Five Faces of Faith (or Un-Faith)

1. The Doubting Disciples - “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:40
2. The Pushy Patient - “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” Mark 5:34
3. The Grieving Father - “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” Mark 5:36
4. The Offended Neighbors - “And He wondered at their unbelief.” Mark 6:6

Yesterday in our Sunday morning Bible study we read all of the various stories of Jesus’ ministry in which He makes these statements about faith. We identified the statements, and listed them like you see them above, and then I asked: “What is faith? Give me a definition.”

An enthusiastic answer from the couch to my left: “It’s believing in something that can’t necessarily be proved.”

Boom. Right there. An excellent answer, and quite articulate for a Sunday morning crowd. And it’s a correct answer – as far as the modern world is concerned. This is the definition of faith that everyone seems to take for granted, and accept as true. People of faith accept this definition and defend it based on the authority of tradition and personal religious experience. People who are skeptical or openly critical of faith take this as Exhibit A that faith has no place in a world based on the concrete foundation of empirical proof, the bedrock of hypotheses, test, repeat.

The only problem with that definition is that, biblically speaking, that’s not what faith is.

We think “faith,” and instantly think of mental assent to propositions. We say “believe” and think “accept as truth.” Faith, we think, is a word about thinking. It’s a word about ideas. It is in the same way that most things involving humans are about ideas, but it’s also about more than that.

The Greek word for faith is pistuo. We translate it in English as “faith,” “belief,” …and “faithful.” Ultimately, it’s more a word about trust than about mental assent to propositions. It’s more about loyalty than lists of systematic theology. It is the commitment to something or someone - the aligning of your life around a person, or cause, or goal. Biblically, speaking, that’s faith. It’s a word about trust that leads to action, specifically the actions that define the direction of your life.

Belief, our modern world tells us, should be based on evidence – testing and building an airtight case. But what is trust based on? Or what is loyalty based on? Past experience, we might say - both our own experience and those with whom we identify as our community. Trust might also be based on hope for the future – that the best intention of a person is worthy of our commitment. But is there ever an airtight case for trust? Doesn’t it always involve risk? Belief, in the modern conception, requires evidential proof. But trust, in any age, requires a leap.

Look at the verses above (and, as always for greater understanding, look at the context in which they were said).
Faith is:
In contrast to fear
A motivator for action – specifically, the action of healing or deliverance
Conversely, its lack prevents such action

Everyone has faith, biblically speaking. Whether it’s in yourself or another person, or money, or power, or something more ineffable and intangible. You align your life around some sort of center. The question is, do you have faith/trust/loyalty in something or someone that deserves it?

This new/old definition of faith does not necessarily solve any problems between God and man – it may just pose different questions.

Faith/trust/loyalty can be naïve, can be misplaced, and can be betrayed. You might be surprised at how much of the Bible deals with the question of whether God is worthy of such faith/trust/loyalty. These questions about God often have to do with issues of justice. We should not be surprised that the ministry of Jesus was much concerned with others’ faith/trust/loyalty in Him as God’s representative, including the faith/trust/loyalty (or lack thereof) of his own disciples. It may just be that Jesus’ life was meant to be an answer to the question of the justice of God.

This definition of faith also affects what we think about “doubt.” If faith is about trust, then doubt is not just being unsure of propositions or positive statements of mental assent, it is the state of not being sure who or what to trust, or what to be loyal to. It also means that one can be a doubter and still be a person attempting to have faith, trying to trust, trying to be loyal, trying to be faithful. It could mean there is a place for doubters on the Way of Faith, walking as faithfully as possible, but not entirely sure they are on the right road. There is room on the Way for those walking in obedience, but scratching their heads at the same time.

What do you have faith in? What’s at the center of your life? What are you depending on to catch you when you jump into the unknown? Is it worthy of your trust?

5. The Frantic Father - I think the most honest prayer in the Bible is the prayer of the father in Mark 9:24. “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

I trust You. Help my mistrust. I am loyal to You. Help me not to be disloyal. I have faith. Help my un-faith.

Bible Verses That Freak Me Out # 25 – Mo Money, Mo Problems - “Render to Caesar to things that are Caesar’s” – Mark 12:13-17

Happy tax day, everyone!

We all know Jesus hung out with tax collectors, even including a former tax collector in his group of twelve disciples. But what did Jesus say specifically about taxes? And what did He mean…

“And they (the chief priests) sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to Him, in order to trap Him in a statement. And they came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and defer to know one; for you are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?’

But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, ‘Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.’ And they brought one. And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ And they said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.’”

A couple of interesting things about this passage:

1. The Pharisees and the Herodians were NOT friends. They teamed up in “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” move. The first group was anti-Rome, anti-Greek, anti-everything except the Law of God (as they perceived it). The Herodians, as you might could guess, were Herod’s posse. Big fans of Rome. Whatever straight answer Jesus gave “Sure, pay the tax” or “Don’t pay the tax” there was a group there to cry foul.

2. “You defer to no one and are not partial to any” – is their way of saying “If anybody doesn’t care what Caesar thinks, it’s you.” They are encouraging Him to get in touch with his revolutionary side.

3. You want to talk about taxation without representation? The first-century Jews were an occupied territory. Their taxes funded a government that was, in their minds, evil and idolatrous.

4. Speaking of idolatrous, most Jews regarded Roman coins as idolatrous. If the picture of the emperor weren’t enough, the inscription, which in this period probably read “Tiberius, son of the divine Augustus” certainly was. “Son of the divine?” Nice.

5. “Render” here means more than just “give.” It has the specific meaning of giving back someone something that belongs to them.

