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Real faith is…

Again I need to give you a disclaimer. I am not a bible scholar and I am not a theologian. Agree or disagree these are my views on a subject matter that I feel has been greatly abused.

Writing down the make and model of the new car you want to receive and then placing the piece of paper in the center of a room for people to circle around and pray over is not faith – it is magic! For a few years now I have been really confused and frustrated because I see people being taught rituals and not truth. Tithe, pray facing west, fast, make a collage of all the material junk you want, add some scripture, and presto chango God will honor your WORKS.

This type of teaching gives people false hope. For one, if we don’t receive the miracle we are praying for we blame ourselves thinking we did the ritual wrong. We then try and correct our wrong searching for a new ritual instead of resting in Him. People also get hurt because their neighbor was blessed doing the ritual, why not them? Yes, there are testimonies of the “miracle check in the mailbox” that basically result from the law of averages. But the majority of these type “miracle” testimonies are exaggerated, evangelistically speaking that is, to prove to us the rituals work.

I also find it interesting the people that teach these “faith” rituals that borderline on magic are the first to speak out against Harry Potter, or have a medicine cabinet filled with drugs quickly prescribing meds to people for any ailment, or are overly scared of legal action to the point of paranoia. Behind the scenes most demonstrate little faith as if their teachings are all a charade.

When I was homeless I didn’t tithe nor did I pray yet I was delivered from living in a park and homeless shelters to a good paying job and new car. From April 07 to early 08 I had crisis after crisis in my life that made homelessness seem like Disneyland. I not only tithed my offerings were another 10% making my total giving a little more than 20%. I fasted, I prayed, I believed with EXTREME faith, I wrote my needs on paper for others to pray over, I even had the collage on the wall with scriptures just like I was taught, I spoke the right words and believed for the very best. More importantly I became passive, I started to work harder and harder, I did my best to keep my mouth shut yet my circumstances kept getting worse. I was doing everything right yet wrong kept on happening. I became more confused. Why was the magic faith not working? I tried it both ways and life keeps coming at me! Could it be rain falls on the just and the unjust?

My eyes opened this spring while I was dining with a friend at a Chinese buffet in Columbus Ohio. Another opportunity had just fallen through and for the most part I was beat down hard. No money, no food, and it looked like things were going to get worse, which they did! In that moment of clarity I knew God loved me and that as long as I persevered He would take care of me. I might not get the car I wanted, but He had something better, which he did as I type this from Los Angeles, my home, the place where I belong! I never prayed to move back here nor did I sow a seed. The more I surrendered giving up my WANTS and desires the more He gave me just what I needed. That simple and no magic! Just rest in Him!

Please know I am all about positive thinking. Positive thinking, especially changing my self-talk, is what made all the difference in my recovery. Positive thinking is great and needs to be encouraged yet we can go too far and remove reality. We are also not healed by works. Miracles don’t happen because we prayed a certain way or claimed our seed on the offering envelope. All this crap does is mess people up, alienate unbelievers and sell warehouses full of product.

Let’s be honest here. All this faith ritual magic is selfish. People don’t sow a seed for that drug addict or prostitute; they give money in the hopes of receiving a new house, car or other material possession – selfish! I believe that the church will continue to be without any real power and continue to lose people as long as the church focuses on receiving and not genuinely helping others.

Real faith is not magic. Real faith is knowing that God truly loves you no matter how bad your circumstances seem.

 

 

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Change, Character, Church, My Big Mouth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://www.we-solveit.com Nigel Stratton

    I love to just rest in the goodness of the Lord. Trust in His love for me and let Him work it out. There is a settled assurance in my heart that simply becuase I love Him and really try to live right things are going to work out. I think it comes from having a mercy gift for people, it is very easy to know that God will have mercy on my and help me even if I miss it.

    It is delightful to know that I can just be me and He loves me.

    I see wonderful things even if I am not praying lots. Now also know that I am in a tremendous season of prayer for a brother with a gripping physical need and God is blowing my mind with things He is doing for me. I keep on telling Him, “Hey I am praying for my friend, not me, did You miss that?” But He can keep on working in both of our lives.

  • http://hardlynormal.com hardlynormal

    Nigel,

    great comment. You said it perfectly:

    “It is delightful to know that I can just be me and He loves me.”

    Sad that so many churches don’t allow individuality and freewill – like He does!

  • http://www.joesindorf.com jsindorf

    wow — nice to know something besides integestion can come from a chinese buffet. I’d like to know what made the lightbulb turn on at that meal…

    gosh, I’m supposed to pray facing west? duh. I’ve been facing east… now you tell me.

    One of the cool things about God is that He can do whatever He wants, however He wants to do it, whenever He pleases. I’m a skeptic who has seen “seed faith” work. I’ve witnessed prophetic words come to pass. I’ve experienced healing. I know God does miracles today. I know it.

    I’ve also seen my dad fall ill, not be healed, and die. I’ve prayed and fasted and nothing at all happened. I’ve given and tithed and no great harvest has transpired. (no doubt bad seed, in poor soil in the wrong season).

