Believe it…or not!

Matthew 13:58 And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

“Belief” has become a very passive word. It’s not so much about actions, but about things. It’s not so much about movement, but about thought. It’s not so much about being in motion, but about inert ideals construed within ones mind concerning ones stance on this or that. In essence, “belief” has become an itemized list of thoughts about “things” and whether or not they are real or true. Once the validity, or lack their of, concerning those “things” has been established, we catalog the conclusions deep within our memories for future argument and discussion.

That’s really what “belief” seems to have become to many of us. A conversation piece at a party. Something we talk about or argue over with our friends. A stance we hold in our mind and try to win others over to through our rhetoric. But belief is not just what we think in our heads. It is not just a list of true false ideals. Belief is NOT PASSIVE! It is ACTIVE!!! It is not simply something to talk about, it is something to be lived. Belief without without life is nothing more than unseless empty thought and empty word.

It seems this kind of lifeless belief has become the default for many Christians in America today. We’re great when it comes to talking about our belief, but not so much when it comes to living it out. And, belief that is not lived out, is not belief at all…as a matter of fact, it becomes unbelief. That was the problem in Jesus hometown of Nazareth. The people there didn’t have a lack of beliefs. As a matter of fact, they held some very deep and sacred beliefs about life, and God, and people, but when the very God who gave life to the very people that held those beliefs comes walking into town, they could not see beyond themselves to believe. To put it into action. To truly live it out. That’s why Jesus couldn’t do any “deeds of power” there.

I wonder if the same is true for us today. Its so easy for us to blame the lack of God’s movement on the belief and moral systems of others. On the lack of faith of this person or that. On the music. The preaching. The person in the front of the sanctuary who is not as reverent as we think they ought to be. But what about ourselves? Are our beliefs just empty words? Or are we willing to look beyond the excuses, look beyond the distractions, and truly begin to take God at His word? And so, let me ask…do you believe?

Do you believe that God can heal the mortally sick?

Do you believe that God can restore the most broken of relationships?

Do you believe that God can provide the deepest of needs?

Do you believe that  God can change the most hardened of Hearts?

Do you believe that God has called us to feed the hungry?

Do you believe that God has called us to visit the imprisoned?

Do you believe that God has called us to house the homeless?

…clothe the naked?

…help and love single mothers?

…care for the poor?

…the elderly?

…the drug addict?

… the prostitute?

…the down and out?

…the lost?

Do you believe that God has called us as the church to Go therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations? 

Its not enough to say yes! WE MUST ACT UPON IT!! And acting upon these beliefs means getting beyond ourselves, our own agenda’s, our own desires, our own wants. It means setting aside ourselves…our time…our discomfort. It means getting outside our church walls. Rearranging our church calendars. Doing more than eating meals and playing games and going to theme parks and calling it good Christian fellowship. The kind of fellowship God desires is fellowship that involves sinners and saints alike, as the hungry are fed, the sick are cared for, the imprisoned are visited, the naked are clothed,and  the lost are loved.  If we cannot do this, our belief is nothing more than empty words about sacred things. This lack of action, demonstrates unbelief. And with unbelief…there can be “no deeds of power” among us.

So the next time you want to blame the lack of God’s movement on something or someone else, pause for a moment, and ask yourself the question…do I really believe? Am I living like it?