Faith and Belief

Mark 9:24(NRSV)

Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

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You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse, but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do"

"If I Ever Lose My Faith" by Sting from "Ten Summoner's Tales," 1993

So let's start here, because this is suddenly the elephant in the room, Sting sings "You could say I lost my belief in the holy church." This may not be the most uplifting thing ever written in a devotional, but it goes to a place devotion needs to go.

People often put their faith in things that do not deserve devotion. The greedy have a faith in wealth and that is not healthy. The vain put faith in looks and that is not wise. Gluttons of all stripes place faith in the object of their abuse and that can become the object of addiction.

There is a difference between having "faith" in the church and faith in the Head of the Church. The church is made up of people, people who are sinned and fallible. The Head of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is fully human and fully divine; all human and all God. Jesus is not only more God than we will ever be, but he is more of a person than we will ever be. In him alone must our faith rest.

As Sting sings, "If I ever lose my faith in you, there'd be nothing left for me to do."

When the man brings his demon possessed son to Jesus, Jesus says, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” The man then cries “I believe; help my unbelief!”

As people, imperfect human beings, we will never be able to fully believe, not to the extent that Jesus is able to believe in us. Often we think of this verse as Jesus scorning the father, "If you believe your son will be healed." The man's answer certainly seems to follow this logic.

But what if Jesus is instead saying, "I believe in you, I believe in humanity, and because I believe, all things can be done." The acts of Jesus do not depend on us having enough faith. Jesus has enough faith in us to do the miracles that show us life.

Still, our lives are plagued with uncertainty and pain. Sting sings, "Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world." We may be lost, but Jesus finds us--both in our belief and in our unbelief.

The Church can be a wonderful thing. In its most gloirous state it is the Body of Christ on earth. But it is better to have faith in Christ while remembering Christ calls on us, the church, people, to continue his work on earth.