So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him ( 2 Corinthians 5:6-9).
The phrase “We walk by faith and not by sight” can conjure up all kinds of thoughts. It smacks of the common expression “taking a leap of faith” that suggests we close our eyes and jump, hoping for the best – not unlike a bungee jump where you close your eyes to the scary dangers of height and jump, hoping that the cord will hold and the installers measured the distance right.
But fear not. That is not what ‘walking by faith” means.
According to the Apostle Paul, walking by faith has to do with where you feel most at home. A verse or two earlier, he says:
For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
For every passionate Christian, life is a struggle between two worlds: the visible, material (and perishable) world we grew up in and the invisible, God-inhabited, permanent world—better known as heaven. When you make the 180-degree turn of repentance and surrender your life to Christ, your heart’s attachments (your appetites, comfort zones, preferences, and emotional bonds) move from the material to the spiritual world. Your way of life then reflects where your emotional attachments are – if you love stuff, you will keep your relationship with God at a low ebb and only turn to Him in desperation when your comfort zones are threatened. But if you love God with all your heart, mind, and strength, your stuff and creature comforts matter less.
The Greek word for “walk” is “peripatoumen.” Literally, it means “to walk all over the place.” Figuratively, it means “to deport oneself.” In other words, a walk of faith is a way of life. The way you live betrays where your priorities are. When your priority is to prepare for heaven and to please God while you’re still on earth, it will become visible in your decisions, actions, and words.
James agrees. He writes: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14)
He gives a string of examples and concludes: For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead (verse 26).
In other words: faith is more than emphatically stated words. Statements of faith may reflect what we believe to be true but are useless when we don’t act like them. We say “actions speak louder than words,” and that certainly holds true for walking by faith. Faith must be visible in the way we live and our lifestyle is the sum total of our decisions and actions.
What does a “deportment” of faith look like? First of all, you order how you spend your time, energy, and money around putting God and His kingdom first. Ministries suffer greatly from people who promise to perform certain tasks and then don’t do them because “something came up.” Sometimes, those “somethings” are legitimate, but often it’s world or family business that got in the way. It leaves you wondering: What comes first in their lives? The God Who died for them and saved them, or the things of the world?
Secondly, you begin to live as “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 9:11) in this world. For instance, your conversations in church are filled with God-stuff rather than sports, shopping, and other worldly stuff. Our conversations often betray what we think about most! We hold on to our stuff loosely and gladly give away what we can to someone in need.
Thirdly, we recognize, embrace, and obey God’s plan for our lives. This is where walking by faith can become hairy! Often, His plan involves leaving your comfort zones and doing things that force you to completely depend on Him instead of your own abilities and resources. Faith is strengthened by stretching it, and stretching involves having to do things beyond your nature. That’s how you become more sure-footed in your walk of faith as your life goes on.
Jennifer and I are in the thick of that right now. We’re in our mid-sixties, and God has called us to move to Kenya and believe Him for a $500,000 property. We are poor at fundraising and don’t know anybody superwealthy who would drop that kind of money. Even though we have been pulled out of our comfort zones many times before, change is harder in this stage of life, and creature comforts yell louder than the lure of adventure. Yet we have walked in faith long enough to know that these things matter less than intimacy with God, a heavenward focus, and obeying God’s calling. After all, a walk of faith involves aiming to please God. And when you do, He is faithful to provide, protect, empower, equip, and change your mindset to fit the calling.
A walk of faith is hard but carries infinite rewards – on this earth, by knowing God. In heaven, by storing up treasures that can’t rust, decay, or be stolen. The choice is ours: walk by sight, trusting the visible material world, or walk by faith, trusting the God Who created that world and infinitely supersedes it.