Renowned Christian author, C.S. Lewis once said that "Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods" I dearly believe that in this short phrase Lewis swiftly painted the answer of the complex landscape that is this question. Faith, to the world, is believing that something will happen is spite of contradictory thoughts or the lack of certainty on the issue. The truth is that in our modern society people tend to use faith in order to attempt to prove wrong somebody else. As I write this post I've been listening to Kanye West, and one particular song called Latitude in which he unveils the hatred that he feels to those who once told him he couldn't become what he is now. He explains how by having faith
in himself he would be able to succeed and eventually become the acclaimed celebrity that he is. However, this is a complete false faith in my opinion.
The issue with having this type of faith is that it is based on the foundations of oneself, meaning that he shows no reliance on God despite the fact that he references Him and His work many occasions. Furthermore, the problems with his faith is that he used it to succeed but the his purpose for success was only to diminish and prove people wrong. His arrogant attitude had malevolent intentions, which does not model the Christian lifestyle. Because Kanye West decided to base his life in a self reliant faith it has caused him many problems and hardships throughout his life. This is the reason why I choose to have faith on God; I know that through this faith I will succeed not in terms of money or power, but in a way that it will benefit His plan. I know that by having faith in God, though my feelings towards Him may change and vary, my faith will be strong enough to let me see that He has blessed me and that I need to be thankful for what He has provided me with.
In essence, I feel like people tend to connect their lives very closely to their faith, and this is why faith relates to the world around us. The world tends to shape our beliefs and faith like Kanye West. He let the world influence who he was as a person and caused him to feel self-reliant and lived life boastfully, looking to prove others wrong. I challenge you to not let the world around you shape you but for you to mold the world in which you live in according to your faith.
Great point! I agree with you that self-reliant faith will surely lead to destruction. I can only wonder how people's lives would have been different had they had faith in God. We measure success by our worldly standards and by how much money we make, but faith should be more important in determining our life.
ReplyDeleteMany people believe in this 'false faith' because for them to believe in a being greater than themselves seems like they are vulnerable and weak. If they believe in themselves then they think that they are their own boss. This is the greatest mistake someone can make because we humans are not perfect in any way and once we apply faith onto ourselves then our whole world is laid down onto a weak foundation. This is so because if we make a mistake or screw up big time then we will have lost faith in ourself, making us spiral down into depression and other malicious things.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right Carlos. Maybe Kanye West should consider how close he is to the ideals and faith of North Korea's Juche...
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