Just Some Alexie Ideas

So, for my essay I'm not really focusing on religion in "Jesus Christ's...", but rather the idea of faith and imagination. However, I do find it very interesting in the way that religion (Christianity) is used many times to portrait James as sort of a savior to the narrator of the story.   There are many instances of James's actions mirroring those of biblical accounts and I would have to say the best one is when it says, "He'll make gold out of commodity cheese." (p.120) This line is the best because as some of you may know the story of Jesus making wine out of water to give to his followers and this is the same action almost.  James is characterized to be someone who will rise above the reservation and everyone on it as something much bigger or better than everyone else.  The narrator seems better off at the end of the story from believing in James and putting his faith in him, which leads me to my question if anyone actually happens to read this.  What is more important for living on the reservation, faith or imagination?