When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
People have sought to build an exciting theologies from these three verses. One theology that emerges from this passage tells us, “if you believe hard enough, you get whatever you want.” I applied this belief about God and His kingdom and it didn’t work.
Theology is hard, but we must all wrestle with it. I’ve heard it said from at least a couple of theologians that the difficultly of theology is that we are imperfect creatures attempting to talk about a perfect God. Anything that we have to say about God, the moment it leaves our lips, is incomplete and in err to some degree (hence why we must lean on His Word - what He says about Himself). I’ve also heard it said that we are all theologians. It is not a matter of if you are a theologian or not; it’s a matter of if you are a good or bad theologian.
All people base their view of God through a filter of their own life experiences and the experiences of others whom they esteem. Our culture is like a murky water in which we are all submerged but must peer at the world and God through. When we read passages like this, we must be careful to allow God to reveal His Word and not lean on our own understanding. Bringing too much of what we think we see can make us a bad theologian.
The American culture is entrepreneurial. We believe that if we want something enough, dream about it enough, and work hard enough, we can achieve it. Even if we have failed in this process (which I have), we see athletes win championships and reinforce this belief of dream-achieving. (All the people who dreamed and worked hard all of their lives and lost are ignored in these victory speech moments.)
If we are not careful, we will bring this belief and others similar to it to our understanding of this passage. If we are not careful, we will read this passage and hear, “if you believe hard enough, you get whatever you want.”
Question: how much faith is enough? According to Jesus, the faith of a mustard seed is enough. Meaning, metaphorically, a very small amount is needed to do amazing things (see e.g., Matthew 17:20-21). So when we believe for something in life, and pray for it, and it doesn’t happen, what does that say about our faith?
The attempt to answer this question has been a shaming experience for many.
Something profound lies in the words, “if you have faith.”
This faith of which Jesus speaks implies a lack of selfish motive. It implies obedience to God’s desires and not simply acting on our own.* The humility required to navigate this life as a follower of Jesus is a challenge. It is a challenge to stare into the face of pain, difficulty, and death after having prayed earnestly and say, “God understands, but I don’t.”
How many times have you prayed for something that seemed righteous, good, or of the qualities or character of the Kingdom of Heaven and it didn’t happen? How quickly did shame creep in telling you that you didn’t have enough faith? How quickly did condemnation arise telling you that God is not good? I know I have found myself in this challenging position many times.
The two biggest factors in this story are the will of God and the belief of man. We see from the stories of the disciples of Jesus that we can lack faith. We also see the heart of God to heal, protect, and comfort through the acts and ministry of Jesus. We can feel that in times where the miracle we desire doesn’t happen that there is either something wrong with us or God.
Who can tell us that we did not have enough faith? Surely Jesus believed that God could take the cup from His lips, but it wasn’t His will. Mary and Martha believed that Lazarus could be healed before He died, but He died anyway for Jesus had something greater in mind. Jesus had enough faith to have raised His father from the dead (scholars believe that Jesus’s earthly father Joseph died sometime prior to the crucifixion), but He didn’t.
Who can tell us that God is not good? He gave us life. He sent Christ to allow us to return to Him. He has healed so many. He has freed countless. He has given us the sun and the shade and the waters and the mountains.
As humans, we see in part. Our understanding of God and His will escapes our grasp. The perspective to see our own motives and faith is something we behold with difficulty. Bringing a pure perspective to our theology may not happen until heaven.
We live in the tension of a broken world today.
The words of Jesus are true. If we have faith (which comes from hearing the voice of God about something), and do not doubt (fall onto our own understanding of what could or could not be), amazing things can happen. When they don’t happen, you and I sit in the difficulty of humanity and must press in harder to God for comfort and one-day perspective. It’s not easy.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to fall into His arms when you don’t understand. Perhaps God is asking you to keep trusting Him even though you have been disappointed. Maybe God is asking you to live in the space of the unknown.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 529–532, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:17–22) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).