Three Beautiful Words

FAITH---HOPE---LOVE

I've been thinking a lot about these three beautiful words: faith, hope, and love.

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I recently had a wonderful catch-up conversation with an old friend I hadn't spoken to in years. We talked for a couple hours and it was one of those rich, meaningful, compelling conversations that feels like a shot of emotional multivitamins. We talked about our faith journeys, the twists and turns of our lives, our evolving understandings of scripture, things or ideas or relationships that are sustaining us these days, our relationships with family, and loads more. Near the end of our time together he said, "I feel like we've really covered a lot of faith and love stuff. But we might have missed hope. What are you looking forward to? What do you think or wish might be next in your life?"

And it hit me: intentionally or not, he had been using Faith, Hope, & Love as a conversational rubric. Brilliant! After we finished the conversation, I sat with a couple of convictions:

• FIRST CONVICTION: Faith, Hope, and Love - just like grace, mercy, and peace - is a meaningful triad for organizing our thought life, our emotional experiences, our theological understandings, our relational connections, and our conversations about all of these things. And I want to start using it.

• SECOND CONVICTION: The Bible can be a guide for all dimensions of life - with Jesus as the Guide of the guidebook - and not just a big book of theology and morality. I've been limiting its role in my life and I want to expand my engagement with all of Genesis to Revelation.

I've always known this second conviction, but when I'm not intentional to use the Bible (with the Sermon on the Mount at the epicentre of it all) as the poetic inspiration for all of life I easily slip back into consulting the Bible for my theology and ethics only.

Thinking biblically is more than thinking about biblical topics - it is allowing the Bible to inform how we think and act and discuss everything else. (And again, I mean using the Bible when we have Jesus at the centre, guiding how to interact with all of it.)

So, in light of my last post, I'm thinking about faith, hope, and love in rhema terms for my life. I am asking God to help me keep asking myself and others good questions that use this triad of meaning. I'll share some questions that make for good discipleship discussion at the end, but first - a review of Faith, Hope, and Love.

The apostle Paul uses this triad in a few places (e.g., Colossians 1:4-5; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), chief of which is in his final sentence in the now wedding-famous love chapter:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~ The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Let's break this down...

• FAITH (Greek, pistis): This word means both trust and trustworthiness, faith and faithfulness. It is what we believe and how we behave in light of what we believe. Faith is the foundation of relationship. But this side of heaven, faith bridges the gap between what we see, what we know, what is obvious to us, and what we can't see but intuit is real. The unknown author of Hebrews says:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

This fits with what the apostle Paul says in the love chapter just before his faith, hope, and love statement. He says that we just can't see God clearly this side of heaven and so we need faith to bridge the gap.

For now we see only by means of an obscure mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. ~ The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:12)

The word "obscure" in Greek is ainigma, which gives us our English word "enigma". Paul says we are unable to see God's face directly. But through faith, scripture, the Holy Spirit, and ultimately the teaching and example of Jesus, Paul pictures us holding up a mirror that allows us to see God at an angle. Most ancient mirrors were not the near perfect reflectors like mirrors today, but cloudy, distorted, vague approximations of reality. This is what living by faith is like.

Most ancient mirrors offered cloudy, obscure approximations of reality.

So if there are things that feel like a cloudy mystery to us, we are in line with scripture. It is part of our theology that there will always be questions in this life we cannot answer. When someone asks us a hard question about faith, responding by saying "I don't know, that just isn't clear to me" is a very biblical response.

The mystery and imprecision of faith does not mean it is contrary to evidence. Faith is rooted in seeing something, even if that something is imprecise. Faith is evidential. It just isn't complete. Faith is not unreasonable, it simply goes beyond mere reason. We should run the ramp of reason before we take the leap of faith.

• HOPE (Greek, elpis): This word means to anticipate something that is coming but has not yet arrived, to be ready to welcome what is to come. Like faith, hope helps bridge the gap between the now and the not yet. Once the person or thing we hope for arrives, hope has served its purpose and can be laid to rest. As the apostle Paul says:

Now hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ~ The apostle Paul (Romans 8:24)

Faith and hope are cognitive and attitudinal postures toward mystery and uncertainty. They are absolutely vital for psychological resilience and perseverance in our difficult world. Faith and hope are invaluable qualities this side of heaven. But unlike love, they are not eternal.

• LOVE (Greek, agapé): Agapé is the unconditional inner experience and outward expression of awe and honour toward a person. Love is the relational enactment of value that heals hearts, restores relationships, causes caring connections, and creates compassionate community. Love actively nurtures all that is good. Love takes the initiative to serve, to bless, and to care for persons, including ourselves.

  
  

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never ends. ~ The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

This side of heaven, faith, hope, and love work together. But only love will endure for eternity. For now, faith and hope connect us to the invisible. Love, on the other hand, connects us to the visible. Love moves us to reach out to the need all around us.

Serve one another humbly in love. ~ The apostle Paul (Galatians 5:13)

Jesus washing feet is a vivid example of serving love (John 13:1).

So, with a more full understanding of faith, hope, and love, I want to use these values to shape my conversations and attitudes and actions toward others. Especially in discipleship conversations.

Jesus invites us all to "Go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-20). Sometimes discipleship is mentoring (a senior believer helping a junior believer grow), but always discipleship should be mutual (two believers helping one another). I am a big fan of mutual discipleship, where conversations go deep and both people grow. I suck at small talk; it just seems so... small. And mere pleasantries feel less than pleasant. But meaningful, mutually edifying conversation - that feels like a taste of heaven here and now.

So, here are some guiding questions we can take into our interactions right away. Of course I don't mean for these questions to be parroted, but to live in our heads as mental prompts to guide conversation relationally.

FAITH: How are you and God doing? What habits are helping your faith deepen? How are you nurturing your connection to Christ? Where are you getting encouraged and informed? Where are you going with your questions? (Asking in my own head:) How can I encourage you?

HOPE: What are your dreams for the future? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What excites you? What in this life are you looking forward to? Do you ever think about the next life with anticipation? Or is death just dread? What hopes have been dashed lately? (I'm thinking of Proverbs 13:12, which says: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.") How are you recovering? (Asking in my own head:) How can I help?

LOVE: Who are you serving these days? What is helping you become more other-centred instead of self-centred? What relationships need mending or tending to? What community engagement helps bring out the best in you? What "neighbours" are you neglecting to love in practical ways? What enemies are you tempted to run away from rather than care for? What might enemy-love look like in your life? Do you ever think consciously about letting the love you receive from Jesus inform the way you love others? Do you think Christ's love subconsciously informs and encourages your love? Or are you actively resisting or just passively neglecting it? (Asking in my own head:) How can I join you in loving others together?

Them's my thoughts.

How about you? I'd love to learn what kinds of questions you find helpful to ask or be asked in meaningful conversations. The comment section awaits below.