In an interview, pop music star Katy Perry stated that she wasn’t thrilled with her strict religious upbringing. “I didn’t have a childhood,” she lamented. “I’ve always been the kid who’s asked ‘Why?’ In my faith, you’re just supposed to have faith. But I was always like . . . why? At this point, I’m just kind of a drifter . . . open to possibility.”
Not having been there, I can’t comment on Katy’s upbringing and what she didn’t like about it. But her words are telling: In my faith you’re just supposed to have faith. To that, I pose a Katy-like question: Why? For faith simply in faith is an empty pursuit. But faith in Jesus is something real and life-changing.
Here’s why: To have faith in faith leads to trusting in something that lacks substance. It’s like clinging to a climbing rope for safety, but then discovering that it’s simply falling to the ground—not tied above or anchored below. True Christian faith, however, is confidently believing in Someone—Jesus.
The apostle Peter told his readers, who were suffering for their faith, to “always be ready to explain” their “Christian hope” (1 Peter 3:15). He had walked with Jesus, watched Him perform miracles, witnessed His death on a cross for his sins, and spent time with Him after He rose again from the grave. Peter possessed a rational, reasoned belief.
That belief—that faith—is what we can possess. Not grasping for an unsecured rope, we firmly hold on to the One who has shown Himself to be trustworthy and true. We believe, as Peter wrote, that “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring [us] safely home to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Now that’s Someone to have faith in!
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 1:1-28
More:
Check out Hebrews 11:1 and 1 Peter 1:8-9, noting what the writers reveal about real faith.
Next:
Why is it important to truly know what you believe? How is faith in Jesus something secure—unlike gripping an unsecured rope?
hdlim on March 19, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Just reading at those words by Katy, it doesn’t appear to me she meant she had to have faith in faith. I think she meant, “In my religion, you’re supposed to have faith,” which is probably true of all religions. But probably emphasised much more in Christianity. I can empathise with her struggle with faith, because I’ve been a Christian for more than 40 years and I still struggle with it. It’s all the harder to be assured of what you cannot see when you feel your faith is not being responded to, like you’re continuing to talk on a phone but you can’t tell if someone is on the other end. My guess is many people have this struggle. And because faith is so personal, there’s not a lot anyone else can do to help you. You either give up and hang up or hang on to the phone and hope to hear an answer, but continue to wonder if you’re talking to yourself.
tom felten on March 20, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Thanks for your thoughts, hdlim. The point I was striving to communicate—and something I hope Katy embraces one day—is that faith and belief in Jesus is essential for today and for eternity. Without it, we’re left to our own insufficient devices and—ultimately—we’re headed for eternity apart from God. One other thought, there is a personal dimension to faith, as you mentioned, but faith is also something to be lived out in community. Jesus established His Church so that we might be build up and encourage one another in our faith! (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
daisymarygoldr on March 21, 2012 at 9:39 pm
The pop music star is not a unique case. Believe it or not; this is the sad reality with 3 out of every 4 individuals who identify themselves as Christians. Sadder still is the fact that these people were born and raised in Christian homes and maybe even have missionary parents. They all went to church regularly, attended children’s Sunday school classes, AWANA, youth groups, some went to Christian schools or were home schooled, took baptism, went on mission trips, attended or graduated from seminary and are even actively involved in church, choir and ministry.
Having faith in faith will look perfectly Christian until the winds of doctrine come in the form of teachings in the philosophy class or evolution in the biology class. Sometimes it is when floods come as parents get divorced; children get molested, raped or trapped into drugs, alcohol, and sex. Other times it is when rainstorm of rejection hits young people that get jilted in dating relationships. Often times it is when tornado of scandals involving church leaders strike or it is over a church fight or, or in getting inundated with unanswered prayers for healing that results in death of loved ones.
When strong winds beat against the house called faith, and if it is built on religion, church, the faith of parents, pastors, spouse and other Christian people— it will collapse with a mighty crash. When our faith is built on Christ the solid rock, though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and tornadoes hit that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. It is not how long one has been a Christian. It is: are you holding on to faith that is an anchor that God has given each one of us to weather the worst storms of life?
mike wittmer on March 22, 2012 at 8:59 am
This is a terrific point, Tom. I hear constantly that “You’ve just got to believe,” or “don’t stop believing,” or “Keep the faith,” but they never say faith in what? Having faith for faith’s sake is pointless.
winn collier on March 24, 2012 at 9:38 pm
When Hebrews describes faith as seeing what we don’t see, it’s connected to the vision of what God has done in Jesus Christ, not seeing some self-made reality. Thanks for directing us to the content of our faith, Tom.