How does faith work?

In a previous post we asked the question, what is faith?  Feel free to go back and review that post in preparation this follow up question, how does faith work?

We are aware of the significance of faith in the Scriptures.  Habakkuk 2:4 contains a familiar passage, “The righteous will live by his faith.”  So also Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that “we walk by faith, not by sight.”  And then we’re given examples of faithful individuals who God worked through to accomplish significant things (see Neh. 9:8 and pretty much all of Heb. 11).  And this all lines up well with our new working definition of biblical faith, which is our confidence or trust in a person or thing (in our case, God) that is rooted and grounded in proof and evidence.  It is the substance and evidence of our hope.  It is no mere belief system (Ja. 2:19) but rather a lifestyle – a series of faithful actions fueled by our confidence in, and the evidence of God’s faithfulness.  It is our stability, our fidelity, our faithfulness.

And once again, our faith is revealed in how we live.  Who do we trust?  What authority do we accept and place ourself under?  What ideas, concepts, abstractions, conclusions and assumptions do we consider to be credible?  Are we more quick to accept an idea based on who said it, or on how logically consistent it is, or how comfortable it makes us feel or how progressive, radical, conservative, liberal, conventional, traditional, new-age, religious, irreligious, abstract, concrete, analytical, artistic or beautiful it is?  

But how does faith work?

Fortunately for us, Jesus taught on this very subject.  “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’  And the Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and be planted in the sea”; and it would obey you.  Which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come immediately and sit down to eat”?  But will he not say to him, “Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink”?  He does not thank the servant because he did the things which were commanded, does he?  So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done that which we ought to have done.”’” (Lu. 17:5-10)

We (and perhaps the disciples) often mistake faith for belief, and can sometimes find ourselves asking for a larger measure of faith as if it were a limited and diminishing resource.  I’ve heard it said that while we need the faith of a mustard seed to move mountains, we often get stuck trying to amass the faith of a mountain only to find out that we can’t even move a mustard seed.  But size and quantity are not the point.  The mustard seed grows very fast and rapidly spreads new seeds – like a weed, if you will.  And what do plants need in order to grow?  Water, sunshine and good (or even adequate) soil.  So then what does your faith need in order to grow?  What are your inputs?  Dive in to these and study with diligence because our inputs determines our outputs.  When we spend daily time with Jesus (John 4:10), reading, studying and applying His Word (Ps. 119:105) and loving His creation with diligence (Eph. 3:17), we may well notice this rapid organic mustard seed growth in our faith.  

In Matthew 13, Jesus also explains the different “soils” that encounter the “good seed” of God’s Word and Gospel message.  Some hear the Word but don’t understand it.  The devil snatches it away before the seed could be sown in their heart.  Others receive the Word with joy, but grow no roots, and when the emotional high is gone and difficulties comes along, they fall away.  Others hear the Word but are busy with their idols – worry, accomplishment, possessions, etc. – and bear no fruit.  But others are “good soil.”  These hear the Word and understand it, and then apply it to their lives, immediately bearing fruit and rapidly multiplying their joy and faith (like a mustard plant).

But there’s another fascinating principle in Jesus’ teaching back in Luke 17.  Jesus offers the analogy of a good servant diligently working.  There is no pomp and circumstance celebrating their diligence because the servant has simply done that which was expected.  While this undoubtedly addresses Peter’s earlier question about how many times to forgive his brother (the answer was “infinity” by the way), this also provides a fascinating insight into the nature of faith and how it works.  Faith grows as one uses it as a servant.  Its end is service; faith is never an end in and of itself.  This may strike many of us as odd because we’ve grown used to the idea of faith as simply a belief system or intellectual ascent.  But really what we can learn from this passage is that faith is something different from mere belief, not only in how it’s defined, but also in how it functions.  We don’t grow in faith by amassing more belief, but rather by nourishing our spirit with the proper “water,” “sunlight,” and “soil.”  The growth process of our faith then is an organic byproduct of both our spiritual health and the service we’ve been directing it (our faith) to.