Measuring Faith

While we’ve each been given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3), sometimes we’re found measuring things by our doubt and unbelief rather than by the faith we've received. What do I mean? Let’s follow Peter out on the Sea of Galilee as we attempt to evaluate and compute what happened there.

The disciples had been rowing across the Sea of Galilee throughout the night and making little forward motion. Then suddenly they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water, totally unencumbered by the waves and the wind. They were all afraid, yet despite his fear, Peter called out and said:

“‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.’ He said, ‘Come.’ Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the water and went toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he yelled, saying, ‘Lord, save me.’ Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'” (Matthew 14-28-31 NHB).

A Small Measure of Faith

If you had been rowing for hours and hours, getting nowhere, and then saw Jesus walking effortlessly on the water, wouldn't you want to leave your labor behind and hope to join him? Before you answer, we know that Biblically speaking, only one twelfth of believers would follow that inclination and ask Jesus to call them out on the water. So that makes the following fact all the more impactful. If Peter had only "little faith," enabling him to get out of the boat and walk upon the Sea of Galilee, the faith of the other disciples was likely not sufficient to even be measured.

Perhaps it's time, therefore, that we reconsider and remeasure Jesus' "rebuke" of Peter and begin to see it as, at least in part, an affirmation of Peter's belief. Remember, the one who called Peter one of "little faith," is the same one who declared that faith as small as a mustard seed is sufficient to cast a mountain into the sea. We should join Jesus and commend Peter for his small measure of faith for it enabled him to exit a boat during a storm, and walk upon a path of rough waters. And, he was successful up until the point that he began to doubt.

A Measure of Doubt

What a teaching moment this was — holding Jesus' hand while standing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus used the opportunity, not to degrade Peter but to affirm and instruct him. In essence, Jesus said, "You had a sufficient amount of faith to join me on the water. Things were going so well, why did you doubt?” Doubt! What exactly is doubt and why is it so destructive?

One way to understand doubt and its relationship to unbelief is to see it in light of hope's relationship to faith. Faith, after all, is the, "confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Heb 11:1 NIV). Doubt is the confidence in the things we see that contradict hope and faith. So, as hope is the fuel for faith, doubt then is the fuel for unbelief. Hope has the ability to believe the impossible, while doubt has the ability to put our focus on the circumstances around us. Peter's focus was broken and his attention was given to the wind and the waves about him, causing him to doubt not only Jesus, but the measure of his faith, successfully walking upon the water. Hope is realized in our focus upon Jesus as the Word of God. Doubt is realized and measured by our focus upon those things contrary to Jesus and the Word.

“We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete” (Hebrews 12:2 CEV)

As it is said, “We become what we behold.” Paul says that we’re transformed into Jesus’ likeness as we gaze into his glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and what is possible through our faith in him and put his eyes upon those things devoid of Jesus' glory. When he began to sink, believing that he needed to be saved, that's when the measure of his doubt outweighed the measure of his faith.

Measuring Contrary Winds

The strong winds enticed Peter to lose his focus, but it is easy to see why he had begun to remeasure the situation, despite his success thus far. The evening before, the disciples had been serving as waiters, helping Jesus feed over 5,000 hungry people. Afterwards, Jesus sent them off in a boat, rowing across the lake. By the time Jesus caught up to them, walking on the water, it was sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. in the morning. They had been rowing against the wind for many hours. 

In the moment that Peter shifted his focus off of Jesus and upon the strong winds, it was because he knew what it was like to strive against those winds and fail. He and his fellow disciples had been doing that for a measurable period of time in the dark of night. So, when he began to measure his current situation by the doubt that those previous experiences had created, that's when he began to sink. 

We will do the same whenever we look backwards at our failures instead of looking straight ahead towards Jesus.

