I’ve spent a lot of time unpacking what it means to have faith lately. This season of my life has certainly called for it. One thing that I have discovered is that “faith” is used on a daily basis by a number of people in a number of ways:
I have faith in you.
Just have faith, you’ll get through it.
I don’t have much faith in your ability to repair this.
I’m telling you this in good faith.
We’ve all used these examples in some form or fashion, including me – and that’s fine. It isn’t wrong to say that you have faith in your friend or that you don’t have much faith in a particular process or system. As a matter of fact, the term faith comes packaged up in a variety of interpretations.
According to Merriam-Webster, faith is:
1. allegiance to a duty or person; sincerity of intentions
2. belief and trust in and loyalty to God; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust
3. something that is believed, especially with strong conviction
Like my examples, this set of interpretations is still somewhat broad, which leads me to an observation. Practicing faith can be split up into two separate doctrines. Worldly faith and Heavenly faith.
Having a worldly sense of faith means applying some sense of trust and truth in to people, things or systems that exist on Earth – things that we’ve claimed or created. Heavenly faith is the larger belief in the love and power of Christ Jesus as the irrefutable center of our lives – even in His physical absence. This type of faith calls for constant growth and development in response to the fact that often times, our eyes can’t see it.
Heavenly faith is powerful and life changing. Worldly faith is meager and deceiving.
Worldly faith causes us to pledge allegiance to a person or duty that isn’t Jesus. It causes us to lend sincere intention to trusting someone or something that can never satisfy the root of our need for the faith in the first place. When someone tells me they have faith that I can do something, it makes me feel good. That message is an encouraging one to hear from someone when you feel let down or defeated. But the deception here is a reliance on faith constructed by someone who isn’t God. The fault isn’t telling someone you have faith in them or receiving that message with a positive reflection on your circumstance. It isn’t a sin to have faith in someone or to receive good faith from someone. The true deception is relying on a self-constructed idea of faith to ultimately get through what you’re dealing with or observing. That’s what makes worldly faith so dangerous. It’s easy to pass off as harmless and it has the potential to possess a great deal of reliance or acceptance from the recipient.
Now I tell people all the time, “I have faith in you, friend.” And I mean that. I do have faith in people that their hearts can be open to God and that their ability to elevate Him in the midst of a trial is powerful and relevant because God has equipped them. But that’s the difference. I’m not delivering a sense of faith that is molded around my understanding of them or their character. I’m not expressing my faith in them because they are a good person, or smart, or hard working or driven – even if they are. And if they are, they know I think that about them. I can encourage people by telling them they are those things but my faith in them isn’t a direct extension of that. My understanding of who they are does not qualify me to have them rely on my expression of “characteristic” faith and apply it to their personal growth. I have faith in people because God sees a greatness in them that far exceeds any understanding I have about their ability. We were all made in an image of Greatness by the Lord.
If faith is defined by the sincerity of intentions, mold your intention around the power of God and His love and salvation for all of humanity. Have faith in others because God created them, and make it known. We don’t personally regulate or dispense heavenly faith. God does. Let our faith in worldly complexes be an extension of Christ’s love and our own developing faith in Him.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)
If our hope is found in the Lord – where it should be – we should be sure of Him and His unrivaled ability to do anything in our lives. We are all called to be servants and we serve an all-loving, almighty God. Nothing is too big or too small for Him. We should all be constantly seeking out His face and praying that our faith continually grow. This way, we can grow our wisdom in the realm of God – not the realm of men (a reliance on worldly faith). Heavenly faith is the key.
