The Importance of Faith In God and The Role It Should Play In Life

Last night a friend sent me an article which explained George Washington’s policy regarding chaplain’s pay in the American army. (This goes back to the 1770’s.) It was a fairly lengthy article that I will not attempt to summarize here but the bottom line was that for reasons having to do with the importance of faith and with matters of religious liberty Washington felt that chaplains were important to the army.

The info described in the article provides a helpful indication of the way in which one of our nation’s key founders, George Washington, viewed the importance of faith in God and the role it should play in life.

One of the ways the concept of separation between church and state has been misunderstood is that people have come to believe the idea means a person’s faith in God should be completely private and not play any role in the public sphere of life. Actually, the original intent of the concept was meant to prevent the state (government) from mandating or coercing any particular practice of faith.

Our faith is not simply a private matter that is to be relegated to a few limited areas of life, the truth of God and who He is an important aspect of every area of life.