Well-measured

A small amount of faith is nothing which we should be ashamed. We can, according to Jesus, accomplish great things as long as we do not measure our situation by doubt and unbelief. It is Jesus who gives us our measure of faith and the means by which it is applied. How we measure and apply doubt and unbelief to a situation, however, is totally upon us. Peter had seen Jesus walk on the water and applying a sufficient amount of faith (little), he walked out on the water. But once Peter's doubt based upon his own experience became his focus, the measure of his faith became inconsequential in relationship to the measure of attention he gave to doubt.

So if we are to learn from Peter's experience, we must first believe it a good thing to get out of the boat, answering Jesus' call for us to move forward. Then, we must strive to measure everything we do in light of the success Jesus had before us. He said that we would do the works that he did (John 4:12), which means that depending upon the need, we can look to his example as to what is possible. That's how Peter walked on the water. We must see Jesus as the author and completer of our faith (Heb 12:2).

Hope is the lighthouse that calls us forward and is the substance under our feet as we move forward in faith. It always tells us that there will be a place to step as long as our eyes are focused in the right place. That's how we measure where our next step is going, and that's how we combat the doubt that comes to counteract walking out the measure of faith we've been given.

Small faith is not an insufficiency. We've simply not known how to measure the value of the mustard seed faith within us. How we measure a thing determines its worth. The scales must be aligned properly and the gold within the believer must be valued based upon what Jesus says, not measured by the defeats and loses we've endured.

A Fringe Invitation

Fringe

I’ve been rewatching the series Fringe which is about an off-the-beaten path, science task force working within the FBI. Its assignment is to investigate and focus upon what some consider fringe science - areas outside of the traditional and easily explainable. While watching this sci-fi program, I’m noticing some parallels between it and the Churches mission in our day. We too can no longer dismiss, and/or avoid the works, what some consider the fringe areas of the Gospel, Jesus said that we would perform. While saying this, I fully realize that the supernatural aspects of the Gospel can appear to be, like in the aforementioned TV show, fringe elements.

That’s why I wrote The Gospel Served with the Works. My intention was to create an easily accessible and digestible, scriptural presentation of the Churches mandate to do the works of Jesus. 

“The supernatural is weird enough. Don’t make it any weirder.”

Holding Things in Tension

I recognize and appreciate the reluctance of some to embrace these aspects of the Gospel as many feel that who focus upon them are more invested in these "fringe elements" of the Gospel than they are the core commission itself. I would suggest that the pendulum often swings too far in both directions. Because of this, I suggest that we consider how we can hold these things in tension with each other instead of in extreme opposition.

One end of the spectrum is probably best exemplified by Thomas Jefferson. Being a deist, and more of an admirer than a follower of Jesus, Jefferson infamously cut up his New Testament, removing all the supernatural aspects of Jesus’ ministry, and pasting it back together using only the collection of Jesus' wise sayings and teachings.

On the other end of the spectrum, some have become so attracted to the flame of the supernatural aspects of the Gospel that they have come to believe that being odd and strange are a badge of spirituality. From my perspective, this too is missing the mark. As they taught us at Global Awakening in Mechanicsburg, PA, “The supernatural is weird enough. Don’t make it any weirder.”

Investigation and Immersion

I suggest that we must find ways to move outside of our comfort zone. Just like the Fringe division of the FBI in the aforementioned television program, we would do good to begin to investigate and immerse ourselves in the supernatural works of Jesus as presented in scripture. By doing so, we can begin to discover how we might integrate them into our understanding of the Gospel as they are so deeply embedded within Jesus' ministry and that of the early Church, that they are inseparable. Some are probably asking whether this is something that we can do without becoming weird. Well, weird and fringe are something that are defined and held within the eye of the beholder. Ultimately, our goal would be to be no weirder than Jesus, Paul, John or any of those who understood the marriage between the proclamation of the Gospel and the demonstration of the Gospel. 

No matter where we fall on the spectrum between the written and oral proclamation of the Gospel, and supernatural demonstration, we will likely appear weird to someone. This is an unavoidable fact and it's the chance we took by signing the dotted line. As we carry and perpetuate the Gospel, persecution from one direction or another is simply a fact of life. 