So, what does Jesus mean? Is Jesus teaching “separation of church and state?” That’s a pretty common interpretation – that Jesus is slyly acknowledging the temporary sovereignty of Caesar, but holding out the true sovereignty of God.

But there’s something else going on here, too. Jesus is saying “no” to a particular way of revolution, and encouraging people to say “yes” to His way. Not paying your taxes is not the way to conquer Rome, Jesus is saying. “Pay back Caesar what is his” may mean “the only appropriate thing to do with junk like this is send it back where it came from.” It may mean “God doesn’t want or need your money. If Caesar wants it, he can have it.”

“Render to God the things that are God’s.” What belongs to God? Who bears God’s image? How do we give that which belongs to God back to Him? Jesus answered those questions in His teaching, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. That’s the real revolution.

Further reading if want to have your mind blown:
"Hard Sayings of Jesus" - F.F. Bruce
"Jesus and the Victory of God" - N.T. Wright
"The Politics of Jesus" - John Howard Yoder

Bible Verses That Freak Me Out #23 – “And they said nothing to anyone” – Mark 16:8

First, a little background. Take a look in your Bible at Mark 16. There are probably brackets around verses 9-20. There may also be a footnote explaining why there are brackets. Mine says, “some of the oldest manuscripts do not contain verses 9-20.” A manuscript is just like it sounds – a hand written copy, in this case, a hand-written copy of the gospel of Mark.

Let’s take a moment and appreciate that the reason we have any of the books of the Old and New Testament is that a whole lot of people through Christian history, long before the printing press, took the time to write it the Bible by hand. Amazingly, all of these handwritten copies of all the books of the Bible are about 95% the same, across the board. The differences, you will happy to know, mostly deal with things like tenses of verbs, whether a noun is singular or plural, spelling of names, etc. No major doctrinal issues are at stake in the differences between manuscripts. And when manuscripts differ there are always footnotes to let you know. It’s not hidden. One of those manuscript differences is in Mark 16.

What the footnote means to verse 8 means is that in the oldest copies of Mark, the gospel ends at verse 8. The women who followed Jesus went to his tomb, and found an angel there who said Jesus rose from the dead. And then the concluding statement of the book: “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

The End.

Wait, what?

The end? How can that be the end? Some scholars propose that this is NOT the end, that the oldest copies are missing a piece (not the last page – no books yet, it would be missing a section of scroll). Others propose this was the original end, but made so little sense later copyists borrowed details from the end of other gospels for verses 9-20, just to make sense of the thing.

I am of the latter opinion. I think verse 8 was the original ending, and that it ends that way on purpose.

The reason: it’s a cliffhanger!

Mark’s gospel hurries along in a bit of a rush. He uses the word “immediately” eight times in sixteen chapters. Look at your Bible. Almost every paragraph starts with “and.” It’s as if each incident in the story is rushing headlong, barely stopping to let the last one sink in. “And then, and then, and then…” A cliffhanger ending makes sense given the breakneck pace of the rest of the gospel.

In talking about this passage in our devotional time with the ESL class, the translator explained the English idiom “cliffhanger” as; “like the end of an episode of a novella (Spanish soap opera).” The characters are in danger, a moment of crisis, what will happen next?! “Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion…”

Now, if you aren’t expecting a cliffhanger ending, it can be a little jarring. My brother told me a story about going to see the first Lord of the Rings movie. (Joel, correct me if I mis-remembered this!) Someone in the theater apparently didn’t know it was the first part of a trilogy. So when Frodo and Sam march off into Mordor and Aragorn and the gang head the other way, and the credits started to roll, that person said loudly, “That’s it!?!”

And if verse 8 is the end of the gospel, you might get the same feeling. So why would you end a story, particularly the story of the life of Jesus, with a cliffhanger? I think Mark did it for the same reason you end anything else with a cliffhanger – you want people to stick around for the sequel. And in Mark’s case, I think he is trying to get readers of the gospel to realize they are IN the sequel.

Obviously, the story of Jesus didn’t end with the women not speaking, or there would be no gospel. Somebody said something to someone! But by ending the gospel this way, it’s as though Mark is saying, “So, Jesus is alive. What are YOU going to do about it?”

The choice is offered – do you believe what the angel said? Do you believe what Jesus said? Or will you will keep silent? Will you be “gripped with trembling and astonishment?” Will you be afraid? Or will you believe that “He has risen?” You are living in the sequel to this gospel. How will it turn out?

Bible Verses That Freak Me Out #12 - "Whoever wishes to be great" - Mark 11:42-45

"You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 11:42-45

This pronouncement appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In Matthew and Mark, it's as Jesus and the disciples are walking toward Jerusalem before the Passion. In Mark, James and John ask for seats at the hands of Jesus in His kingdom. In Matthew, it's their mom who asks on their behalf. They are essentially asking to be Jesus' vice-president and prime minister.

In Luke, this is Jesus' response to the disciples' discussion of which of them is the greatest, which they are having at the Last Supper!

Jesus isn't just recommending a new model of leadership. It's a revolutionary way to live your life. Jesus has been demonstrating it to His disciples, and will soon make the climatic statement of what it means to live a sacrificial life.

The thing that freaks me out is asking whether I have actually bought into this. This is Christianity. This, if nothing else, is what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Oswald Chambers takes this principle in "My Utmost for His Highest" and applies it to John 7:38 - "He who believes in me...out of him will flow rivers of living water."

"Jesus did not say - 'he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fulness of God,' but - 'he that believeth in Me out of him shall escape everything he receives.' Our Lord's teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all....God spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives for Him?"