Swirling around in my brain this morning are scores of verses I’ve studied over the weekend on faith. After all, if ABUNDANT faith is indication of a healthy church, then I want a good, solid, biblical view of what that looks like. I just completed a theological fly-over, but somehow need to bring that plane to a landing on something solid and practical. I want to be a healthy church! I long for my collective gathering of little churches to be strong in spirit, as well.
Unquestionably, faith is the bedrock of Christianity. I can’t muster up faith - it is the gift of God (lest any many should boast). At the same time, I am told to pursue faith and to “make every effort to add to my faith.” Faith rises up out of a strong knowledge of TRUTH, yet it is not inactive: faith without works is dead; and, the righteous live by faith. The Christian is warned to wear faith at all times, as a shield, to deflect the fiery darts of the enemy; and yet, Believer, we are told to rise up and resist the enemy by faith, so he will flee. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of the Lord, but many a follower (from the beginnings of the early church) have been deceived by the words of man and seen their faith shipwrecked. When the Apostle Paul warns of this, I know he saw particular faces flit through his mind, and his heart broke. So, he challenges us over and over again to fight for the faith, to contend for the faith, and to guard that which has been “entrusted” to us. How do we know if our faith is genuine? It’s revealed through testing…and is refined by fire; but, we are to continually “examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.” In other words, faith is quite paradoxical (confounding, in fact). So, we don’t spend a lot of mental energy thinking about it. Yet without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord.
I’ve settled on a definition for faith. Faith is to be so persuaded by something, or in our case, SOMEONE, that every decision in life springs out of reliance upon that one. Simply put: faith relies heavily on the only ONE worthy of following. As a result, that ONE must always be in our sights. His words must always ring in our ears. Our responses are always based on where He leads and what He says; and, no matter what, we yield and comply. No!Matter!What! Because sometimes, where He leads and what He says makes no sense at all. Just ask Paul, or Peter, or James, or John… Sometimes, He sent them into the darkest of woods.
The church of the Thessalonians were living out of faith that was growing. Not just “growing,” but growing ABUNDANTLY. That word, abundant (!) meant beyond measure. It was not just growing in ordinary fashion as one would expect, but by leaps and bounds. It was extraordinarily growing, and causing no small measure of notice. So, if faith, indeed, comes by hearing (and hearing from the Word of God), then they were steeping themselves in TRUTH. They were marinating in it, and then going out and doing something with it. The more they saw that their faith worked, the more they wanted. So, they went back to the Source for Faith again and again; and the more they marinated and steeped, read and studied; listened and prayed - the more their faith grew. The Lord honored their pursuit with the gift of greater faith.
I see a problem in this church (me, a little “eklesia"). I see a problem in the collective church. Forgive me if I offend. We are a bunch of lazy churches. We’re comfortable with being spoon fed. We want others to do the work of steeping and studying, grinding up the meat, and making it more digestible. We live in an age of easy access. I can quickly download a new book, or listen to a podcast of my most favorite speakers, or watch faith-building films. I can even dive into “Bible Studies” that others have prepared for me with wonderful, godly, insightfully creative commentary. I love it all. I take advantage of what’s available. It’s comfortable. Yet, if I don’t dive into the truth for myself; if I don’t take the time to do the study; it can be so easy to just take man’s word, and let that be the end-all. And, what I’ve realized is it can simply be the beginning of shipwrecking my faith. It’s the beginning, because lies are subtle. We must take what man says (even what I say!) and always measure it with the plumb line of God’s Words. Sometimes, the enemy has allowed worldly philosophies to be gift wrapped to look a lot like truth, without being TRUTH. It’s exactly what the writers of the New Testament warned against.
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