“Everyone has faith in something. To live our lives, we must place our trust somewhere, and the course of everything we do is determined by where we put our trust. Everybody has faith, just like every tree has roots. Everybody puts their roots into something for support.”- Timothy Keller
In Chapter 4 (“Sin as Mistrust”) of What is Wrong with the World?, Timothy Keller states that we all have things to worry about. And whatever that worry consists of, we often attempt to fix things on the surface level. But the Bible says we must look beneath the surface and see the real source of our problems. Otherwise, we never fully deal with them.
Most significantly, in Jeremian 17:5-14, the prophet helps us see the source. Hence, in the text Jeremiah makes a fascinating comparison of two types of trees. As a result, Jeremiah reveals how to deal with our anxieties and worries. Because he knows their origin and how to solve them.
Therefore, the metaphor of the trees shows us that the essence of sin consists of putting our trust into something besides God (emphasis author’s). The difference between the two trees, Timothy notes, arises from the location of their roots. Because that determines everything about the tree.
In addition, Pastor Keller states, roots exist to do two things. Roots:
- anchor the tree to the ground so that neither the tree nor the soil blows away.
- draw nutrients and moisture from the soil and absorb them.
In conclusion, Pastor Keller views these two functions as crucial to remember when we consider the concept of sin. As Jeremiah points out, we can’t see sin as simply a violation of the rules. Because that causes us to see both sin and godliness as lying on a spectrum.
In that view, one defines one with many violations of God’s law as sinful. And a person with few violations as godly.
Today’s question: Do you agree that everyone has faith in something? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Your religion = your ultimate concern”