Faith—what good is it?
by VivianI was intrigued by an excerpt from a recent TIME magazine article on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair:
Blair is always careful to downplay the role his faith played in complex matters of life and death, such as the invasion of Iraq. “You don’t put up a hotline to God and get the answers,” he says. At the same time, he plainly thinks his faith has helped him make tough decisions. “The worst thing in politics,” he says, “is when you’re so scared of losing support that you don’t do what you think is the right thing. What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it.” But in a nation like Britain, where cynicism is a way of life, that distinction—between faith as a guide to action and faith as an aid to decision—is almost bound to be lost.
Frankly, I think that distinction deserves to be lost. In light of our culture’s fondness of political correctness, I will give Blair the benefit of the doubt, but a faith that merely enables you to follow through on what you think is right, seems little more than humanistic.
No wonder religion is so often viewed as a crutch rather than a force to contend with! We restrict God’s influence in our lives by compartmentalizing Him (separation of church and state, anyone?), and yet we know we can’t do it alone, so we’re reduced to asking God to bless our efforts while we limp along as best we can. And we wonder why we don’t see Him?
What’s that Pogo saying? “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Real faith is not getting in God’s way. Let’s see what God can do when we let Him!
June 7th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I got a different reaction when I read the Blair article.
I understood Blair to mean that “faith without works is dead.” He was able to act because he had faith as opposed to becoming paralyzed by most of all wanting the approval of those around him.
I respect Blair for being able to endure the constant harassment of his countrymen and not let that deter him in his decision making. Because he had faith he could make decisions.
Too often, followers want God to make decisions for them, yet they don’t have the faith to see that what God wants is for them to act upon the convictions they have learned from His Word.
June 7th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
[Tony Blair said,] “What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it.” [The writer in Time opined] “But in a nation like Britain, where cynicism is a way of life, that distinction—between faith as a guide to action and faith as an aid to decision—is almost bound to be lost.” [Vivian wrote] “Frankly, I think that distinction deserves to be lost.”
It seems to me that “faith” is being used here by Mr. Blair as an overarching term for his belief in God through Christ. If so, Mr. Blair says that his belief in God (through Christ) cannot tell him which is the right and which the wrong decision, but that it can give him the strength to act on the decision he has made.
The response from the writer is that such a distinction is not likely to be seen by the cynics. I think that is true, and in fact I think it is unlikely to be seen by almost anyone except, in this case, Mr. Blair himself. What Mr. Blair is perhaps avoiding is making a statement like, “God told me to support the invasion of Iraq.” It is probably even (politically) brave of him to say as much as he did, given the likelihood that the “cynical” Brits would interpret his statements that way.
Even Christians using WCB’s guideline, though, of acting “upon the convictions they have learned from [God’s] Word (sic),” might easily be interpreted as, “Because God said to.”
And Vivian thinks, if I understand her correctly, that it is a fine thing for God to get credit for both decision making and action taking. I agree, and I do think that for any Christian a decision like whether or not to support the invasion of Iraq does not happen without much guidance-seeking prayer. No clear answer may come, but God’s Spirit has been invoked and, I think, is active in the process of decision making, even if He is not given direct credit for it.
I don’t think I’d want Mr. Blair (or Mr. Bush, for that matter) to turn Iraq into a “holy war” by claiming divine guidance for the decision to invade. I’m glad they are both men of “faith” and willing to take the God way rather than the political way (see Woodrow Wilson staying out of Europe).
The question comes, though, how does one in such a position express God’s role in a decision of that nature and magnitude? I’ve never had to make one that comes anywhere close.