Faith or Fear?

August 10, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
In my last perspective, I mentioned to you that living by faith scares the wits out of me most of the time, and it does because it requires waiting to see, and sometimes the wait can be quite long; in fact, sometimes we never “see” faith’s promise.
As a matter of comfort, Hebrews 11 gives us quite a list of people, rather significant people, who died without receiving faith’s promise. They saw it from a distance, i.e. through the lens of faith, but they never actually saw it with their physical eyes.
Now that I have your attention, allow me to share with you what is really on my heart: From what I have been able to see, many people confuse fear with faith. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone declare they are walking in faith, when in truth, they are walking in fear (seldom do they admit it!).
Talk for example the person who has been feeling ill for several weeks, and the ill-ness is such that others notice it. Being the “strong” believer that he is, he finally admits that he is feeling ill, but he also announces that he is trusting God to take care of whatever is wrong, to heal him, and, thus, he refuses to go to the Doctor.
Just for the record, this person is NOT walking in faith; the truth is, he refuses to go to the doctor because he is afraid of what he will find out. This person is walking in fear, wearing the disguise of faith, which isn’t faith at all.
I know many pastors who lay claim to being men of faith, but their tendency toward micromanaging those who labor alongside them, nullifies their claim. Regardless of their claim, they are really walking in fear, not in faith. Genuine faith says, “I trust you to do your job, but if you need me, I am here for you.” Genuine faith is never afraid of failure; in fact, it expects it, even encourages it. How else can people grow and mature?
You can take this to the bank: Pride is the enemy of faith—always. The very familiar “If you just had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick” mindset has locked many Christians in the prison of pride, and driven them down the road of fear, wearing the disguise of faith, which isn’t faith, at all.
The mindset that says, “If you people just had enough faith, we could easily raise enough money to build our much-needed fellowship hall” has locked many pastors in the prison of pride, and driven them down the road of control, wearing the disguise of humility and faith, neither of which is the genuine article. Listen up: true faith never attempts to be in control; that is what fear does—always.
The person who is truly walking in faith, is the person who is living in the freedom that Jesus died to give to him, the kind of freedom that allows for weaknesses, for failures, and, yes, even for fear (the kind of fear that does not have to hide behind a mask of faith).
“For without faith it is impossible to please Him . . .” (Hebrews 11:6a; NASB).