HOW’S YOUR FAITH?

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17:5–6).

So how’s your faith? We are saved by grace alone through faith alone so it’s a vitally important question. Moved any mulberry trees lately? A mustard seed is an exceedingly small thing– close to nothing–but Jesus is not here talking about our degree of faith.

Leon Morris explains the point of this passage, “It is not necessary to have great faith; even a small faith is enough, as long as it is faith in the great God.”

That’s a comforting thought, isn’t it? But notice the caveat: “as long as it is faith in the great God.”

Is your faith in the One True God as he reveals himself in the Bible, no more and no less? Or is your god a customized version that fits your sinful proclivities or political view, malleable as needed. Is church a social construct for you or are you driven there by the overwhelming conviction there is no place else to go? Is God your co-pilot or is he your pilot?

Around the turn of the century I met Robert Scott, WW II ace and author of the best-selling book and movie of the same name–God is My Co-pilot. I spoke at a fundraiser in his honor at the Georgia Air Museum and he gave me a personal tour to include a walk-around of his P-40 Warhawk, and we swapped autographed books. What a charming, gracious old fighter pilot he was! I did not have the nerve to ask him if he realized it, but I’m sure he knows now that his book title was bad theology. God was and is his Pilot.

What say you, my friend? Is God at the controls of your fragile craft with you obediently riding along, doing as he commands? Or do you go where you want to go and expect him to come along in silence until called upon?

Is Jesus Lord of your life … or Vice Lord? Vice Lord is a perilous supposition.

“As a matter of objective reality, God who made heaven and earth has made Christ the Lord of the universe” (RC Sproul).

“I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through me” (John 14:6).

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourself…” ( 2 Corinthians 13:5).

See you in church.

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