An apparent victory for Christians is sweeping media. The term "faith," a cornerstone of Christian theology and personal devotion to God, has entered the secular media as an acceptable concept to be mentioned and explained.
I recently saw an example of this when a reporter was interviewing the survivor of a catastrophic event. At one point, the reporter asked the man if he ever lost faith during the ordeal. His answer is unimportant, because the reporter inadvertently introduced a new set of considerations that were, for the most part, not the subject of the interview.
In what should the man have faith?
The ambiguity of the reporter's question is remarkable. Have faith in what? The reporter never specified and the man answered as if he knew. Their question and answer indicates that "faith" indicates something inherently good. To say the word is to invoke a rightness that is self-evident. In essence, the reporter and survivor are speaking of belief without a referent. Their discussion is just as comprehensible as someone shouting "I believe!" and expecting affirmation. Say what you believe and then affirmation or dissension can begin.
The adoption of this concept seems to be a case where the world beyond the church is borrowing from Christianity. The rationale seems apparent enough. It is a good word, one that evokes images of those dedicated to a cause. No hero in a movie cannot have, or gain, faith in their cause and still be the hero. We want those moments of resolve, when the protagonist resolves to carry out some righteous act with all the effort necessary to succeed.
Here is where the church has an opportunity to intercede. A postmodern world is once again declaring its desire for something beyond the mundane experience and connection to something greater. By recognizing this desire, as epitomized in the ambiguous use of "faith", the church has an opportunity to step into the gap and offer up an object for faith. We have a man on a cross to offer to the world.
