Taking a Step of Faith

If you have conversed in Christian circles for a significant amount of time in your life, then you have probably run across this phrase – "taking a step of faith." I find this phrase somewhat puzzling because the phrase is very often invoked in the context of a monumental life change. Very often one brother or sister in the faith will divulge to another brother or sister a life circumstance that will result in a change in job, geography, or relationship. For instance, one sister may say something like: "the Lord has really opened up the opportunity to practice my nursing in the country of Zambia and, although I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fund myself while I'm there, I have decided to take up this opportunity." And someone else may respond like this: "well, that's a very big step of faith that you are taking." What puzzles me about this interaction is the meaning of the word faith. Generally speaking the word faith means a strong confidence. My question is: in what way is an affirmation of confidence beneficial to the one who has openly divulged a story that concerns a life transition? Certainly making a life transition requires confidence, but confidence is merely the muscle that moves a decision; it is not the basis of a decision nor is it the act of the life change. Now, more than likely people that say things like "taking a step of faith" are attempting to assert the centrality and importance of Christian belief as one moves through life, but to emphasize the virtue of faith runs the risk of reducing the act of faith to a monumental life decision. However, the reality is that Christian belief frames every decision of life from the decision to rise up in the morning with the sound of the alarm clock to the decision of cross-cultural missions. I would suggest that certainly an affirmation of faith is in order, but it must be more specific than just faith – it must be an affirmation of courage – faith empowered encourage which is able to assess and realize the risks involved in such a life transition, but also able to act in spite of those dangers – I would suggest that we should step away from affirming steps of faith and move towards affirming leaps of courage.