What Matters

What makes—

--A soldier volunteer for a dangerous mission?

--A missionary forsake his country to live overseas?

--A cancer patient endure the pain of chemotherapy?

--A terrorist blow himself up for a cause?

--A fighter keep standing after being knocked down repeatedly?

--A father work two jobs to get his daughter through college?

--A European village to spend a hundred years building a town cathedral?

--St. Paul say “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”?

Whether we agree with them or not, there are no obvious reasons for any of these acts of perseverance and self-sacrifice.  People sometimes choose to do things that cause them personal pain and suffering for some  someone or something they love more than themselves. We sacrifice ourselves for someone or something we see as  more important than ourselves.  We obey laws when no one is watching, give anonymously to charity, wait in line, respect others’ property, stop to help strangers, endure criticism, and create art even when no one is watching.  We continue to live even when it would be easier to end it all with pills or a bullet. Humans have always chosen  to live for something greater than immediate self interest. But  why?

The answer is faith--not mere assent to a proposition, but real commitment to something more important than this moment.  Faith is our ultimate concern in life. It is not just a religious or philosophical belief, but a life commitment.

We all have faith--even when we think they have none.  Without it, civilization would fall.  The strength of our faith can make the difference between success and failure, happiness and misery, meaning and chaos.   Paul Tillich called faith our "ultimate concern." It is what we serve and believe in beyond everything else.  

Faith is the key to life—faith that is not surface religion, empty tradition, or idle belief, but real, honest faith which is the foundation for our lives.  In the end, that is the only kind of faith that matters.  

In the following weeks,  we will be describing the dynamics of faith in our lives,  and in particular the Christian faith.

I hope you'll join me in the following weeks as we look at what faith is, and how faith works.

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I'd like to hear from you about it.  What do you see are you "ultimate concern" in life?  What would you be willing to die for?  What would you be willing to devote your life, endure pain, or sacrifice everything for?

Do you agree with the idea that we can only one ultimate concern in life? Can we have several objects of devotion and hold them equally?  What do we do when they conflict with each other?