I was thinking about how much my faith cost to obtain, and how much it’s worth today. Like any product, I suppose its affected by the current market conditions, deflation, depreciation etc… It doesn’t cost me much in maintenance, and I can’t even remember the initial investment.

I’m not even sure how much my faith is worth anymore. It’s one of the only things in life where the value drops the more it is unused. Faith, new in the box, mint condition, is worth next to nothing - where a used model, scarred with years of wear & tear is almost priceless! 

We forget that our faith cost us next to nothing! But, it cost Jesus everything to purchase it for us. The only thing that was any cost to us was the box that we bought to put our faith into, close the lid, and keep it safe.  We form this box to contain our faith in a way to keep it (and us) safe. We wouldn’t want to let it out and start causing trouble, would we?

If I take a moment to reflect on the things I have said and done, to the audience I have targeted the majority of my artistic expression, whether it be music,  drama or other pursuits, I notice that it all has one common denominator: it was all targeted at christians. All my life, up to a recent time, I avoided mingling with those from the world. I wouldn’t drink wine, wouldn’t see movies unless they’d received a positive rating from one of the christian movie review sites, stuff like that.

Then, I came to this realization: our faith isn’t affecting culture. Neither is it really affecting us. We live in a separate culture. When we say we are “in the world but not of it,” we are misleading ourselves. We aren’t “in it” at all. We’re so focused on “living by the book,” that we miss the reason why it was written.

Our faith is worth nothing more than mere pennies if we are so worried about taking it out of the box we put it in, and using it. Are we worried that it will get scratched, bent or damaged if we take it into the world and use it for the reason it was given to us? That’s the only way it will have any value at all! If we believe in the Truth, like we say we do, than what are we afraid of, that the world might somehow convince us otherwise?

I think we are in much greater danger by disconnecting ourselves into a separate culture than by entering the culture that is all around us. Get out into the world, experience its culture, revel in the goodness where you find it and let your faith infiltrate and change the dark areas that you encounter. Instead of being a bunch of observers, standing on the sidelines of the world, carrying our faith in boxes engraved with the letters WWJD or some other christian catchphrase, put the box down and get in the game! Better yet, break open the box, its cheap plastic sides will come apart easily, and use that shiny, new Faith! Let it get dented and worn with use! Use it or lose it. Or you’ll at least forget where you left it, or how to use it.

Sure, your fellow side-liners are going to look at you differently. Sure they’ll probably talk about you behind your back, but as you begin to use your un-boxed faith, living your life with integrity, you’ll convince them to un-box their own faith. Together you can begin to really influence a culture, and freely share the gift you’ve been given.  You’ll be surprised that as you give it out yours will only grow more. 

In the end, the value of your experienced, world-travelled faith in God will be greater than gold. And we’ll all be richer for it.

Check out my blog @ earthtourist.org