I would obviously be a 
consummate hypocrite if I offered you these filters without first applying them to my own faith. After thirty-two years of testing, I am glad to report that my faith in Jesus is still sound. Filtered through times of unexplainable pain and indescribable joy, this faith endures and actually becomes more precious to me each day.
Filter One: My faith’s savior, Jesus, is consistent to the core. Without exception, I am proud of the way he lived, and it would be a high honor for anyone to suggest that my life resembled his. Jesus did not lie but spoke the truth even when it was costly. He did not misappropriate funds but chose to live simply. He showed scandalous respect for even culturally untouchable women and men and consistently made room to value children. He lived what he preached and preached what he lived. He demonstrated great humility in the use of his great power. He was faithful to his covenants and commitments. He called the rich to accountability and befriended the poor in body and spirit. Almost two thousand years following his death, such consistent character still captivates and inspires me. Though its overuse has made it sound trite, I mean these words with all my heart and mind: I want to be like Jesus.
Filter Two: After sincere and continued evaluation, I can state soberly that my faith—though quotable—is also livable. I have considered its roots, its underlying premises, and can accept them with intellectual integrity. Although they are at times uncomfortable and controversial, I have yet to identify and examine a foundational premise that I cannot live with.
Filter Three: Life’s most agonizing moments have revealed that my faith in Jesus is sustainable, even through life-size pain. When intellectually my mind has been too disillusioned and exhausted to tend to the fire, when emotionally my disappointment and anger have depleted all the oxygen in the room, the flame of faith still burns—sustained not by my pampering but by the actions of Another, the Author of my faith.
Filter Four: I have witnessed firsthand in countries around the world that faith in Jesus is transferable to others. Jesus’ message is meaningful and relevant to people from vastly different back- grounds and experiences
than mine. Its transforming power is not restricted to those who share my demographics. The tangible hope that faith in Jesus ignites crosses all—yes, I do mean all—political, cultural, and economic boundaries. It works for the broken victim and it even works for the repentant accused. It works in the garbage dumps and it works on Wall Street. It works in the bush and it works in ivory towers. With joy I have seen with my own eyes, and through the lives and stories of trusted friends, that faith in Jesus is relevant, accessible, and effectively transferable to others.
Rest assured, I have no intention of retiring from the evaluation of my belief system. But knowing that it has repeatedly passed through these filters decade after decade makes sharing my faith in Jesus with others all the more meaningful for me.
(These thoughts on faith and friction originally appeared in my book, Finding An Unseen God: Reflections of a Former Atheist. Recently I wrote an article on 5 Be’s for those who love Atheists for Today’s Christian Woman. If you’d like to read that article, click here.)
