Faith & Insight: The first step of faith

Faith is central to the Christian life. In fact, to become a Christian is to believe that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. Still, the fact that faith is central does not mean it is easy. Often, living a life of faith is hard.

In the Gospel of Mark, we read about a man who struggled with the difficulty of faith. He had a son who suffered from seizures. He took his son to the disciples for healing, but they could not help. They got the boy to Jesus. The father begged him saying, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responded saying, "Everything is possible for those who believe." The man answered, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." His words demonstrate the difficulty many have with faith.

To grasp the intricacies of the man's statement, one must consider specific elements of faith. First, faith involves an aspect of hope. Faith is not simply a belief about something that happened in the past but being sure of what we hope will happen in the future. For the boy's father, hope meant trusting Jesus could heal his son.

Second, faith requires action. Within Christian theology, this is referred to as orthopraxy, a word which means right living. Lifestyle must reflect the faith a person professes. We see this in the actions of the boy's father. He brought his son to the disciples and later to Jesus, trusting that he could heal him.

Third, faith has an element of risk. This may seem odd, but without risk, faith is unnecessary. Faith is proportional to risk, so the greater the risk, the greater the need for faith. The boy's father had no way of knowing with certainty that Jesus could heal his son. He had heard about Jesus' miracles and believed, but there was still risk in the outcome. Despite the uncertainty, he approached Jesus for help.

Lastly, faith has an element of doubt. Whenever there is a risk, doubt will not be far behind. However, doubt is not the end of faith. Indeed, for the boy's father, admitting doubt was the first step to overcoming it. As he said, "Help me with my unbelief."

His words represent the intrinsic struggle that faith has with doubt. When Christians confront this struggle head-on, they strengthen their faith through the experience. Importantly, his doubt did not lead him to despair but a request for help. His prayer should be ours as well.

Martin Luther King said, "Faith is to take the first step even when you don't see the staircase." The boy's father took the first step of faith, trusting that Jesus could help. He could not see the whole staircase and did not have all the answers. Despite the risk, he trusted, and his faith was realized; his son was healed. Jesus took the boy by the hand and lifted him to his feet. His example of faith is one we should follow.

Micheal Hurlbert is associate pastor at First Christian Church in Carson City.