Why are so many Christians weak in faith? Why did Jesus say, “When I come will I find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).
One answer is so simple that we are apt to dismiss it as spiritually infantile. We expect it to be difficult, or to be spiritually profound—We often want it to be hard, so we can feel like we’ve earned our great faith, or are at least are working hard to get it.
But Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Can it be this easy? This simple? Yes—but understand—It is not a one-time or a once-in-awhile hearing. The Greek tense means: “by hearing and hearing and hearing,” and so on.
Given the fact that there is a seemingly limitless supply of Bible teaching-preaching radio, TV, video, audio media by which we can “hear and hear,” as well as live church services, why are so many still struggling with anemic faith? And puny faith? And faith that is too weak to overcome many challenges?
I believe the truth is the same problem of that of the third ground in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. While they are indeed receiving the good seed of God’s Word by hearing the words of faith going forth, they are also receiving the seeds of doubt that “the wicked sower” is sowing. After Jesus had expounded the chief parable of the Four Grounds, He gave the Parable of the Tares in which an enemy sowed tares among the good wheat “while men slept,” or were caught off guard (Matthew 13:25). Just like “the cares of life and deceitfulness of lusts and riches” choked out the good seed of the Word of the Gospel, so do the tares of doubt, unbelief, and evil reports choke out the Word of faith that is sown by hearing God’s Word. These seeds are a constant bombardment against our faith that is competing for the soil of our hearts and minds to grow and thrive.
Some of these “fiery darts” are just satanic messages that he whispers to our hearts and minds that we must immediately block with “the shield of faith” (Ephesians 6:16), and by “casting down carnal reasonings and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and the knowledge of God” (2Cor.10:3-5). We can expect this spiritual warfare to continue as long as we are in these earthly bodies.
But the tares that are sown while we have our spiritual guard down, are ones we must make every effort to prevent. Just as “faith comes by hearing”—so does doubt! When we allow ourselves to hear the antichristian messages of the world being broadcast through unholy TV shows, etc., that mock the morals, values, and very validity of the Bible, we are setting ourselves up to fertilize the tares of unbelief that pervert God’s Word. Proverbs 14:9 says “Fools make a mock of sin…” So “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when you perceive not in him the lips of knowledge” (vs 7).
A Day of Mockers, Scorners & Scoffers
How can we, who have the Spirit of Christ, and “not the spirit of the world” (1Cor. 2:12) sit before its pulpits of skepticism and cynicism and hear without damaging our faith? They cannot hear us, because they don’t have the Spirit of God, and we should not hear them, because they mock the Word of God. This is a major sign of these last days according to Jesus, and both Peter and Jude stressed that there would come “mockers and scoffers who walk after their own ungodly lusts, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:3, Jude 4, 18).
If you allow yourself to hear their message of scorn, these seeds will surely develop into faith-crippling doubt, and it won’t take long to see the disappointing results. It’s time to cut off the faithless flow of worldly wisdom that dishonors the living words of God’s Holy Spirit! It’s time to choke out the seeds of doubt, not only by “feeding your faith”— to by hearing the Word of God—but also by starving your doubts to death!
Each of us must make a deliberate personal choice to sanctify our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts from the faithless. This is an issue the Lord has dealt with me about many times, and I have not always been obedient.
For instance, for the past couple years there has been a popular dramatic Christian series about Jesus Christ, His 12 disciples and women followers. When it became available on TV, I began watching, and I was greatly blessed by each episode and looked forward to the release of more. I understood that it is a dramatization and the material they used to create the lives of the disciples was imaginative and not biblically based. I had no problem with that, as I know the four Gospels well, and I can easily separate fact from fiction. But when they presented one of the disciples as a cripple who was never healed by Jesus during His ministry, nor after His death and resurrection, because it was not His will to heal him for some greater purpose, I was angry. They said that it was to make people who do not receive their healing feel better. Some may applaud this, but I find it to be harmful, as it strips away one’s hope that he or she can be healed, resigning themselves that it is God’s will for them to suffer.
After that episode, I felt myself pulling away from watching more episodes. But when the new season came out this year, I started watching it again. I was okay with the storyline until a few episodes in when one of Jesus’ female followers, portrayed as the fictional fiancé of the disciple Thomas, was murdered during a protest when one of Jesus’ teaching gatherings got out of hand. Jesus didn’t know it was coming to stop it. Neither did He have the power or permission to raise her from the dead. A shocked Jesus told Thomas: “I am sorry.” My husband said that was it! He was not going to watch any more, and he didn’t. I decided I would try watching the next episode and see how it went. But an inner voice was telling me not to watch it.
At first all was well, and I got caught up again in the exciting parts of Jesus’ ministry with His disciples. But Thomas continued to be troubled, and when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he became enraged because Jesus had not raised his fiancé. For me, the line was crossed when it went beyond dramatization to changing the Word of God. Every verse in the four Gospels that references Jesus healing the sick, says that He healed them all.
The next morning in my prayer time, I was convicted in my spirit for allowing seeds of doubt to be planted in my heart, and I felt their angst. I have been in a protracted battle recovering from a serious back injury, and I have kept myself hearing, reading, and speaking the Word of God for healing. I know God’s Word will bring forth a harvest of healing. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). But I must be vigilant to safeguard against and choke out all seeds of doubt. For me, this means applying the tests of expediency and edification. These will always result in obedience.
What about you? Is there a need in your life to strengthen your faith by not allowing the voices of the skeptics to tear it down? Paul said, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient [beneficial]; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” [build up]. (1Cor. 10:23). When entertainment and other worldly media tear down our faith, they have ceased to be expedient or edifying.
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