Identity

Whether we are stiff and rigid, or have become weird and wild as it pertains to the Gospel, these attributes probably have more to do with the quirks and leanings we brought with us into our Christian identity and ministry, than attributes that we have culled from the Bible. For many of us, we have gravitated towards and adapted scripture and theology which already match our personalities more than we have allowed the scripture and the Spirit that inspired them to renew and reframe our thinking (Ro 12:2).

The trick is to allow Jesus work in and through us more and more so that our own traits and rough ages can fall into subjection to his identity in us. We invited him in not as a guest, but so that he could take over. That's what the word Lord means. While God created us uniquely and he cherishes who he made us to be, he calls us to more fully recognize who we are in Christ his son. We can never fully arrive at that perfection by we are pilgrims on a journey built that those things which hinder may fall off and those things he wants to build in us will grow. It helps, since we're all on this road together, to offer grace to each other as each of us strive to enter his rest and come into higher levels of maturity and identity in Christ.

You are the ones who are greatly needed in the supernatural presentation of the Gospel for you are the most sensitive to its abuses.

An Invitation and a Challenge

To those who value orthodoxy, seek integrity, and desire to be Christlike within the the proper bounds of the scripture, I would like to extend to you an interesting and serious invitation and a challenge to investigate the supernatural demonstration of the Gospel beyond your comfort zone. Being the ones who are perhaps the most sensitive to its abuses, your maturity and desire to respectfully and faithfully administer the Great Commission is your greatest asset and the full Gospel needs your unique perspective. That's the invitation. The challenge is that along the way, you might find that you have alienated yourself from others as they will likely deem your investigation as getting to close to fringe Christianity, but I'm only suggesting that you begin by going only as far as scripture demonstrate. 

If praying for the sick and other demonstrations of the works of Christ in the Church have appeared to you more like a sideshow than a presentation of the Gospel, then I encourage you to discover how to perform the works Jesus promised we would perform. That's why I wrote The Gospel Served with the Works.

This book presents numerous scriptural examples of how these works are not merely fringe elements, but together are a major component of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our commission. I challenge you to check it out and more importantly, jump back into the Book of Acts and see how the disciples and others who never met Jesus in the flesh, operated in these works.. 

In addition, find those around you who embrace the works of Christ in his Church… those you feel you can trust to help you stretch yourself and along the way, invest yourself in other solid biblical resources on the subject. Purpose to suspend your criticism of those in the Church who appear to you to be odd or overly flamboyant. It is amazing how our perception of how God works can change as our experience administering the Gospel grows. While it is true that God never changes, it is true that our perception of him changes and grows as we come to better know him and his ways.

Conclusion

The Gospel was never meant to be comfortable and this is perhaps a revelation not expressed adequately from our pulpits. That said, there is a real joy in letting Jesus administer the Gospel through us, bringing freedom, release, and the ability to serve him better to those around us. This call is likely best reflected in another series you may have heard of, The Chosen. In it Jesus is famous for inviting his potential disciples to Come and See, and once in, he challenges them to "Get used to different!" Different is not a dirty word.

As long as we can trust him to hold us and keep us from falling off the edge while we step out and take these kinds of risks, we will succeed. It might surprise you just how normal these "fringe," expressions of the Gospel can become. After all, they were normal for Jesus, the one who we are to follow. They are to become so normal, in fact, that Jesus says they will follow all those who will believe (Mt 16:17-18). Are you a believer? Are you up to accepting his invitation found in the Great Commission? We need you! 

Easter Monday?

Anything is Possible

Easter is a time where anything is possible. It's the day believers celebrate Jesus' resurrection. If he can pull that off, he can do anything... right? Easter Sunday has come! But, what about Easter Monday?

