A popular YouTube channel called “MindYourDecisions” regularly posts videos which present a variety of math problems and gives you the opportunity to work out the solution. Most of these are not post-doctorate, age-of-the-universe type questions. Instead, the channel presenter, Presh Talwalker, curates interesting exam questions, job interview questions, and from time to time, puzzles and riddles.
The puzzles and riddles are usually the “move one matchstick to change the diagram from “Figure A” to “Figure B” type. At first, it all seems rather impossible. Once he explains the solution you end up saying to yourself, “Why didn’t I figure that out?”
The reason “why not” is frequently because the “solution” often requires some rather liberal interpretation of the question and/or answer. Like most puzzle/riddles, there is an element of misdirection, double meanings, or undisclosed assumptions. They are trick questions.
Has your Monday started well? I hope so . . . because in the puzzle/riddle spirit I’m going to pose my own to you. Are you ready?
“Is faith intended for life, or is life intended for faith?”
Trick question? Misdirection? Maybe. Is the answer, “Yes to both?” Maybe. But maybe not.
Let’s use some good problem-solving techniques and break down the question into some simpler elements. What I intend the words to mean and what you might assume the words to mean may be two different things.
First, what is “faith?” Obviously, there could be any number of definitions. My intended meaning is, “the body of understanding based on the truth that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, all they contain, and there is no other.” Is that what you expected?
Next, what is “life?” It seems obvious enough, but remember this is a riddle . . . it’s that time when we are alive, right? Of course I intend a twist in this . . . “life,” by Biblical definition, is not just when we are alive on earth, but if we are reconciled to God through Christ, is both the NOW and the YET-TO-COME. That’s why we see the phrase “eternal life” used so frequently by the Apostle John.
Finally, what is the verb “intended” intended to mean (see what I did there?). This is why puzzles/riddles are both fascinating and frustrating . . . the potential double meanings or interpretations. The sense in which I intend “intended” speaks to purpose.
We can now rephrase the question this way: “Is the purpose of embracing the body of understanding about who God is something that we use in life now, or is our life - both now and for the yet-to-come - a platform through which our relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth is expressed?”
The answer - my intended answer - is the latter; life is intended to be a platform to God’s grace.
I know some of you are now chomping at the bit, eager to jump through your device’s screen to challenge me on this . . . I can just feel it. That’s great - that’s part of the purpose behind a puzzle or riddle. I’d love to have conversation about this. Drop me a note!! Let me also give some further explanation.
Of course, “Option A” has validity. There is no way it is a “wrong” answer. However, it potentially represents a significant misunderstanding about faith. It is a sad reality that, for many, “faith” (even faith in God as I’ve described it) is simply an add-on, another tool in the arsenal, another resourceful life-hack to help us. It is possible to have a truth-based, well articulated understanding of God, His created order, and what it means to be reconciled to Him . . . and even to have made significant life-adjustments accordingly without completely embracing the demands of life in the Kingdom of God.
On the other hand, if we understand “life” in the bigger picture - both now and not yet - then we better understand the nature of God’s love and work for us. It is not just keeping us “out of hell,” but He desires we experience the immeasurable, almost inexplicable treasure of His grace:
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:4-7 ESV)
My puzzle/riddle building skills are not the greatest. But if I’ve caused pause for thought, triggered the desire for discussion, or brought a fresh perspective, then it served its purpose.
Enjoy a fantastic Monday living life (now and yet-to-come) by faith!
