Faith is not solely a private matter

I have heard people argue that faith is solely a private matter — something that is only personal, only a matter of individual piety. I’ve heard Christians argue this, which is, frankly, shocking.

Because if faith is only private, then what is the point of it? Faith as solely something private means that a person doesn’t want faith to affect them, or transform them. Faith as something solely private means there is not change in one’s outward behavior or how one deals with others, or has an impact on how one uses the money they have, or have an impact on policies they advocate for, or how they respond to someone in need, in poverty, or when they are experiencing injustice. Faith as something solely private is a waste because it has no real impact at all on a person.

And while I could go on with this line of argument, I’d like to shift to something a bit more impactful — the public impact of saying that faith is solely a private matter. Because if that’s the case, then we need to change a few things in our society.

First, let’s start by removing any public references to God. We’ll need to change our money — can’t have “in God we trust.” Of course the debate around this is what is the statement of faith in putting such a line on money? Good question. It is a public acclimation of faith though. However, we don’t seem to follow through with what it means to have trust in God — especially when it comes to the very money that we print those word on. What would change for us related to our money and how…