Misguided Faith

Hebrews 11:1 – "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

One would not think of faith with the words substance and evidence when considering it in a worldly light.  But Christians must look at faith with spiritual eyes, an insight guided by the Holy Spirit.

In a worldly sense, people exercise faith each day – and that faith is substance and evidence.  When someone desires to sit in a chair or on a bench, does he first check the structural soundness of the seat before sitting on it?  Not usually!  He acts on faith that the chair will support him.  Yet in some cases that faith can be misguided.  I once knew a college professor who, out of habit, would sit on the edge of his desk while lecturing, showing faith that the desk would hold up under his rather portly frame.  Well, during one class period, he sat on the edge of the desk, the legs gave way, and this paragon of wisdom ended up sprawled on the floor.  His faith in the desk was misguided.

Even in Hollywood, the lawyer character in Miracle on 34^th Street made the statement, “Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to.”  This was on the surface good advice, yet the faith he was speaking of was a faith in Santa Claus – once again, a misguided faith.

The same can be true in our spiritual life.  Our faith can be put in the wrong things and we fall flat on our faces and don’t understand why.  Well it’s because we put our faith in things – things not bad in themselves but made bad by our misplaced faith.  Sometimes we put our faith in a man – a man of God perhaps – but a man nonetheless.  Or we put our faith in an organization and too often our faith is dashed into pieces.  Or more personally, we depend on position, power, or prosperity – or on people or popularity – or sometimes on public profession or tithing.

Anything, whether real or abstract, in which we place our faith, aside from the Lord Jesus Christ, is a recipient of misguided faith.  He is the foundation of our salvation, therefore the cornerstone of our faith.  Hebrews 12:2 regales Him as “the author and finisher of our faith.”  Hebrews 11 recounts the great successes of those who displayed true faith.  How can the believer exhibit faith in anything else, whether it be denomination, dogma, teacher or preacher?

Quote – “Faith in anything instead of Christ is really not faith at all but Folly.” – Anonymous

"Lord, Help us to have a true faith in you. Help us to see the world and everything in it as you see it - not worthy of our trust - only you are worthy.  Amen."