Interpreting the Resurrection

Jesus said something rather curious just before he raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. He said, “I am the resurrection.” But, what he meant always seems to be open to interpretation.

At Lazarus’ tomb: “I Am the resurrection and the life!”

At the cross: “I don’t look much like the resurrection right now!”

At the empty tomb: “See, I really am the resurrection!”

At various times in history: “Jesus WAS the resurrection!”

At the door of current circumstances: “???????”

Plugging Into the Resurrection

Paul found a group of folks who he commended for being full of faith, the Ephesians. Yet, he prayed for them (and for us), that they would come to better know the power of the resurrection:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead…” (Eph 1:17-20 NIV).

24/7 Resurrection

Paul lets us know that for those who believe, there is also a Resurrection Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, etc.. So tomorrow, or whenever you read this, think about what Paul has to say about this and how he continues his thoughts on the matter a few verses later:

“… God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6-7 NIV).

Guess what? We're in those coming ages now. 

Eternally Yours

For when Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn’t take the power of his resurrection with him to pack away for safe-keeping — he left it here for us.

“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all” (Acts 4:33 NIV).

“…Through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord…. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” (Ro 1:4, 16 NIV).

From Death to Resurrection

It is worth noting that resurrection requires that some things die off. Paul spends a good amount of time talking about this in the third chapter of his letter to the Philippians. But before you cringe at the thought of having to lose something, check out Paul’s language. His resurrection Monday was filled with joy in knowing that what he left behind was nothing in comparison to what he had gained the day before. His experience taught him that the power of the resurrection makes dying more than worth while. 

A Week’s Worth of Resurrection

Resurrection Monday is worth it. That’s the message of the Gospel! We seek… we find… we move forward past Resurrection Sunday, taking with it the promise that we must shed some things along the way, but that the power of the resurrection has the miraculous power to make tomorrow even better.

The Christian Life is About Resurrection

Christians are famous for showing their faith two days a year, on Christmas and Easter Sunday. This fact isn’t always as much about a lack of consistency or commitment as it is a lack of experiencing Resurrection Monday through Saturday. We need to know that there is more, and if there is more, we can have it. It is not asking too much to receive what we’ve already been given.

Today is a Good Day to Die, and a Good Day to Come Alive!

For Christians, today is the day that we affirm Jesus’ status by recalling his profound invasion into human events and human history. Are you seeing a need for more of the resurrection? Seek and you will find! That’s a promise from Jesus! He, after all, is the Resurrection, and the Life we seek. Just start asking for more.

Watch Out for the Fleischmann’s

Yeast

Today, (if we are bread-makers) we throw a touch of Fleischmann’s, Red Star or some other brand of yeast into the dough so that it rises us and fluffs up bread the way we like it. Biblically speaking, however, yeast is mostly symbolic of sin which infiltrates and alters bread in a bad way. This is why Jesus warned his followers to be watchful for the yeast of the Pharisees. 

The greatest problem with the Pharisees was their inability and sometimes unwillingness to believe what Jesus was doing and who he said that he was. And while anyone who believes in Jesus today might feel they are immune to the effect of a little Fleischmann’s, Jesus did not seem to think so.

Bread of Life

Jesus was all about the bread! Think about it! He multiplied bread along with fish at least twice. He made it part of his very last meal before his death, and was known to eat it at least once after that… which is quite a feat. And of course, he let us know that he is the bread of life. That makes what he said about leaven even more important. It doesn’t take much yeast rolled into the dough for it to spread through, infiltrate, and interact with it. That’s just how yeast works. 

And so when Jesus declared himself the Bread of Life, he gave us context for where this leaven likes to grow. So while we might rightly recognize Jesus' identity, it is possible that we might choose to overlook the fullness of that identity through doubt, cynicism, and even pride… all things associated with the Pharisees. 

