when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 8:8b)
Faith is about believing in God, praying to him, and showing him to other people. The question about whether God would find faith on earth if he returned today is one I have not often considered.
The numbers of people who consider themselves to be a member of a church community continue to decline. Yet faith is not about people being a member of a church community only. Faith includes people whose belief and actions show that they believe in God.
Over time, I have met a number of these people. They often are involved in community activities. They talk about a belief in God. However for a variety of reasons do not belong to a particular church and rarely attend worship.
I am part of a group of ladies that meet on a weekly basis to sew and to talk. On many occasions there has been a discussion about a Christian topic – Christmas, Easter, a biblical passage or what a Christian Leader has said. These discussions allow each person to speak, listen and to ask questions. A number of Christian views have been expressed by people that I am confident are not church people.
For me faith is not just within a church community – faith is also in the wider community. The challenge for us is to talk about our faith to others, to hear what is being said by others and to recognise where people of faith are found within the wider community.
Shirley Bowers
Longford Uniting Church