It’s a conversation that allegedly took place between Abraham Lincoln and his life long friend, Joshua Speed. Speed, upon finding Lincoln reading the Bible, laid a hand on his shoulder and remarked, “I am glad to see you profitably engaged.”
“I am profitably engaged,” was the affirming reply.
“Well, if you have recovered from your skepticism, I am sorry to say that I have not.”
“You are wrong, Speed,” said Lincoln, looking up from the pages of his Bible. “Take all of this book upon reason that you can, and the balance on faith, and you will die a happier and better man.”
This story resonates with me for numerous reasons.
1) It’s Abraham Lincoln, an obviously smart and great man who gave God respect, believed the Bible, and relied on Christ for strength to lead America through one of it’s most trying times.
2) It’s a great statement on the cooperation of reason and faith. Christianity is not unreasonable. It does not require blind or stupid faith. It requires a reasonable faith. That would be, as Lincoln described it, a faith that travels along with reason until reason can go no further, at which point faith goes the rest of the way alone. That says that faith is not antagonistic to reason, it’s just that reason alone isn’t enough.
3) Joshua Speed, who is said to have been one of Lincoln’s best friends, did not share Lincoln’s belief. They even disagreed over the slavery issue, yet they remained close throughout Lincoln’s life and presidency. This is a good example for us, because we tend to gravitate, especially with best friends, to people who support the same belief systems we hold. We might have acquaintances that are not believers, but rarely best friends. I’d be curious as to whether Mr. Speed ever came to faith. It’s hard to imagine a long, close friendship with a man like Lincoln that wouldn’t have deeply impacted Joshua Speed about the reality of all that Lincoln believed.
At any rate, it’s a great example of the kind of friendships I believe we as Christians need to cultivate — relationships of mutual respect with those who are different from us. It’s hard to deny the powerful witness of a life of faith over the long haul.
John Fischer The Catch 
I like the way you put point #2. The problem with the older, enlightenment-informed approach to the Bible is that it misses this point. No, you can’t get everything the Bible has to say using reason, alone. The problem with the newer, postmodernism-informed approach to the Bible is also that it misses this point. No, the Bible is not just a matter of faith, of “your truth;” it really does mean a number of things, absolutely. Reason alone isn’t enough — but we dare not leave reason out of the picture!
I like this one John – especially about respecting those to do not have the same beliefs. What makes the Christian belief system the ONLY right one? Why is it that religions can’t or won’t respect other religions (beliefs)? Can’t a person who has a faith he believes in share that with someone of another faith without trying to convert that person. If that’s not possible than all this person is really saying is Hey you, your faith is not the right one, I see that all the time… You say God, and Jesus, I say Creator… are you right and I’m wrong? I know that’s not what you personally are saying, but as you know, others do…
In the church I attend, the teaching is that we should make friendships with non believers in order to tell them about the gospel. In some cases what I see is that the friendship is a means to an end. Once the person accepts or rejects the gospel the friendship may lose its meaning. This to me is conditional love. First of all the Holy Spirit converts, we like the farmer prepare the soil, sow the seed and gather the harvest but we do not make the seed grow. I sometimes get the idea that we push people into salvation and don’t present the gospel and let it speak for itself in how I live my life. Salvation happens in Gods time not my time. This does not mean I don’t spread the gospel, it is just that I have not hidden agenda.
I like your idea, John of having friends who may or may not believe in the God of the Bible. I have some in my neighborhood. I pray that they will accept Jesus. They know my beliefs and I try to pick my moments but only if it seems like it is a God moment. They don’t want me to “ram my beliefs down their throats’. So I love them the way God wants me to, without words and keep praying.