Consider this! Saul was a Pharisee and it took a knock to the ground, temporary blindness, and miraculous healing to undo the effect of yeast within him and transform him into Paul. Once we determine that phariseeism is something that only someone else can “catch,” that we are somehow immune, it is likely that at least a speck of yeast has somehow found its way into our own belief system. If spiritual yeast were not that pervasive, Jesus would not have put out the all-points bulletin that we should beware (Mt 16:6, Lk 12:1, 1 Co 5:6).

Prove It!

What things about Jesus do each of us raise our heads and discount in someone else’s spiritual walk or in ours? Likely, that’s an area where something has risen and has begun to spread. Consider Thomas! After Jesus had appeared to the rest of the disciples in Thomas’ absence, Thomas declared that the only way that he would believe that Jesus had risen from the dead is if he would be given substantial proof. This is reminiscent of the Pharisees who saw miracles performed in front of them, yet continually asked Jesus for specific signs to prove himself to them. Could it be that Thomas picked up a bit of that yeast along the way? It’s not hard to do.

Self-Check

Am I more adamant in denying Jesus’ activity in the world today and in my own life than I am about recognizing Jesus' desire to intervene as he did in the New Testament? Do I discount God’s action in those I disagree with because I’m convinced that my views, positions, and standing are “more right?”

Solution!

Fortunately, Jesus is very accommodating and reaches beyond our unbelief and judgmentalism declaring, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing (Jn 20:27).” It’s our choice; yeast just makes it more difficult to make the right choices, but it's definitely not impossible. That change is what the Bible calls repentance and that simply means changing from our position to God’s position. 

Who Moves God’s Hand?

Resurrection Power Makes Sadducees Very Sad (and Tired)

In Acts, Chapter 4, Peter and John had just been arrested for healing the lame man at the temple. You know, that's the one where they had no silver or gold, but called on the name of Jesus and the man was healed. This made many happy, but it made the Sadducees very sad, you see (sorry, I couldn't resist). But because it was late in the day and their actions literally wore out the priests and the Sadducees, Peter and John were thrown into prison for the night. Why were these Jewish leaders so overcome, or as some translations render it, annoyed, disturbed, or distressed? Actually, these descriptions merely scratch the surface of the Greek word diaponeomai, which The Helps Word Studies defines as depleted by grief and pierced by fatigue. How could these folks be so tired?

See, these people in authority had been quite busy for a number of days beginning with the death of Jesus—the one who said that he would rise from the dead. These are the same Jews, appointed by and in league with Roman power who sought to squelch the power of the resurrection. Remember that the Sadducees vehemently disbelieved and denied the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8).

Upon Jesus’ death, they requested that his tomb be guarded to squelch any attempt that might give credence to resurrection claims. Then they had to deal with reports of not only his resurrection by paying the guards to lie saying that Jesus’ body had been stolen, but also reports of more resurrections (Matthew 27:51-53). Denying that which we disbelieve takes a lot of effort and the Priests and Sadducees had been facilitating damage control concerning their reign of disbelief for quite a while.

Needing a Second Wind

But, finally, even after the recent events of Pentecost, they must have believed that their battle would soon be coming to an end. That is, until two unschooled and common men began operating in the same resurrection power that Jesus had used, attributing that power to his name. When would this nightmare shared by each of the sadducees finally end? 

But despite their exhaustion, they took advantage of a good night’s sleep, having devised the perfect plan for the following day. They would use the same overwhelming authority that they had wielded up to this point and quickly squash and intimidate these two common men.

As an aside, you may have noticed that despite their common opposition to Jesus, there is no mention that the Pharisees joined the Sadducees in this mission to eradicate the demonstration of resurrection through Jesus’ name. Perhaps the Pharisees’ sympathy towards the resurrection of the dead caused them to part ways during the current kerfuffle.

