What separates people like the late Steve Jobs or Bill Gates is that they can see what others don’t see. They are often referred to as visionaries. Who knew that every home one day would have a portable computer, or a computer that fits in your pocket? The answer is Steve Jobs. However, great entrepreneurs are not the greatest visionaries. People of faith are the greatest visionaries. This isn’t to put anyone down. Rather, there is one fundamental difference between the Steve Jobs of the world and people of faith. What the entrepreneurs create will one day fade or fail. What the people of faith are seeing that is unseen is eternal. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Here is the biggest similarity between people like Steve Jobs and people of faith; what they didn’t see was so powerful that is caused them to change how they lived. The essence of faith is primarily seen in how we live. Many people talk about faith from a standpoint of believing something. However, faith that doesn’t change who we are and how we live isn’t really faith. Hebrews 11 is commonly known as the “Hall of Faith” chapter. How do we know that people like Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Moses, Abel, Enoch, and others truly had faith in God? We know they had faith because of how they lived. What this shows us is this, while faith begins in our mind with beliefs, it then moves out into our life. Faith begins in our mind, and then works out through our lives. If we expect people to believe what we believe, they must see us living out what we believe. People should be able to see what we believe. This is what Paul Tripp refers to as our functional theology matching our confessional theology. Until the world sees us living out what we say we believe, they won’t believe what we say. And as much as we like our iPhones and our Samsungs, they won’t get you into the presence of God for all of eternity, only the Gospel will. Let’s makes sure that those around us not only hear what we believe, but they see us living it.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin