“Brash and confident, the inventor stands perched on the roof of the barn. Strapped to his arms, and across his back, is a flying contraption of his own devising. It is made of wood, wire, and canvas; a modern Daedelus stands ready to take flight. He believes, and believes strongly, that he has conquered the age-old problem of flight. Down on the ground, a movie camera quietly whirs, recording the momentous event. He waves to the camera and jumps off.”
“Ninety years later, an elderly grandmother straps herself into the seat of a 747. Her hands are shaking as she does so—she has never flown before. To the extent she thinks she believes anything, she thinks they are all going to die. She has no idea how she allowed herself to be talked into this. The plane slowly taxis down the runway and positions itself for takeoff.”
“Now,“ the teacher said, “who has more faith?“
His young student sat for a moment. “Well, it seems to be the man on the barn had much more confidence—more faith.”
“That is correct,“ said the teacher. “But who do you think flew, and landed safely?”
“That also seems evident enough. The man on the barn crashed. The timid woman had a safe flight.”
“But why? Doesn’t the Bible teach that if you have enough faith you can do anything?“
“Well, from the results here, apparently not.”
“Why did the plane containing the woman fly?”
“Because it was aerodynamically sound.”
The teacher nodded. “Could you put it another way, and say that it flew because it was faithful?”
“Well, of course. And I suppose you want me to tell you why the man on the barn crashed?”
The teacher nodded again. “Yes, I do.“
“I would say it was because his wings were not faithful.”
“That is correct. Here is another question. Can the amount of faith placed in a thing alter the faithfulness of that thing?”
The student thought for a moment. “Great faith may be placed in faithless things, and little faith may be placed in great things.“
“What can we say about those who believe that faith can alter the faithfulness of the object?”
“I would say that faith is not really placed in the object at all. They are trying to have faith in faith, which really is no true faith at all.”
“Yes. There are many who, even in the name of Christianity, talk about faith as though it were the object to be believed. But it cannot be.“
“Can you illustrate this?“
“Certainly. This is obvious with other verbs. Suppose a man says that he loves. And supposed further that someone asked him what he loves, and he replied that he loved nothing in particular. His love had no beloved—he was just brimful of undirected benevolence. What would you say?”
“I would say that he did not know what love was.“
“Exactly. Because . . .?“
“Because love requires an object. Without the beloved, love does not exist.”
“It is the same with the verb believe. Where there is no object of faith, faith does not exist. Believe can no more be its own object than run, walk, or sing can.”
There was silence for a moment. Then the student asked, “What does faith do, then?”
The teacher pointed to the student’s chair. “Do you believe that chair will hold you up?”
“Well, certainly.“
“What holds you up? Your faith or the chair?“
“The chair does.”
“So if you had a sudden anxiety attack, the chair would not suddenly give away?”
“It would not.”
“So what does your faith in the chair do?”
“It keeps me In the chair “
“But not off the floor.”
The student nodded. “Right. Not off the floor. The chair does that.”
“How much faith is necessary before the chair is able to hold you?”
“Enough to get me in the chair.”
“Now you asked what faith does. The answer is that it looks away from itself, and to God. The object of all biblical faith is God. Because he is faithful, a little faith in Him saves, and because all idols are faithless, a great faith in them will do nothing but destroy the idolaters.”
“So we do not save ourselves through the greatness of our faith.”
“We do not. We are saved through the greatness of our God. There is one God who justifies sinners by faith and through faith. Those who look to God have saving faith—the kind God graciously gives. Those who look to their own faith have neither faith, nor God.“
“And so a man who trusts in his own faith is . . .“
“. . . jumping off the barn.“
Credenda Vol. 4/No. 6