Faith By Any Other Name

As I was standing in the medication room waiting for another nurse to finish removing patient medications, we began to chat briefly about how the night had been going well. I even dared to say the “Q” word—Quiet. The other nurse immediately said “Yeah, I’m kind of superstitious. I don’t say that kind of stuff, and we should probably knock on wood, so that nothing bad happens.” As a nurse, there are certain taboo words—those which shall not be uttered, with the word “Quiet” being the primary one. One is also expected to not state that things are easy/going well, that nothing bad has happened this shift, or any other form of positive statement identifying good things—all for fear that something bad will then suddenly occur.

I categorically reject that belief. I say positive things to intentionally release life with the power of my words and intentions to shift the atmosphere at the hospital toward healing, peace, and life. In fact, I go one step further—I intentionally use the word “quiet” to provoke other nurses’ reactions, and I do it for a reason. Tonight I did it because it opened up a conversation with that nurse about how we can use positive affirmations and intentions to encourage a positive and healthy unit. As a whole, I do it to educate staff on the power of faith—and faith by any other name is just as effective.

Not everyone is Christian, and many people who might respect the religious beliefs of others reject ideas when certain buzzwords are used. Sometimes words like “faith” are rejected but other words slide under the radar—things like “positive affirmation” or “positive intention.” In fact, my coworker doesn’t realize I was preaching gospel truths to her using non-religious language—that God has given us creative power to change our world. She stated she was superstitious, which means that she has spiritual beliefs that influence her decisions. I chose to prophesy a different script—a lifegiving version where she could take a stand against death, loss, and destruction by choosing to speak life over the hospital unit. I just didn’t use Christianese to do it, and I didn’t need to. Faith by any other name is still effective.

Some might say I water down the gospel when I do that, but I disagree. I am making a message hearable and teaching someone how to effectively release the creative power of God to bring life to badly injured people in a way that bypasses personal prejudices and anti-religion sentiments. I have some friends who run dream-interpretation training and mentoring (http://www.nowinterpretthis.org/) and part of their training is the intentional use of nonreligious language to communicate heaven’s truths in ways that bypass people’s mental blocks over certain buzzwords.

Imagine if I had said to that nurse, “You know, instead of being afraid of the word ‘quiet,’ perfect love casts out fear and you can prophesy in faith for the shalom of God that passes understanding to rest on this unit and become a tabernacle for the Holy One of Israel,” I would have lost her completely. Instead, I pointed out that she could use positive affirmations to bring calm and quiet to the unit without being afraid that verbalizing those intentions would bring the opposite. In fact, that very statement is echoed in Matthew 7:11, saying “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” If we ask for peace and quiet on a hospital unit, God isn’t going to give us patient falls, organ failures, and code blue emergencies.

Sometimes the right thing to do in a situation is to speak the gospel using clear and direct language, speaking of Jesus who died on the cross and of the power and authority He has given us to transform this world. But other times we need to use nonreligious language that bypasses inner resistance and communicates the same scriptural truths in a way that is hearable. Because faith by any other name is just as effective.