“Your Faith Has”
I did a quick search over on BibleGateway.com for the phrase “your faith has” and found 8 entries from Matthew to Luke, all directed by Jesus towards someone who has just come to him for healing or forgiveness and received it.
“Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.”
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
“Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”
I don’t believe this language is merely a cultural idiosyncracy or a euphemism. Today’s evangelical culture makes a big deal about giving God the credit for things, and it’s hard to argue with that, although it does strike folks as lame, silly, or contrived to see victorious athletes point upward, as if trying to deflect the glory they have received. Preachers and ministers struggle with their desire to be praised for their talents with their desire to be humble before God. And yet…
Here we have Jesus giving the credit for several miraculous signs, including the salvation/forgiveness of sins of one woman, not to God, but to the individual’s faith. Does faith have power on its own? This concept doesn’t seem foreign to scripture at all. Consider Matthew 17:20:
[Jesus] replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
He didn’t say, “You can pray to God for X and God will do X.” He placed a direct connection between your word and the action, based on faith even as small as a mustard seed.
I’m not entirely sure what my conclusion is on these points, although I’m leaning towards a few things.
1) I think we ought to be careful not to allow a false humility to disempower ourselves. Rather than chastising ourselves for feeling like we did something and saying, “No, I know God really did it,” we should instead acknowledge the honest power that God has allowed us because of our faith, and not be afraid to use it.
2) The point isn’t that God is ultimately not in charge, but that he has willingly empowered us to do his will (or to do evil), and we should act like it. It’s a great responsibility.
More thoughts to come.