cannot adequately “forgive ourselves,” communion with a holy and perfect God is beyond our ability. Those few bits of rational evidence lead me to believe that we do need a Savior, and if I survey history there was one Man who lived a sinless life, assured us of a good and loving God, and offered forgiveness through His death. Then, of course, we have the empirical evidence of His resurrection. Are we really left at that point with a giant chasm that defies reason? Not at all. So the leap of faith may not really be a leap at all, just a step toward God in which we move away from self and into His embrace.

Now I do not want to quibble with the phrase when used on the grand scale of salvation, but I do want to object to its rather common use to describe many decisions and commitments we make as Christians. Staying faithful to your spouse is not a leap of faith. Neither is attending church, or tithing, or acting with integrity in your business. Forsaking gossip is not a leap of faith. Living graciously and showing kindness do not require a leap of faith.

There are many times when we must take a step of faith that brings us closer to God’s will in our lives, but even at that point God has given us tremendous encouragement and proof. For example, remember the power of scripture: “the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8), and “the word of God is living and active” (Heb. 12). If a particular direction is in keeping with the principles we find in God’s word, then you do not need to make a leap of faith. Or pay attention to the counsel of trusted Christian friends. God often speaks through His servants to His servants (Prov. 15:22). I rely heavily on grace-filled brothers and sisters in Christ to offer wise counsel.

Too often we are like the rich man in Luke 16 who, after his death, begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to warn them. Abraham’s response is that God already had provided sufficient direction. Signs would not help when faith is required. We may want signs, but God provide signposts. In fact, I find these all around me, showing me the directions I must go.

So I prefer the phrase “a step of faith” to “a leap of faith” because I simply do not think that God often requires us to do something that is utter nonsense. We use the spiritual gifts of discernment, wisdom, knowledge, and, yes, faith to submit one other area of our lives more deeply to God’s will and purpose. So do not wait for signs of what you should do. Jesus discouraged this. But look for the signposts. They are clear. Follow them, step by step into the joy for which your Father created you.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

July 14, 2013

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

We usually think of habits as actions we repeatedly take. They are part of our schedule and routine. Exercising, eating, shopping for groceries, reading the newspaper, etc. We truly are creatures of habit. Routine works well for most of us.

More important than the physical habits, however, are the mental habits we fall into or consciously develop. These are the "mind habits," or the usual ways we think. Scientists call mind habits our cognitive style.

In the NT we find many references to the mind and the way we think. Paul, a philosopher/theologian, used the terms for mind and thinking frequently some 23 times in his letters. Typical is our verse from Philippians for this week's GraceWaves: "have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." The word connotes an attitude or disposition based on careful and continual thought.

Broadly, Paul wrote of the mind in two important ways. First is the idea that God transforms our minds. The best known example of this is "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). God is obviously the one who does the transforming in this instance. Without question God is at work in you. Changing your mind habits is partly God's responsibility.

The second and more common way Paul wrote of thinking is exhorting readers adopt certain habits of the mind. That is the emphasis throughout Philippians. We bring effort and discipline to our minds. We have a role in forming our mind habits.

Think of it as walking across your yard. If you walk the same path repeatedly day after day you will wear a path. You may walk a different way occasionally, but your habit is to go one particular way.

The same is true of your thinking. We develop "pathways" that become our mind habits, and Paul wrote repeatedly of disciplining our minds to think in ways that honor God. Consequently these godly mind habits are healthier for us. This is very important for several reasons.

First, many people don't realize they have a role in changing their thinking. It's enormously difficult, but very possible to develop new habits of the mind that are much holier and healthier. Not everyone has the same ability to do this, and we all face obstacles. Some people have depression. Others have a family history of negative and critical attitudes. Nevertheless, difficulty does not mean impossibility. Whatever the obstacles, you still have tremendous power to develop your mind habits.

Second, your pattern of thinking is self-fulfilling. Two students can fail an exam. One thinks "I'm awful. I am a failure." The other thinks, "I have to study harder or in a different way next time." They have both set a mental trajectory that is linked to their future actions and results. Having a good and hopeful opinion of yourself is not egotistical. In fact, based on what we read in the Bible, it is very much like God's opinion of you.

Third, your mind habits are contagious. Gerald Haeffel and Jennifer Hames, two Notre Dame psychologists, recently published a paper based on a very large study. They found negative temperaments tend to drag down people around them. No surprise there. But the very heartening discovery was that an upbeat temperament lifted people and helped them to be most positive and hopeful. Which would you prefer?

Now back to the NT text. To have the mind of Christ we must know the mind of Christ. His temperament, and I say this reverently, is grace-filled and eternally hopeful. Now that we know, or are reminded, that our mind habits are both malleable and effectual let's be about the business of changing them to be more like Christ's.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

July 8, 2013