Tools of Faith

Have you ever considered how God uses whatever He wants to get your attention? What tools has He provided you to help you on your journey in your faith?

Perspective

I grew up Catholic. I was baptized Catholic. To this day, whenever I sit through a Mass, there’s something about it that feels like home. The prayers, the rhythm, the familiar rituals well they ground me. They remind me of where I’ve come from and of the countless believers who’ve prayed those same words for centuries.

I’ve also been in mega churches with the lights, the music, and the energy of a packed arena. It’s not “holy ground” for me, but I can see how it stirs something in others. And honestly, that’s the point.

The tools may be different, but God is the same.

Here’s the truth I’ve learned: God is so much bigger than any structure we can build, any service we can design, or any leader we can follow. He doesn’t need our systems to meet us. He chooses to meet us through them sometimes, but He is never limited by them.

Mass is a tool. A sermon is a tool. A small group is a tool. Worship music is a tool. Even silence is a tool. None of them are God, but all of them can point us to Him.

One of the ways God drove this truth home to me was at a concert with my daughter. The building looked like it should have been condemned. A man literally blew the entrance clear with a leaf blower before opening the doors. Janky couches sat outside. Right next door was a shuttered Christian bookstore. A dumpster stood out front.

I asked the owner what was going on, and he told me God had called him to use this broken place to invite young people into a relationship with Him. That same dumpster? He said it had become a baptismal pool. Hundreds of kids had been baptized there, leaving behind the “garbage” that had been weighing them down.

Even a dumpster can be used

That night I met a young man named Matthew. He told me he never felt like he fit in, not even with his own family. But this place, this unlikely place, welcomed him. And here, he encountered God.

That moment marked me. Because once you’ve seen God show up in a dumpster, you realize He can show up anywhere.

The danger comes when we confuse the tool with the source. When the tool becomes the object of our devotion instead of the God who gave it to us. A hammer isn’t the house. A steering wheel isn’t the journey. And a church service isn’t the Savior.

What changed me forever was realizing that God shows up where I am, how I am, when I am. I don’t have to be in a pew, on a livestream, or in a small group for Him to meet me. He can do it in the middle of a Mass, or in a rundown concert hall, or while hearing a child laugh. The Creator is everywhere in His creation.

That doesn’t mean we abandon the tools. We need them. They help us grow, shape us, hold us accountable, and remind us of truth. But they’re not the end. They’re not the relationship. They’re not the wonder.

So here’s the challenge: use the tools, but don’t worship them. Worship God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us that You can use anything, a cathedral or a concert hall, a pew or a dumpster, to draw people close to You. Thank You for the tools of faith that remind us of Your presence, but most of all thank You for meeting us personally, right where we are. Keep us from mistaking the tools for You. Keep us centered on You. We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.