Fifty-Fifty Faith

French philosopher Blaise Pascal is the author of Pascal’s Wager. It is the argument for belief in God that essentially states that you should live as though there is a god because if God exists, you go to heaven and you gain everything. If there is no God, you gain nothing and lose nothing. You may have heard this as “if I am wrong and there is no God, then I lose nothing. But, if I am right that there is a God and you are wrong that there is no God, then you lose everything.”

Does this strike anyone else as a weak argument for belief? I have heard this used so many times and each time it troubles me. It assumes that faith is a passive thing – a religious “OK whatever.” Is eternal life a flip of the coin? Is loving someone with your heart, soul, mind and spirit simply a default setting?

In a relationship, faith is an active quest. Our faith is tested and stretched, but it is our desire to see it grow and deepen. Such confidence does not grow haphazardly. Faith in a relationship does not grow simply by not giving up. Real faith is a decision made over and over and over.

The Tall and Short of It

This morning I was at Quik Trip. While there, I saw a man who was noticeably short. He was vertically challenged. What made me notice was that he was standing next to a really, really tall man. It looked as if the scene could have been staged. The tall man's height was exaggerated by the stature of the shorter man next to him and the smaller man looked even smaller next to the giant.

Whenever we compare ourselves to others, we are inviting problems. Depending on who we choose, we can appear shorter or taller, slimmer or larger, or better or worse. We can do the same comparison with our struggles. If we choose someone who struggles more obviously, our secret sins do not appear so bad.

We all struggle. We all fall short. Comparison is a no-win game. If we are going to compare ourselves to anyone, we should compare ourselves to the one who we most desire to be like.