I have often wondered about the nature of faith spoken about in the New Testament. This is due to the heated debate by theologians on the issue of justification. However, this is not what I want to write about at the moment. Reading Nijay Gupta's interview of Craig Keener (a well-known charismatic and a respected New Testament theologian) on his new Romans commentary, I am attracted to this portion of the interview.
When Jesus talks about a mustard seed of faith (sorry, remember I am still transitioning from my work in Gospels), his point is that it’s not how much faith you have, but in whom your faith is. The faith may be tiny but if it is in a very big God, God is more than big enough to make up for it. The point is not to have some subjective experience of undirected faith, but to put our trust in the One who is ultimately trustworthy.
This immediately reminds me of my own charismatic experience where often you will hear speakers telling you that the promise of blessing is already a given, all you need to do is to HAVE ENOUGH FAITH to claim it. I think this is ultimately damaging because quite often than not, the ordinary believer will not experience the miraculous promise of blessing regardless of how many times he articulates 'have-faith-claim-and-receive-it' formula. The thing about faith is this. Authentic and genuine Christian faith in an intervening and loving God always involve trust and patience in the midst of contradictory status. This means having faith in God (not having ENOUGH faith) despite the apparent non-action by Him and that He would ultimately act in our favour. This is why faith is an enduring faith.
When Jesus talks about a mustard seed of faith (sorry, remember I am still transitioning from my work in Gospels), his point is that it’s not how much faith you have, but in whom your faith is. The faith may be tiny but if it is in a very big God, God is more than big enough to make up for it. The point is not to have some subjective experience of undirected faith, but to put our trust in the One who is ultimately trustworthy.
This immediately reminds me of my own charismatic experience where often you will hear speakers telling you that the promise of blessing is already a given, all you need to do is to HAVE ENOUGH FAITH to claim it. I think this is ultimately damaging because quite often than not, the ordinary believer will not experience the miraculous promise of blessing regardless of how many times he articulates 'have-faith-claim-and-receive-it' formula. The thing about faith is this. Authentic and genuine Christian faith in an intervening and loving God always involve trust and patience in the midst of contradictory status. This means having faith in God (not having ENOUGH faith) despite the apparent non-action by Him and that He would ultimately act in our favour. This is why faith is an enduring faith.
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