Consider this in light of my previous description of faith. Which would you call a faith-based church:<\/p>\n
Scenario A: people assemble, sing pre-selected songs; listen to a message delivered by a person who has the exact message needed for everyone in attendance; prayer lines using crafted prayers to deliver congregants from health or poverty issues; people leave sated.<\/p>\n
Scenario B: people assemble not certain what will transpire; sing songs spontaneously as the direction warrants; enter into a dialogue with each other about a topic pressing the group on that occasion, moderated by a different person every time; prayer extended as requested by members permitting the wording to be designed for the unique situation being confronted; people leave hungry.
\nWhich is the description of your church? Where is your faith more welcomed?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My friend asked me to provide some additional thoughts on this faith issue and this is how I responded:<\/p>\n
Faith is not for the believer, it is for those who have doubts.<\/p>\n
In Paul’s letters, he often is trying to convey how it was the trust Jesus had in his relationship with the Father that enabled him to complete the mission which was before him. Often those who transcribed the narrative used the word “faith” to indicate these acts and motives. This however would mean that there were things that Jesus had doubts about, which is contrary to his claim that he only does those things he sees his Father do.<\/p>\n
Consider the two concepts promoted the most from Paul’s writings are faith and righteousness – our faith in the righteousness of God which we have been given. My claim is that faith is an action conducted in the arena of uncertainty. We therefore are uncertain of our righteousness! Clearly not something we’ve been told, but experienced nevertheless.<\/p>\n
Again, I’ll draw from Ester. Haman was in right-standing [righteous] with the king, yet Ester was in a relationship with the king. Paul’s efforts have been greatly diminished I believe because we have adopted a 15th century interpretation of a “trusting relationship” to be “faith in righteousness.”<\/p>\n
Ask yourself, can a believer have doubts or uncertainty? We know that they can, however, the path to certainty is a bridge of faith founded on the trust of our relationship with the Father. Whatever failings occur on our journey across this bridge can never undo the trust we place in his oath that he will never leave us or forsake us.<\/p>\n
Abram was called out his homeland to place he knew not. This is what faith looks like. He believed that God could raise the dead and it was accounted to him as righteousness. This is trusting in the relationship where what was promised would be fulfilled.<\/p>\n
We must recognize there is a place for faith and trust. Our relationship is secure in Christ, no faith required, trust me. The path we believers take to fulfill our destined purpose is entirely a journey of faith. We have faith for abundance, healing, deliverance, and restoration simply because we aren’t certain how it will occur.<\/p>\n
I think that the description, “the faithful few” is inaccurate. Far too many are uncertain and doubting more than ever. “The trusting few” may be more realistic. I’m finding more comfort in being faithful, experiencing uncertainty and doubts in their fullness. It challenges me to discover truth, which makes me believe and trust. Religion places too high a demand on certainty; denying people the opportunity to seek through questioning, to experience faith fully.<\/p>\n
A question will always challenge a belief not anchored in trust. Consider the difficulty of trying to live by faith in your identity and purpose as a child of God. If any question confronts this faith, what happens? Trust is vital in this area, not faith. But if you’ve only been taught this comes by faith, then you never know, you never believe. You think, you try to feel but you’re not certain. You’re in faith. A sanctified form of mental hell.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I think that today most teachings are relaying the message of faith far more than how to trust God. Yes, it sells well to the sheep who don\u2019t know any better. Regrettably, it also scatters the sheep just as fast when any question arises. The largest question all of face is how does 2,000-plus year old text relate to me today. If you\u2019re going to sell this solely on the basis of faith, there will be no way to see people mature. Like the writer to Hebrews points out, people are still drinking the milk when they should be eating the meat.<\/p>\n
Leader need to step away from the pulpit of easy sermonizing and plunge themselves into serious study which questions all your presuppositions and doctrinal structures. I\u2019m not saying that you need to abandon everything. You need to accept the challenge a question brings. You\u2019ll soon find out whether you have faith in the scriptures or trust them. Then you\u2019ll know how to help your people mature.<\/p>\n
But you must take care not to make them into faithless believers by removing the mystery with pat answers, something doctrine in notorious in accomplishing. Admit it when you don\u2019t have an answer or better yet, when the answer you have always used just doesn\u2019t seem to fit anymore. There is no law that says you must be certain at all times. Personally, I tend to stay away from people like that simply because they seem to want me to be just like them and I know that has never been the Father\u2019s intention for me.<\/p>\n
So to bring this to a close today, embrace uncertainty just like you embrace trust. Learn to know the difference. If your bible says \u201cfaith\u201d determine to understand whether the writer means \u201ctrust due to relationship\u201d or the unknown, the foggy, the shadowy path heading to trust. Because everybody has faith for something, but few can trust someone, even God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had a discussion with a good friend the other day about a posting that I made on Facebook regarding faith. I was granted the opportunity to share what I wrote to my friend as my further response. But I … Continue reading 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2026","format":false,"excerpt":"M3:Week 4: Veils on Eternal Horizons Day 5: Overcoming Future Fears Today's Veil to Pierce Building on grace in career and life choices, we now confront the veil of future fears \u2014 the deceptive Maya construct that reappears after the Passover and Easter unveiling, where the false self projects anxiety,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2026 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2026 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2026-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/piercing-the-veil-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4639,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/unknowns-as-illusion-opportunities\/","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":2},"title":"Unknowns as Illusion Opportunities","author":"mike","date":"March 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"M3:Week 4: Veils on Eternal Horizons Day 2: Unknowns as Illusion Opportunities Today's Veil to Pierce Building directly on grace-guided planning, we now contemplate the unknowns that stretch before us as illusion opportunities \u2014 the deceptive Maya veil that turns uncertainty into fear or paralysis after the Passover and Easter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2026 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2026 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2026-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/piercing-the-veil-201x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4797,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/grace-for-unknown-tomorrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":3},"title":"Grace for Unknown Tomorrows","author":"mike","date":"March 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"M4:Week 1: Maya in Personal Futures Day 2: Grace for Unknown Tomorrows Today's Veil to Pierce Building on 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