Where is Your Faith?

As Catholics, our faith in Jesus Christ sets us apart from the rest of the world. We follow Jesus. Because of this, our lives are supposed to look different from someone who doesn’t believe in God. We are known by our faith in Him.

I need to clear something up before continuing. Being set apart from the rest of the world doesn’t happen because we read a Bible every day. I know too many nonbelievers who are much more familiar with Scripture than the first people in the church parking lot every Sunday morning. 

The time we spend in prayer each morning isn’t what separates us from the world. Plenty of religions outside of Christianity require devotion to prayer. Many forms of meditation can easily be compared to praying. The time we spend with our heads bowed and eyes closed isn’t what makes us different. 

The money we tithe or give to the Church doesn’t make us different. Again, I know too many people who don’t believe in Jesus and give much more to charity than I do myself. It’s not the way Christians give that leads others to surrender their lives to Christ.

Yes, reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, and giving to those in need are all part of following Jesus. Still, even a combination of activities such as these don’t equal faith in God on their own. Faith in God is so much more than any activity we participate in. 

I would love to sit here and say that I’m a man of great faith in Jesus Christ. I spend time with my nose in the Bible every morning. Prayer is a big part of how I start my day every morning. I make sure my daughter sees me give money to our church every week, and I teach her why we give God the first and best of our income. 

Still, with all of these practices and daily activities, if you surround me with a crowd of strangers in an intense situation, or even just normal, everyday life, I’m not sure that the way I conduct myself would stand out from the rest of the crowd. I don’t think there’s enough difference in the way I behave. 

As a matter of fact, if I’m going to be honest, through an attractive woman in the mix, I’d probably blend right in. So no, I’m not sure my faith in Jesus Christ would separate me from the crowd the way it should. I’m no longer ok with this. Maybe you’re a perfect Christian and can’t relate to what I’m saying, but what I believe in needs to be more evident in my life. 

I read something this morning that made the wheels in my head start turning a little faster than usual. It made me question if Jesus was standing with me and saw how I demonstrate my belief in Him, what would He say?

Luke 8:25 “He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’”

It’s been a while since I've been caught in a wind storm on a boat at sea. Still, Jesus could probably ask me this same exact question at least once a day. There are too many times when I allow situations and circumstances around me to affect my faith. I would rather use what I believe to change what is going on in my life. I want to live out the Christian faith in a way that leads others to say, “I want some of whatever it is he believes in.” 

Here are a couple of ways I think I can start making this happen. Maybe, something I’ve written so far has stirred your own thoughts, and you’re able to see where some change is also needed in your own life. 

Obedience of Faith

I’ll be honest. I’ve always struggled with obedience. It doesn’t matter if it was a parent, teacher, law enforcement when I was younger, or any other authority in my life, I struggled to obey. Any compliance on my part only derived from my fear of punishment. So, of course, obedience would be a struggle for me with following Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul had a way with words. In Romans 1:5, Paul tells us that it is the “obedience of faith” which is brought about through grace and apostleship for the sake of Jesus’ name. Paul doesn’t write “obedience to faith” but “of” faith.

Saving faith through Jesus Christ is not a reward or something we win for obeying God. Instead, because we are saved through our faith in what Jesus did, we obey God out of our love for Him.

I won’t say it's impossible, but it’s difficult to have faith in something you don’t trust enough to obey. I think too many of us fall for this lie that granting us faith in His Son is how God responds to our obedience. That’s obedience to faith. That’s just like believing if we love God enough, eventually, He’ll love us.

It is only through God’s great love for us that we are able to love Him. He demonstrated His love for us by sending His only Son on a rescue mission for us. God was fully aware that this rescue mission would kill His Son on the cross, and He still decided to follow through with the plan. This is how we know how much He loves us. We demonstrate our love for Him with how we respond. Obedience of faith is the only response for love this great.

Trusting Jesus

This is another area where I think many of us need to give our attention. We have no problem making sure everyone knows we have faith in Jesus. We just don’t trust Him enough with our daily lives. We end up looking like the disciples, waking Jesus up from His nap. 

There is a lot of difference between trusting in and trusting that. For instance, I trust that there is a Major League Baseball team that plays on the north side of Chicago. This is something I have faith in. I have been to Wrigley Field too many times not to believe. So I trust that the Chicago Cubs are a team. I just don’t trust in them to win the World Series this MLB season. 

Too many of us are willing to have faith in Jesus Christ being the Son of God, our only means of salvation. We simply don’t have faith in Him to be the Lord of our lives. Too many times, I have put too much effort into manufacturing what I wanted something to be instead of accepting His will in the situation. Every time, I have found myself short of my desired results. 

Just like I don’t think we can have faith without obedience to Jesus, I don’t believe we can have faith without trusting in Him. This goes further than trusting Jesus for our salvation and something we experience after death. There has to be trust in Him here and now, in our daily lives.

Believe That Affects Others

Of all the areas where my faith is lacking, this is probably the area where I need the most work. I can sit at my desk every morning praying and reading the Bible. But, if this time doesn’t affect the rest of my day and how I interact with other people, it really hasn’t been beneficial to either my faith or my schedule.

I want my faith in Jesus to affect more people than just my daughter and those closest to me. Unfortunately, too many of us believe this false notion that faith is something we’re to bottle up and store for ourselves. Like it’s a treasure we don’t want anyone else to find.

We have to remember that our faith in God is a gift from Him. No one has ever decided to give their life to Jesus Christ, and it catches Him off guard. He isn’t surprised when someone starts believing in Him. Our faith is a gift that we are to share with other people. 

As followers of Jesus, no one should ever have to ask if we are Catholic. We should live in such a way that something about us is different, and others want whatever it is that we have. Not because of how good we are, but because of how great our God is. Our faith should be demonstrated in a way that leads others to want to trust whatever or whoever it is we believe in. Only then will our faith accomplish all that it has been designed for.