Radioactive faith

I woke up on a recent morning—before my eyes were fully engaged with the morning light—thinking about radioactive faith. I have no idea where this thought came from. My mind doesn’t think scientifically. In fact, come Monday mornings my mind is mindless—I just don’t think. So, to wake up to the buzzing sound of the phrase spiritual radiation, no doubt from the Holy Spirit, is a miracle worthy of sharing.

Webster’s dictionary defines radioactive as having or producing a powerful and dangerous form of energy (called radiation). Scriptural faith is defined, according to Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Combine these two definitions and you have radioactive faith, which, by Mark Miller’s definition, is the power of the Gospel being emitted/released into the kingdom of darkness and utterly destroying a decaying power.

How is radioactive faith illustrated in Scripture? Take a good look at the Hall of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11:

3…By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God,

4…By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain… And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

5…By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see

7…By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

8…By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

9…By faith he went to live in the land of promise.

11…By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive.

13…These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

17…By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son.

20…By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

21…By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

22…By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23…By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24…By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

29…By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

30…By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

31…By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient.

39…And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

The above examples radiate with a list of people who—by faith—took hold of the promises of God. And, if you read the entire text of Chapter 11 in detail, there are positive consequences for the people of God—faith is imparted—and a radioactive consequence for the enemies of God—decay and destruction.

Christians who embrace this kind of faith know that Christ is our vision. It is through Him that we fulfill our calling as individuals, and corporately through the church. When we choose to make Him known through our own God-anointed giftings, we cross the line of faith and choose to do radioactive damage to the kingdom of darkness by serving others.

There is no turning back!

— by Mark Miller

Miller is pastor of Narratives Church in El Cajon and is a doctoral candidate in Organic Organizational Leadership at Bethel Seminary. Under his leadership, the congregation is sponsoring Apostolos School of Leadership and Church Planting, with its first B.A. program launching in the fall 2016.