God’s grace is the balancing pole that keeps me from falling into self-obsession and self-deception. Whatever I have achieved—and will ever achieve—is the result of my relationship with Him.
~Nik Wallenda
~Nik Wallenda
Real and complete faith is a powerful thing. Faith is having total trust and confidence;3 in religion it is a strong belief in the doctrines even when they cannot be seen or proven.4 Faith goes beyond intellectual acknowledgments and passive belief; faith has at its root the same Latin word as “fidelity.”5 And so faith—complete confidence in the object of that faith—also leads to “loyalty” and “allegiance.”3
As a Christian, my faith is centered in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, and my personal Savior. It is based in believing that grace comes though his great and eternal sacrifice, transforms my life, wipes away my sins, and opens the gates of heaven. True commitment to Christ demands of us “repentance, obedience, and dedicated service."6 The wonderful thing though about allegiance with Christ is that He shares the burden;7 He is willing to walk beside and even in front of us leading the way.
As a Christian I aspire and strive to have my faith in God and Christ be the foundational aspect of my life, and to permeate every aspect of my life—even wire walking. Not surprisingly, I find inspiration for my faith as a Christian in my hobby, especially on the topic of faith.
The Wallendas are heroes of mine. The family members, besides being notable as one of the more famous and skilled high wire families around, are also distinguished by how they put their faith central in their professional as well as their personal lives. They seem to live, breathe, and even walk by faith. That commitment to and openness about their beliefs is a major reason I admire them so much.
Like Blondin, both Nik and Tino Wallenda have given their audiences opportunities to test their faith, and also learn faith—albeit in less extreme circumstances.
Tino Wallenda, as part of a prison ministry, would let the prisoners try balancing on a low mounted pipe. They inevitably fell off fairly quickly. Then Tino stood in front of them and let them hold on to him and, together, they were able to cross the full length.
Tino then turned this simple activity into a powerful object lesson: “What made the difference? Walking with a master—someone who knows how and is willing to use himself to stabilize you and keep you safe. The point is that it’s difficult to walk alone. However, when we trust in the Master of life to guide our steps, He keeps us safe and balanced. He makes it possible to reach the other side—heaven.”8
Trusting the master is easier when the line to cross is only two feet up. Just ask reporter Kate Bolduan from CNN, who, after trying out a low practice wire, actually had the experience of standing on a 30 foot high wire without a net or safety harness while holding on to Nik Wallenda.
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The lift pulled back a few feet, and the pair—master wirewalker and novice reporter—took one step together. Bolduan was glad to go only that one step; she said she was grateful enough to kiss the ground when she was returned to terra firma.9
Source: CNN.com: "Hire-wire Walker Preps for Grand Canyon"
If Nik Wallenda offered to take me up and walk me across a high wire, I think I would jump at the chance. Admittedly I would still probably be terrified, but I have incredible faith in his abilities. What though of my willingness to respond to the call of the Master of All, walk in His footsteps, and rely on Him?
As I wrote this post I contemplated that question, contemplated if I have the same level of unwavering confidence in my Savior. When He asks me to actively exercise my faith, when demonstrating allegiance is required, am I willing to follow where He leads? When my faith is put on the line—when obedience to a teaching I don’t fully understand is needed, or service to a person I haven’t fully learned to love, or time is requested when life seems too busy, or when I struggle to truly forgive myself for failings even though He has already paid the price—how do I respond?
This self-assessment revealed to me that my faith is not all I would like it to be. Spiritual experiences over the years have shown me how walking with the Master steadies my steps and enables me to achieve what seemed impossible. But even though Christ has demonstrated his faithfulness innumerable times, there are still some lines I hope He does not ask me to cross, some tests of faith I feel inadequate to face.
The good news is that "God is faithful"10—He has full faith in us. He created us, He is completely confident in what we are capable of, in what we can become—if we let Him lead the way. Surely then with the love, grace, mercy, and faithfulness of the Master of All to support me, I can learn, in time, to more fully trust Him and His Son, to walk the line of faith.
1 “Blondin - Witness Accounts.” Blondin Memorial Trust. http://www.blondinmemorialtrust.com/witness.html
2 Inspire21. "A lesson in faith - the Charles Blondin story." http://www.inspire21.com/stories/faithstories/CharlesBlondin.
Faith Baptist Church. "Weekly Devotional: What Does It Mean To Have Faith?" http://www.fbcchurch.org/DevotionalDetails.aspx?id=42
3 “faith.” Merriam-Webster.com. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith
4 Hebrews 11:1
5 "fidelity." Merriam-Webster.com. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fidelity
6 Preach My Gospel. Chapter 6: How Do I Develop Christlike Attributes?
7 Matthew 11:30
8 Tino Wallenda. 2005. Walking the Straight And Narrow: Lessons in Faith from the High Wire.. pg
9 CNN. 2013. Kate Learns to Walk on the High Wire. http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/21/kate-learns-to-walk-on-high-wire/
10 1 Cor 1:9; 10:13
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