Faith is none other than an implicit trust we place in another person, thing or idea. To the Christian, that trust is placed in a being we call God and who we believe is personified in the character of Jesus. This trust is based on the closest of all love relationships, one earned by the shedding of His blood for us.
Usually those who deride “people of faith” every day exercise an even greater faith. They place their trust in themselves and in other imperfect human beings and created things – with the hope that it will be enough to get them through that day and through the next day, and hopefully through a lifetime, yet without hope for anything beyond that.
I find it interesting that “People of faith” and so-called “non-believers” have a lot in common with respect to their exercise of day-to-day faith. Loving husbands and wives of both persuasions work toward a united purpose of maturing, nurturing and protecting each other and their families. In this case the faith is based on a lot of “knowns” between the parties. Perhaps this explains why the Bible describes the ideal marriage as the one that mirrors the relationship between Christ and His Church.
But people of each persuasion also place their implicit trust (faith) in the banker who takes care of our money, in the surgeon who operates on our bodies, in the mechanic who repairs our brakes and steering system in our cars, and in the pilot who flies our planes. Every day we place our loved ones’ lives, safety, and financial security in the hands of people, institutions and products of which we have little to no personal familiarity. This takes a great deal of faith. Some intellectuals might have once claimed that their trust wasn’t based on faith, but on familiarity with science and the laws of nature – thermodynamics, aerodynamics, etc. as well as man’s natural instincts, e.g.: for personal survival. That was before a couple pilots intentionally drove their planes and their innocent passengers into the ground.
So when the “non-believer,” the atheist, the agnostic denies or disputes the oh-so-obvious evidence and knowledge of God and of His unconditional love for them, is it out of blindness, ignorance, or foolishness or is it a deliberate choice not to implicitly trust the One who seeks to have a close relationship with them and who desires the best for them? Nearly every adult follower of Christ once stood in their shoes and understands their dilemma. So we can explain their position with near certainty. They willfully suppress the knowledge of God because they love their sins (especially their sexual sins and their lust for material things) and hate the thought of having moral responsibility to their Creator.
Still, one day each person will have to face their Creator, Redeemer and Judge. There will be a day of reckoning, whether he or she believes in Him or not. That’s why we all need to repent and trust the Savior.