I was riding on the bus one day when somebody loudly said that they were going to pray that the Lord would heal my eyes. As a person who is blind, I took offense at this–not because the person wanted to pray, but because of how they announced it to everybody. Their was no question on the person’s lips, but what he said sounded more like a demand to obtain a spiritual scalp.
Think about it this way: You are at an old-fashioned circus where someone is selling tickets, and you hear them call out, “Step right up and see the blind man healed!” How would you feel about being the main attraction?
I will just say two things for the record. First, I felt both used and embarrassed. Second, that is not the way Jesus works.
It is sad that the body of Christ is divided over the issue of faith. I will attempt to say this in love, but please hear me out.
Many well-meaning and sincere Christians have strayed from the beaten path as far as faith is concerned. Therefore, we need to address two kinds of faith in this article: biblical and non-biblical faith.
Let’s deal with what I call non -biblical faith first, as it has not only done harm, but also caused division. Before you stop reading, however, let me explain what I mean.
I believe the man on that bus had faith in faith, instead of faith in God. Rather than enhancing his view of God, therefore, this only obscured it.
This kind of faith reminds me of someone pumping up a tire. In other words, a person may be using Christian vocabulary, but all the while taking their eyes off of Jesus and onto the amount of faith a person has.
Here is what Jesus said concerning the quantity of faith that a person needs.
“I tell you the truth: if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’, and it would move.” (Matthew 9:20 B, NLT)
Instead of the amount of faith we have, we can see from the following scripture passage that Jesus is more concerned with authenticity.
“Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.'” (Mark 9:24, NKJV)
Some of the most damaging words a person can hear are, “You weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith.” That response would mean that a person’s healing was contingent upon their own strength, instead of Christ’s power.
Rather than making excuses for God when we don’t get the results we want, we have to remember the factor of His timing. If Jesus submitted to the cup of God’s wrath saying, “Not my will but thine be done,” who are you and I?
This does not exclude the fact that many times in the gospels, Jesus saw a persons faith as a key to releasing His healing power. To see this for ourselves, let’s look up one example of many, which can be found in Matthew 9:29 (NLT).
“Then He touched their eyes and said, ‘Because of your faith it will happen.'”
What we forget, however, is that faith is a gift of God.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8, NLT)
A further problem comes when we get power and sensationalism mixed up. Unlike the power demonstrated by the person on that bus, God’s power is often seen in quiet ways. And that leads us to our discussion of biblical faith.
This type of faith is not self-seeking, but rather its goal is to establish God’s glory, as this scripture shows:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?'” (John 11:40, ESV)
Another quality that comes to the forefront is service. Jesus spoke about this in Mark 10:45. Then, as we skip ahead to Mark 49:52, we see Him model this, showing us how faith and service are combined.
“When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, ‘Tell him to come here.’ So they called the blind man. Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
“‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked.
“‘My rabbi,’ the blind man said, ‘I want to see!’
“And Jesus said to him, ‘go, for your faith has healed you.’
“Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road” (Mark 9:49-52, NLT)
Here is another thing I would like to address. Scripture shows that biblical faith produces flexibility as we are conformed into Christ’s image. If you read the story of Bartimaeus in its entirety, you will see that Jesus showed amazing flexibility as he stopped to meet a need.
People without number have shown this kind of biblical faith, as they have gone out of their way to serve my wife and I. It is here that we would like to say thank you to those wonderful people. Furthermore, if they have come up and prayed for us, they have done si quietly and unobtrusively, asking us beforehand.
Having said that, I would like to leave you with two ideas to think about. Yes, we all want to increase our faith, and here is one of many ways that scripture offers:
“So faith comes from hearing–that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (Romans 10:17, NLT)
I am not denying Christ’s healing power in any way. The book of Hebrews makes it very clear that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. But instead of having a microwave faith, I want my faith to be more like that of the three Hebrew children who faced the fiery furnace.
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God who we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, your majesty. But even if He doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, your majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18, NLT)
According to scripture, that is what biblical faith is all about. Therefore, we need to search His Word, as it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.