It’s a Bit of a Stretch (of the hand)

But things did not brightened up for the Sadducees. Peter and John left the proceedings even more determined to preach and demonstrate the resurrection for they understood something that the Jewish leaders did not… God’s hand was now available to believers. Just as Jesus declared that Pilate’s authority was designated and not innate, the apostles understood that God had orchestrated the authorities to:

“… do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:28 ESV)

God had been using his powerful hand to lead the Sadducees where he wanted them to go, his hand even participating in the decision-making process to carry out his plan (Acts 4:28). The apostles understood this and they also understood that now, post-resurrection, ascension, and giving of the Holy Spirit, that God’s hand and his plan were proceeding forward, becoming available to believers. This realization caused the apostles to pray:

“'And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness…. With great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” (Acts 4:29-31, 33 ESV)

Indeed! Why do the nations’ rage a losing battle—one destined to wear them out—now that the hand which once used them as puppets to fulfill God’s plan, is now turned against them… unless they repent?

The Hand that Dealt a Sadd Defeat

How is it that Peter and John were able to walk away free from imprisonment with only a “stern warning” from the authorities? The priests, elders, scribes, and Sadducees could not deny what the power of the resurrection had accomplished as the man who was healed stood as overwhelming proof of resurrection power. 

You may not have stopped to consider that this lame man was over 40 years old, yet God healed him. It was not simply that he had been lame for a long period of time and that everyone was familiar with this fact, but everyone, especially the officials knew well that 40 is the number of trial and judgment. 

Just as the Israelites had spent a complete 40 years in the wilderness, and just as the flood rains extended a full 40 days and nights, these 40 years of incapacity meant to them that this man had undergone a complete 40 years of trial and at the end, had been judged by God as sinful, deserving his physical handicap. To these people, that was the end of the story! He had either been judged for his own sin, the sin of his family, or a combination of both, doomed incapable of undergoing redemption. 

And yet, power and authority in the name of Jesus Christ as demonstrated through the hand of God had raised him up, superseding the curse of the law. Until now, the Sadducees had come to believe that by their designated and acquired authority, that they were the hand of God, or at least, that it was by their authority that that the hand of God would move, especially in rendering judgment and determining righteousness. But here, their power had been stripped away for they had nothing to say being unable to deny that, outside of their authority, God had performed this miraculous sign.

“What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.” (Acts 4:16 ESV)

Up until this time, they had been exhaustingly able, with varying degrees of success, to squelch and effectively deny the resurrection. Now, at least amongst themselves, they admitted defeat.

Keeping His Power Handy 

And so, instead of punishing Peter and John, they sent them away with a powerless warning to cease their actions. But the apostles pressed in all the more for they understood that the hand of God was inclined towards them, as it is to all believers. God’s hand was no longer moving to fulfill Jesus’s earthly ministry, sacrificial death and resurrection, but to perpetuate the power for believers which his actions procured for the Church. 

Paul understood and communicated this readiness of God’s hand to move through his people, praying for the Ephesians (and for us) that we would come to know and embrace the power within us—the same power which raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:16-23) That’s a prayer worth revisiting on a regular basis. 

Moving the Hand of God

He is the potter and we are the clay, and so he puts his power in these vessels of clay as he did Peter and John, to make it apparent that this power comes from God alone (2 Corinthians 4:7). While the power is sourced unmistakably from him, he invites us to draw upon the power of his hand, so that his glory might be manifest, or so says the call of the Great Commission.

Consider for a moment the interplay between humility and boldness which played out in the apostle’s prayer in Acts 4. Led by Peter, the apostle who so eloquently preached for us to humble ourselves that God might lift us up (1 Peter 5:6), their prayer of humility was a very specific prayer that God would stretch out his hand and embolden them with his power—in speech and in action.

Humility then is not about lowering ourselves down as to become inactive, leaving God's hand at rest, but it is about letting God put his hand in motion and lift us up. Anything else falls either into the category of false humility, or a false sense of authority and power. Our blueprint for action and our only hope is to rely on his love, his grace, and his power that we, like those who went before us, would serve the Gospel according to the power of his hand.