Faith with evidence?

Another question that got sent in on Sunday evening was this:

Does a sign which shows the existence of God as a certainty take away the point of faith? - faith being a belief in something you can't prove.

I think this is a great question - it gets at something really central in the Christian life.  We all talk about something called the 'Christian faith'  what is that thing?  Is it like the belief in the existence of Santa - unprovable, false but ultimately quite useful for a small child?  Is it like belief in the existence of gravity - provable, true and ultimately obvious and whether you believe it or not it makes no difference? Or is it something else entirely?

Hebrews 11:1 says that 'faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.'

In a sense the Bible makes out that the Christian faith is more like the childlike trust and excitement that Christmas is coming.  My eldest son is called Ethan and he is incredibly excited that Christmas is coming and that he's going to get a 'noisy Lightning McQueen' toy to play with.  He is sure of his hope & certain that Christmas is coming even although he can't see it.

Why is he sure? Because there are signs all around the city telling us that Christmas is coming, he trusts me and Emily when we tell him that Christmas is coming and we can even show him some of the presents that he got for Christmas last year.

Do the signs, the old toys and his parents remove the need for his faith (assurance of the unseen and hoped-for)?  Of course not!  They are there, we are there, to increase his faith.  Some days he will be at nursery and far away from his old toys, there may be nothing to remind him that Christmas is coming and Emily and I may not have mentioned Christmas for days.  It's in those moments that his faith will keep him going.

Another illustration briefly:

Faith is walking across a bridge.  You may have schematics, you may have seen people walking on the bridge and you may have plenty of encouragement to cross the bridge but stepping out on to the bridge is an act of faith in the bridge - not despite the evidence but precisely because of the available evidence.

Another?

I married my wife in faith that she loves me.  She told me she loves me.  She bought me stuff, she treats me well, she promised me great things.  I married her because I have faith that she loves me not despite the evidence but because of the evidence.

Conclusion:

Jesus tells you to check out the schematics for the Christian worldview.  He tells you to hang out with people who have given Christianity a go.  He encourages you to try it yourself - and it's precisely because of the evidence that affords that he asks you to have faith.

God has not left himself without witness - so you can have faith.