A New Beginning by Michael Phillips

Author:Michael Phillips [Phillips, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042030, FIC042000, FIC026000
ISBN: 9781441229533
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

What Comprises Faith?

On Christopher’s second Sunday as pastor he again took the pulpit.

“Last week I said that we would talk together about the three cornerstones of Christianity as I see it,” he said. “Today let us consider the second of the questions I posed: What comprises the walk of faith?

“Is faith a so-called belief system, or is it what we do? Do we live faith with our brains and minds . . . or with sweat and muscles, with hands and feet?”

Christopher paused and waited, but no one spoke up.

“You will probably already know the answer I intend to give,” he said at length.

“I believe in the intense practicality of the Christian walk of faith. Yes, I believe faith is lived out by hands and feet during the six days of our labor, not with our brains on the Sabbath day of our rest.

“Nothing about the Christian walk of faith is abstract.

“Hear the words from Jesus’ own mouth. If I can say it without seeming irreverent, how unpious they sound. They do not strike one as the words of a religious teacher, but rather a very down-to-earth and practical man. His instructions were very basic, and nearly all concerned themselves with how we are to live. Few of them have to do with the intellect.

“Listen to what Jesus tells us to do—lend money when asked, visit those in prison, don’t envy, do good, show mercy, feed the hungry, treat others kindly, pray to your Father in heaven, speak graciously, take accountability for your actions, love your neighbor, do to others what you would like them to do to you.

“Every one of these commands is something we could walk out of this church right now . . . and do.

“Does a man or woman come to me with some notion concerning Christianity with no do attached to it? I will reply that it is not a ‘Christian’ thing at all—at least insofar as we presently understand it. To bring any thought or doctrine or principle under the umbrella of the Christian faith, we must find the do-ness of it, or else it is a dead idea that will wither and dry up and blow away in the wind.

“We must not merely find the do-ness with our brains and then satisfy ourselves that we have discovered truth. The whole purpose of our childship under the Fatherhood of God is that we do what the Father’s children are supposed to do. That’s what children do—they do as their good Father tells them.

“We have to find the practical element in every Christian idea principle . . . and then do it.

“This is called nothing more nor less than obedience.

“Obedience is the structural foundation of life within the Father’s family. Is God truly our Father? Does he truly love us? Is he truly good and utterly to be trusted?

“What other response can there be, then, than to obey him?

“Do I want to do what I myself want, not what someone else tells me to do? Such a creed is destined to bring me misery, unhappiness, and ruin.

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