The Irony of Faith: A Confession, Criticism, and Call for Change

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7

What is faith? The answer depends on who you ask. Some people think faith is irrational. But we all believe in things that we cannot see or prove. For example, everyone believes that it takes 365.25 days for the Earth to orbit the sun once. But how many can prove it? Very few. We believe that there are 7 other planets out there but can the average person prove it? All we have are some photos of round things against a black background. Somebody else told us they were planets. I’m not starting some type of planet-conspiracy thing here. My point is that faith isn’t merely for the stupid. Everyone has faith in something be it science, medicine, money, the government, or Christ. The problem lies in identifying yourself as a Christian yet putting your faith in someone other than Christ.


Most Christians would define faith with the usual “belief in things not seen” answer. But the moment you ask them to have faith in something they want immediate physical proof, something they can see. I’ve contributed to the downfall of the title ‘Christian’ every time I searched for scientific proof to back the word of the most high. I’m disgraced by every ounce of vindication I felt when I heard that scientists believed they found pieces of Noah’s ark because it took a scientist to make me feel like my faith was justified. I wasn’t being Christian at all whenever I wondered why God couldn’t have left more “proof” for us- you know, Christ’s dental records and at least 3 signed eyewitness statements or maybe some type of eternal burning bush. Even nowadays when I wonder why He can’t just give us more “proof” I feel ashamed. “Proof” is nice, but the truth is there will never be enough of it to keep us satisfied. We’ll just keep asking for more until what we have is not faith, but merely proof and evidence from other people. Wait- I take that back. We’ll have faith. But it won’t be in God. It’ll be in scientists, doctors, politicians, businessmen, historians, and astronomers.

The ground was dry when Noah built his ark. I wonder if there was even a cloud in the sky. He believed the flood would come because God told him so. If Noah were alive today he wouldn’t wait for a report from the Weather Channel for confirmation. And that’s a good thing because there wouldn’t be one. Noah’s proof that the entire world would be flooded was simply the word of God. People must have thought he was crazy. I can hear the naysayers now. “But Noah- the stars don’t say anything about rain.” “But Noah- what makes you think that if the flood does come that your ark will be safe?” “I’m not getting on that boat- it sounds a bit cultish.” Examples of faith are found throughout the bible from when Eve put her faith in a persuasive serpent all the way to those whose faith will lead them out of Babylon. The rain always comes. Finally the proof everyone wants! But those who believed the rain would come are the ones with faith, not the ones who only believed when they saw the clouds.

All I’m saying is that it’s impossible to build a boat once you’re actually in the water.