    Why? Sovereignty. God is God. He is beyond understanding yet He is very personal. It is all wrapped up in the “now, and not yet” theological paradox of God’s kingdom.

    Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. Until then, we wrestle with this stuff, and give God the glory.

    Love ya, man.

  • Radonda

    Here’s what I see as manipulative and disgusting:

    The reason that people buy into this crap is because the message often appeals to the persons greed. We all deal with greed at one time or another…so to hear “give more so you can get more” basically sounds good to the ear, but spiritually it’s toxic, because it teaches us to focus on us. And that really couldn’t be farther from what the Bible says about giving. First of all, Paul asks the question in Romans 11 “Who has given unto God that it might be paid back to him again?” The answer is no one! No one has given anything to God, because everything comes from God. God owes no one. Next, 2nd Corinthians talks about giving being a matter of the heart and when the heart is pure, the rewards that come from God are grace that abounds, and sufficiency in everything and abundance for every good deed…not houses, cars or unexpected checks in the mailbox. So,why we would think that we have the ability to make God responsible for filling our greedy desires because we “wheel and deal” to give Him something that was already His to begin with is arrogant and ridiculous.

  • genius

    I have to somewhat disagree as I agree!

    Some people need the tithe and prayer in order to build their faith. don’t get me wrong i’m not saying they have to pay in order to “buy” faith. Tithe is there to remind us that we are stewards not owners. Prayer is there in order to teach us communication and communion with out God.

    I think it is a fundamental misunderstanding of faith/prayer to believe that we can right something down on a sheet of paper, dance around it and poof pull it out of a hat. However, i can pray about my desire for a Benz. I can’t expect to walk out of my house and have the key fall from heaven as the car is mysteriously parked on my driveway. Faith works by man doing all he possibly can. When Jesus healed people, the person came to Him, the sought him out and they might of even requested. We have to do everything in our power, and then Lord comes in and adds the missing ingredient, the supernatural. If I pray for that Benz, I should be the best employee at my job, I should be a faithful tither and offer as this ensures that I am not so materialistic, I should use my money wisely in everything else I do. and then perhaps i may receive it. The other we forget is that i may not end up with a benz but a camry instead. The bible teach us that all things that we ask for we shall receive, the part we ignore is the part that we are suppose to be asking for things we need and things that enable us to finish the mission. When Jesus healed the blind, He gave them sight he didn’t however give them worldly possessions. Can anyone name a miracle that included a new house, chariot, or horse? Maybe faith and prayer is for asking for the essentials, how will these other request build our faith. By being healed these peoples faith was rewarded and multiplied.

    hope i’m making sense.

  • http://hardlynormal.com hardlynormal

    Thanks everyone for joining in on this discussion. Your comments are very much welcomed. It is interesting this post has been inside me for about 6 months yet only now did I have the courage to make it public. Your response and the feedback I received from emails and phone calls tell me that more people need to find the courage to speak up.

    I do feel I should clarify something. I believe in tithing and giving. In fact I would not be here today if people did not give money to the Dream Center to help me off the streets and sustain me until I could take care of myself. The point I am trying to make is tithing is not magic. It helps grow an unselfish heart yet there is no formula that guarantees your requests will come to pass. Read Pagan Christianity for the real truth about tithing. Unfortunately the concept of giving has been grossly abused. We need to give, we must give generously to help others, but being manipulated to give through fear and/or gimmicks is very wrong!

  • http://www.jamesdalman.com James Dalman

    Does this mean we can’t keep watching “The Secret” and making our wishes known to the sugar daddy in the sky who owns the rights to the Sears catalog? I was starting to believe I was getting that chopper soon!

  • http://www.holycowablog.org holy cow it’s michael buckingham

    It’s all about who and what we are having faith in.

    Is the person, who buys they anointed prayer cloth, believe in the person or God?

    Is the person, who drives across three states to attend a healing service, believe in the healer or the Healer?

    Do I give my tithe to God or my pastor? I’m blessed to be able to have a tithe to give which comes from the provision God gives…just as he gives me health, joy, peace…sure it comes in different forms, but the source is all the same.

    We too often focus on the figure head and forget to make God the core of all we do.

  • http://www.joesindorf.com jsindorf

    Michael, Amen bro…

    I love the teachings of Jesus… I try to live by them… but one story has really bugged me. Somehow Jesus (and all those around him) knew that the rich guys put a ton of money into the collection, but they also knew that the widow woman put in her tiny offering (she gave all she had).

    It has always flown in the face of the biblical concept that when giving, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.

    Maybe churches had giving way out of whack back then, just as they do now.

    I’ve been on staff with two large churches where if you did not tithe a full 10% of your gross pay, plus the full amount of what they expect your wife earns… you’d get called into the office of the church finance nazi and be told that if you didn’t correct this you’d be reported to the senior pastor, and not get a good review or a full raise.

    That doesn’t sound like giving to me, it sounds like taking. In most industries, it amounts to an illegal kickback.

    So much for the cheerful giver.