Faith
10
One of the things that mature
Christians must constantly guard against is spiritual selfishness. By this I
mean our natural tendency to be so focused on ourselves that we lose sight of
the needs of others. Our prayer life is often a sad illustration of this very
fact. Too often we spend the bulk of our time praying for things that concern
us, things we care about, rather than praying for someone else’s needs.
Please do not misunderstand me. I
ought always to be working on myself, seeking to grow in grace. Paul told
Timothy, Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for
in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee (I Timothy
4.16). If I am weak I cannot lift the fallen very well and I am great
danger myself. Yet it is still true that I can get so inwardly focused,
naval-gazing myself to death, that I neglect those around me to their hurt and
mine. The hermits of the Middle Ages come to mind here. Thus it is that I must
constantly be asking myself, “What I just learned – can I teach that to someone
else? Can I help someone else with that? Can I pour into someone else’s life
what God has just poured into mine?”
Faith is, by definition, a very
personal thing. Seeking to build someone else’s faith is a little bit like trying
to change the weather – it is often not wise, and it is never easy. But I am
not content to sit back, recuse myself from all responsibility, and allocate
that to the Lord to manage. I want to build my children’s faith. I want to
build my people’s faith. I want to build your faith. So how can I do that?
The obvious answer is to give people
the Word of God, to speak it, teach it, sing it, say it, preach it, emphasize
it, thrust people into it. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. But is that
the only way faith comes? Is there not something practical, something concrete
I can do to help edify the faith of those around me that I love so much?
Yes, there is. Two, actually.
I can build the faith of those around
me with my pain.
Did you know Jesus did exactly that?
No, I am not talking about His atoning death on the cross. I am talking about
something slightly more approachable for us, a little closer to where we really
live. He wept. Jesus wept (John 11.35). But what was the context of that
weeping? The death of His dear friend, Lazarus, you reply, and the fact He had
to recall Him from Heaven to Earth. Yet Jesus could have avoided all of that,
as He tells us earlier in the story, if He had just chosen to go to Bethany as
soon as He heard the news of Lazarus’ illness. So why did He tarry? Why wait?
Why cause Lazarus to endure that pain? Why cause Himself to go through pain? But
I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe
(John 11.15). Jesus waited – and thus endured unnecessary pain – in order
to strengthen the faith of His Apostles, and by extension of us. In other
words, Jesus willingly embraced suffering and then was open about it in order
that He might help the faith of others to grow.
I have often found this to be the case
in my life. As a teenager, I watched the movie “Twice Given” and was moved to a
greater faith. As a college student, I watched Pastor Scott Willis of Chicago
bury six of his children after a horrific vehicle accident and was moved to a
greater faith. I could, of course, furnish numerous examples less well known in
the years since. Their pain and their grace filled reaction to it strengthened
my own faith.
Some time ago, I made a conscious
decision to be more public about various burdens in my life. I have blogged
about the death of our daughter. [link]. In my newest book, Freed From Sin, I
am open about how complicated my life has become due to Meniere’s disease. Just
in this series I have written about some of my struggles as a young pastor. I do
not want to whine. I do not want to get attention. But neither do I want to
waste my pain. I do not want you to waste yours either. When you hurt, and you
trust God in it, it helps to develop the faith of those around you.
The second way you can build the faith
of those around you is with your song. The psalmist said it excellently well: He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, And set my
feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my
mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust
in the Lord (Psalm 40.1-3). Have you ever been in a miry pit? Did God
deliver you from it? Then shout about it every once in a while. Open your mouth
and sing praise to the Lord. As others around you see this their trust in the
Lord grows.
You say, “But God hasn’t delivered me
yet. You don’t expect me to have a song on my lips in the middle of a trial, do
you?” If you have ever read Psalms you know it is a book that
beautifully combines a broken heart with lips overflowing in praise. God gave
him a song in the night (Psalm 77.6) long before the burdens were ever
lifted. When you and I, like Paul and Silas, can sing our praises at midnight,
people are drawn to Christ.
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