All Faith, All Me, Or Both?

My mind has been wandering again . . . wondering . . .

I hear so many trite and clichéd phrases thrown around in Christian circles today. My first reaction is: Are you for real? (Sorry, the teenagers I work around are rubbing off on me.) Phrases like “Just have faith,” “God will provide,” or, my favorite, “Let go and let God.” Just what is intended when someone says these words? Are they really that comforting? Does anyone know what is really meant? Does anyone care?

On the other hand, there are those who have a completely different outlook. Their mantra is, “God helps those who help themselves.” Some even believe these words are in the Bible! Is that God’s way of working in our lives? Is it all left up to us, and then he steps in to give a little assistance or blessing?

So, is it all faith, all me, or both? It seems to me we must work out the relationship between our faith and trust in God, and our own personal responsibility and accountability. Does my faith in God relieve me of any responsibility to help myself? Does my working for myself only require God to bless what I have done?

Paul was certainly a man who understood the relationship between faith and works. He knew there was a balance between the two, and taught that balance to his fellow believers. Here is one such teaching. In his letter to the Philippian believers, Paul thanked them for their concern for his needs as well as their gift for his needs (4:10). Then Paul revealed to them that he had learned the true secret of contentment (4:11). This contentment was learned in the face of need as well as in the times of plenty; in fact he revealed that he had learned the secret of contentment in every situation of life (4:12). So what was the secret of his contentment? His faith was that he could do everything through Christ, the one who gave him the strength he needed daily (4:13). His self-sufficiency was not enough to bring him contentment, but Christ’s sufficiency was. It was Christ who infused him with the power he needed to work each day to meet his needs, but he still was required to draw upon that power and work. He was quick, however, to recognize how God had also supplied his needs through the Philippian believers. (4:14). But they were able to help him because he had labored in the strength of Christ to preach the gospel to them, and Christ had enabled them to give!

Jesus certainly taught this concept as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs his hearers three times to not worry abut the daily cares of life (6:25, 31, 34). He gives the examples of how God supplies the needs of the birds, the lilies, and the grass of the field, who do not labor or work for their needs (6:26, 28-30). He asks a very important question: Are you not much more valuable than they (6:27)? Then he accuses them of lacking in faith (6:30). Now if we stop here, it would seem that Jesus is instructing us to “just have faith.” That seems to contradict the rule Paul gave the Thessalonian believers: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) But we miss the real jewel of the paragraph (maybe the whole sermon!) if we miss the next commandment of Jesus. Jesus informs his listeners that they are to seek (strive after) the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God to have all these needs supplied. When Jesus spoke of striving after the kingdom, He means to work for its inception into and then its continuation in the world. Striving after God’s righteousness means not only seeking the righteousness God bestows upon us, but striving for that holiness of heart and purity of life to which God calls us as kingdom citizens. Both of these require our work, with a faith to believe that God will give us the strength to work so that He can supply our needs.

Later, in the same sermon, Jesus instructs His listeners to ask for what they needed, and it would be given to them (7:7). But in the same verse, He also commands them to seek and to knock. Asking requires faith, seeking and knocking requires our work.

The way I see it, it is faith in God coupled with the work I do through his strength. While God is the one in control of all things, we are commanded to not only have faith in Him, but to also work for our needs. God takes care of us, and we must look to Him in faith, but God also lays responsibility on us to do our part. It is all faith and all me.