We have doubters within the household of faith! Remember
Thomas? He had eaten, slept, and journeyed alongside others as they followed
after Jesus. Yet, later, Thomas had no faith in their eyewitness testimony:
We have seen the
Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe (John 20:25).
There’s an understood “you” at the end of that verse. When
he “dissed” them, he was calling them liars, wasn’t he!
What was Thomas’ difficulty? Simple. He just hadn’t experienced seeing the Lord for himself. That’s the
arrogance, or ignorance, of holding on to one expectation of faith—our
own—while excluding the faith of others. At the point, where recognition and
acceptance for the faith of others ceases to be defined by love (1 Cor.
13:4-13), then we also cease to do “good” to the household of faith (Gal.
6:10).
However, Jesus gave us a remedy. Single out those who have
no previous eye-witness experiences of their own, yet recognize and accept
others’ faith anyway; then, acknowledge how blessed they are, just as Jesus
did: “…blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
Faith does not have to occur exclusively within the
boundaries of our own experiences. Faith can also occur within the boundaries
of others’. This is why we are called the household of faith!
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