Questions of Faith - Part One

How does Faith relate to the world in which we live?

In a way, the world in which we live only exists from and by faith. Without faith, what would our world be? This is, honestly, a question that I don't want to hear the answer to. Modern society, as corrupt as it is now, was based on pillars of faith. Many societies are based on The Ten Commandments, The Golden Rule, or other similar biblical principles. However, in modern times we seem to have forgotten our divine roots. Though I carry my own faith and can see God in everything, this is not the case for the entire world. One could argue that many aspects of our current world are, indeed, Godless. However, I know that, no matter how far gone we seem to be, there is no point in which we are unredeemable.

In the beginning of my junior year I was introduced to the famous works of Flannery O'Connor. Because it was only the start, I did not notice the outstanding theme that O'Connor portrays in almost every story. However, as the year progressed, I noticed that at least one, if not more, of the main characters is always offered redemption, no matter how iniquitous they were. This opened my eyes wider to the power of God's saving grace, and at that point I realized that this world, crumbling in it's prodigality, is far from unreachable.

In my reading of Don Richardson's Peace Child, this view of almighty mercy was intensified. I saw the horror of the cannibalistic Sawi, and after all of that, I saw the purity of God's redemption being poured out on them, embellished with God's love. This was the final piece of the puzzle for me to see that faith and God are all around me, and they reach out to everyone, not just believers.

As far as other relations go, faith is the like an invisible skeleton to our global community. In the places where language, race, culture, and education create clear separations among the people of this world, faith translates into every tongue, every nation, every custom, and every level of knowledge. Countless stories of idolatry and false gods fill the bible and history text books. This proves that man was created to worship, whether it be God or not, we were created with that desire. We created society with this need, and live life with it as well. In light of this, it is impossible to say that faith is not a part of the world in which we live.