The reason faith is a necessity for Christians
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.." "By faith we are saved." I guess it's common knowledge that faith is a big deal among Christians.
But I have dear friends who are atheists and agnostics, and I truly believe that unless they are on the path to Hell. When they ask me, "how can you know that there is a God?," how can I possibly explain faith? And why didn't God, who (I assume) knew that there would be people that work mostly logically, offer some basic, logical proof for His existence?
As a Christian, I am often viewed as an extremist. I am intolerant, gullible, discriminatory, and lots of other nasty words. But I think the truth is much harder: that Christians are instructed to maintain a delicate balance in most areas of their lives. For instance, 2 Thes. 2:10 warns against being gullible: "They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved." If one does not love the truth, one is likely to accept any ideology that makes one feel better. Rom 14:5 instructs Christians to know what they believe and stick with it: "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. " On the other hand, a strong emphasis on faith also makes it impossible for a Christian to depend fully on logic.
So... why did God make it so hard? Why can't God be reached by logic?
The answer, I believe, is that, if God could be reached by logic, strong logical thinkers would be closer to God than those with very little logical capacity. But God is as close to the mentally-impaired as He is to the brilliant. Actually, the bible notes that He is particularly accessible to the broken, the poor, the weak, the sick, and children. In other words, it is easier for people who are not extremely self-reliant to reach the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because people who are self-reliant often don't feel that they need faith.
For the same reason, I don't believe that God can be reached through mediation, sports, music, or any other thing that one may have a "talent" for.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (Amplified Bible)
For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]