Walking by faith

What does walking by faith look like? Does it mean you you go to church, you read your Bible, you give to the church and to others, you get involved in church activities, you become a missionary, you pray without ceasing, and so on." Not that some or all of those things can't be a part of your own personal walk of faith.

But as I've read through the "faith" chapter of the Bible - Hebrews 11 - it's occurred to me that a life of faith is really far more deep and rich. There are really a lot of things that people have done "by faith" that really don't look "churchy" or "religious" at all. A man builds a huge ship in the middle of dry land. Another man moves his entire family to another country and lives as a stranger, camping in tents. An old, barren woman gives birth to a son. A prostitute receives spies and hides them. A baby is hidden by his parents. Kingdoms are subdued, righteousness is worked out, promises are obtained, lion's mouths are stopped, people are made strong out of weakness.

Others were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, etc... all because of their faith. I don't mean only that these things happened to these people because of their faith, but they walked into these things and willingly endured these things because of their faith.

All of these stories and so much more are packed into the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, describing what various people did "by faith." It's pretty amazing to me when I contrast all of this with the things that are expected today from Christians as acts of faith. Again, if you're involved in various sorts of "church activity," and you pray and you read your Bible and you give and you love it and know you're called to it, that's absolutely wonderful! My purpose here is to simply show how my own understanding of the life of faith has been greatly expanded far beyond "church life."

I realize that a few of the New Testament scriptures show what life in the early church was like. We can glean a lot of great stuff from all that. But if we limit our expressions of faith to "church life," I think we've missed the boat. Even in regards to the "gifts of the Spirit" --- Are God's gifts only for use in the context of a church meeting? And are the His gifts only limited to the ones Paul happens to mention? One helpful thing that I get out of Hebrews 11 is the idea that we're all different kinds of people and our expressions of faith are essentially limitless! Read through the chapter and note the diverse types of people and the diverse things they did "by faith." We have a great big God (a gross understatement). Doesn't He express Himself in and through us in so many ways beyond activity that seems religious and churchy? Can we open up our minds and hearts and ears and eyes and other senses and get a taste of what a real life of faith is? Isn't it really a great adventure?!

More PBA links

A couple more Performance-Based Acceptance stories have been posted, and I updated the original post with links to these stories. As I said before, it's never too late! Let me know if you post your story.

Here are the latest two:

Lydia Joy (a joy to be me): Performance Based Acceptance..........

The Lewis Family (Propitiation): My Story - continued
(See also Part 1: Life)

Performance-Based Acceptance Stories - Links

Wow... these stories have had an impact on me! On the one had they've left me hurting, feeling, aching, crying and growing in compassion - knowing that our stories represent so many people around the world who deal with legalism and the bondage of performing for God and/or others to earn or maintain acceptance. But of course I've also found my heart being filled with joy as I've read how God has set hearts free and continues to help people live in the freedom for which He set them free!

On the day that all this came to my mind, the word "story" kept going through my mind. I then read Paul Anderson-Walsh's quote, "Each and every one of us has our own story to tell about the problem of Performance-based Acceptance." The words of a commenter on Aida's post stick out to me: "It is so important we share our stories with each other." Thanks to all for sharing your stories, and let's not stop doing that!

Below are the stories of those who participated in this synchroblog (that I'm aware of). It's never too late! --- If/when more stories are posted, I'll add them.

Aida (Forgetting the Former Things):
Performance Based Acceptance - my story

John Fincher (John's Grace Walk [Mysterium Tremendum]):
My Performance-Based Acceptance Story

Jamie (Better Than We Know):
Unconditional Love (Cheater! LOL)

Free Spirit (With Unveiled Face):
Performance-Based Acceptance

Bino M. (Branch of Vine):
My 'Performance-Based Acceptance' Story

Richard J. (Family: The Final Frontier):
Performance-based acceptance...

Matthew Campbell (Somewhere in my Memory):
Performance Based Acceptance Synchroblog

Chris Welch (080808 On,Now,To the Third Level):
My Performance-Based Acceptance Story

In Christ Alone (nightwatch):
My PBA Story

Ursula Kuba (Open Door):
My Journey out of works and into grace

Update - 5/13/09 evening:

Lydia Joy (a joy to be me): Performance Based Acceptance..........

The Lewis Family (Propitiation): My Story - continued
(See also Part 1: Life)