COMPARING FAITH AND RELIGION
In trying to understand the difference between faith and religion, it is useful to compare driving on a freeway to driving in a fog. Consider the following comparisons:
| RELIGION IS LIKE DRIVING ON A FREEWAY IN DAYLIGHT | FAITH IS LIKE DRIVING IN A FOG |
| Freeways usually give us a good view of the road ahead and of the physical features of the land. | When driving in a fog, we can only see a few feet ahead of the car. We have no sense of what lies ahead or of the surrounding landscape. |
| Freeways always have signs that tell us where we are, and the changing landscape communicates movement. | When driving in a fog, the world around us always looks the same. There is no real sense of movement toward our destination. |
| While driving a freeway, we can usually relax a bit with the confidence that other drivers know and obey the rules of the road. | We are tense and lean forward looking for clues that we should brake or turn. |
| We have a sense of safety and peacefulness while driving on a freeway. We can listen to the radio, talk with others, and look at the scenery. | All of our senses are focused on the task of driving. |
| Freeways have lines, barriers, medians and, rumble strips that keep us on the road, protect us from other traffic, and alert us when we might be veering off the road. | All we have to guide us in the fog is the light. We drive in a constant state of alertness of where we are and what is ahead. |
| When driving on freeways, we can relax a bit without thinking about our speed because we use cruise control. | Because we are accustomed to going fast and having good visibility, we are very mindful of our limited visibility and slow speed. We are always ready to brake or turn when necessary. |
| Freeways are usually very straight and curves are very easy to manuever. All we need to do is steer a little from time to time. | Driving in a fog is a constant process of correcting a little bit to the right or left. We are always ready to step on the brake to avoid objects that might appear on the road. |
| If we choose to go faster than the posted speed limit, we keep a watchful eye for the highway patrol. | We would welcome meeting an emergency vehicle with lights that could guide us to safety. |
These are imperfect comparisons, of course, but they still give a useful picture of the differences between religion and faith:
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These are useful comparisons to consider because, symbolically speaking, God lives in a cloud. Thus it is fair to say that learning to hear God’s voice is somewhat like driving in a fog because it demands our full attention. We are never quite sure where we are but we keep driving/listening with confidence that the fog can lift at any moment when we will break into the daylight and hear God’s voice.
People who spend any amount of time in this website will soon conclude that navigating through it is very much like driving in the fog. It is full of twists and turns that will leave readers confused about where they are, where they have been and where they are going. That is why we have used the graphic ←↑→↓ to represent what it is like to navigate this website.
As authors of this website we make no apologies for the fact that it is a challenge to negotiate. After all, if God did not make knowing him easy, why should we make it easy and simple? Religion is designed for people who like a god who is simple to understand. New Covenant disciples understand that their God is very mysterious and not at all simple
If this website has any appeal, therefore, it will be to people who are comfortable driving/walking by faith through the fog to know God. These are the disciples/learners who choose the narrow gate.
This website will not, on the other hand, appeal to religionists who prefer to be part of the traffic on a fast, linear, easy to drive road to learn about God and his ways. Those people should probably stick with freeway religion until they have a sense that God is calling them out of it. Only then will they find this website helpful.