The source of faith

I recently had a conversation with a colleague from work who expressed to me that there is no true religion. "How can there be?" she said, "There are so many!"

From her perspective, religion is an annoying crutch on which the weak lean in times of trouble. From my perspective, times of trouble force people to pause and look beyond their own immediate surroundings, allowing religion to find room. It's not that problems cause people to seek religion, it's that religion calls people out during times of trouble.

She replied, "Well, if you already believe in something, then you're obviously going to answer all questions from that perspective." And yet, atheism is a perspective as well, one that she was obviously answering the question from.

The question of how many religions there are is irrelevant as to whether one is true or not. Truth is not bound by how difficult it is to decipher nor by how many people believe in it. Truth is truth. A believer does not subscribe to religion merely because they hope to be a "better person" or to summon "strength" but also because they believe it to be true. That is the very definition of faith, yet it is not only the faith that is important, but also the truth.

Today, while perusing through some of my high school journals, I found this lesson posed just so:

If a man has great faith in thin ice, he will still drown. If a man has little faith in solid ground, he will still live. Therefore salvation does not depend on the amount of faith, but on the basis of that faith. My faith is in the Lord, the true and only God.

As Christians, we choose to build our faith on Christ, because we believe his words to be true. Without God, without Christ, there is no Christianity.

MATTHEW 7 (NLT)

Building on a Solid Foundation

²⁴ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.