A Symbol of Faith Without Faith
I have been studying through the Book of Judges lately, learning a lot about myself and my walk with the Lord in the back-and-forth “repentance” of the children of Israel and the interesting and very honest stories of the not-so-heroic judges (i.e. real people) that God sent to deliver them. As I swing around to chapters 13-16 and the notorious history of Samson (of Delilah fame), I am struck by his reliance on his hair and his strength. Despite being consecrated to God by his mother, he does just about everything he’s not supposed to do (touches a carcass, marries outside the Hebrew family, sleeps around – read Numbers 6 for more context) except cut his hair, which he seems to cherish as a symbol of his might. It’s something he clearly believes in more than God (he only calls on God twice, both times when his situation is considered dire). And he continues come out of compromising situations with the power of God on him, which probably fuels his belief that a real relationship with God is unnecessary and doesn’t recognize God’s grace over him in those moments. But in the end, because his faith was so much in his hair and strength than in God, when Delilah cut it away, he lost his ability to fight the Philistines and was subjected to an end he could have avoided had he truly trusted in God rather than just give lip service through outer symbols.
As a middle school kid and well into my high school days, I was really getting into the “Christian fashion”. I had a lot of shirts displaying verses that were cute parodies on major brands, like a brown shirt that looked like the Hershey logo but said “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I had the “WWJD” wrist bands, the gold cross around my neck, and the radio in our house and car was always tuned into the local Christian radio station whenever one of my friends got in. I wore these things with pride, but secretly wondered why nobody asked me questions about them. Not that I would have been able to engage in meaningful conversation at the time – I had no relationship with God outside of a small youth group and Sunday morning service, and would not have been able to tell anyone about the hope in me when asked (1 Peter 3:15). I didn’t pray, I didn’t read my Bible, I didn’t seek to know him in any kind of meaningful way. I had a general knowledge of God that allowed me to take on these symbols and satisfy my own need for acceptance and self-righteousness. I thought I was deep because the symbols said I was. But they had not ushered me into a real relationship with the Lord, and they could not shield me from the emotional and spiritual struggles I battled and lost because I had not sincerely placed my faith in Jesus Christ. Battles I can win now because I now have that relationship with Jesus and know who is really fighting my battles (spoiler alert, it’s not me).
Samson’s problem doesn’t seem to be that he didn’t believe in God – his last actions on earth appear to show a man aware of the promise that he would destroy the Philistines and understood that God would keep His word, despite Samson having no eyes and no strength left. One of the problems he had was that he trusted so much in these outward shows of faith without actually cultivating a deeper faith. His belief in God was exactly as deep as he wanted it so that he could slay the Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone, but not deep enough to help him conquer his own lusting, prideful character – something that would have required some effort on his side.
In a sermon I heard recently, the pastor shared that, as he was watching a boxing match, he noticed one of the boxers cross himself before entering the ring. The pastor asked his boxing trainer if this particular motion did anything to help with the match and the trainer replied with what has stuck with me since, “Nothing if he doesn’t know how to fight.”
I still put verses up in my office, and I absolutely still blast my gospel music loud driving down the road. These aren’t bad things in themselves. But I have to remind myself not to get caught up in these things in being a witness for Christ. I’ve had more conversations these days with people about faith when those things aren’t obvious than when I proudly wore my “Jesus Freak” t-shirt. I’ve learned through trials and tears that faith in God cannot be a superficial, wear it on the sleeve and wrist kind of thing. Relationships require effort and time, and my getting to know the God of creation has been a beautiful, if sometimes strenuous, journey.
And why is this relationship the most important to develop and strengthen? Because Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us that our enemy is strong, our battles are spiritual and fierce, and there’s a lot of armor needed for the fight. I know what it’s like to be out on the battlefield and suddenly realize that I never learned how to put on any armor, much less fight the battle before me. It’s so important that we take time to know our Lord and Savior through prayer (Psalm 145:18, Luke 18:1, Philippians 4:6, James 4:8), studying the Word (Psalm 119:11, 2 Timothy 3:14-17), and building community with other believers (John 15:12; Proverbs 27:17, James 5:16), because if our relationship in Christ amounts to simply crossing ourselves before every battle (or perhaps chanting Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ…” without understanding the context in verse 12), we’ll likely crumble when it comes time to withstand the attacks of the enemy, just by putting on armor that we never took the time to be strong enough to bear.
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