Faith

Faith of the head or faith of the heart? Which one do you foster in your life? I think for me, it started with faith of the head. I don't know when it really happen, that I had the Nicene Creed memorized, but over years of saying it every Sunday, it got into my head and I knew what I believed even if I didn't know why. This is faith as belief. My head knows what it believes, it knows what is true. 

This has sorta messed with me as of late. Is it important to God what I believe in my head? As if 'believing the right things' is what God is most looking for, as if having the correct belief will save us. Believing the right things doesn't do a whole lot to bring about a changed live now does it? Look at it this way, you can believe the right thing and still be in bondage to sin, still be miserable, still be relatively unchanged, with very little transforming power.

What does faith of the heart look like? Marcus Borg in The Heart of Christianity, describes three qualities of faith that are rooted in the heart instead of the head.

Faith that comes from the heart is characterized by trust. To have implies a radical trust in God, a willingness to rely on God as "our support, our foundation and ground, as our safe place.

It's also characterized by fidelity or faithfulness. It's like the the faith we have with our spouse's; we believe that person will be faithful in their relationship to us. This kind of faith means loyalty, allegiance, the commitment of one's self at the deepest level.

Faith that is rooted in the heart is characterized by a positive vision of the world. We tend to see reality as life-giving and nourishing. To live in faith requires a radical centering of our lives in God which leads to a deepening trust that transforms the way we see and live our lives.  

Think on that for a little bit. I'll try to remember to talk about what I think faith rooted in heart looks like tomorrow. I'll give you a hint; it looks like action in service.