Autopilot faith doesn’t move mountains
An interesting discussion came up in my home group recently,
“If all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, why does Jesus tell a few disciples that their faith is too small? Isn’t a small faith all you need?”
Being in a small group, we weren't able to get down to the nitty gritty of it, but I really wanted to dig deeper, so that’s what you’ll find here.
Let’s look at the scripture that caused the question:
He replied “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20-21
This section of scriptures feels like Jesus is directly contradicting himself. What’s up with that Jesus?
I am not a scholar, I am not a seminary student, professor, or learned in the scriptures aside from my own time studying the word. But I had some thoughts from this passage. Consider this your disclaimer.
How can the disciples have too small of faith, when they literally only need a mustard seed size? If you’ve never seen a mustard seed, think of a poppy seed sized object. A poppy seed is practically a grain of sand, easy to lose track of, not taking up much space. And yet, the disciples were told their faith was too small. How?
Let’s look at some context.
We know from reading Matthew 10, that Jesus has already sent out the disciples into the world to declare Jesus to the nations, and given them power and authority over evil spirits (demons).
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. - Matthew 10:1
The organization of the book of Matthew places the sending out of the twelve before this interaction that caused my home group's questioning. While we unfortunately won't ever be able to know the exact chronology of the gospel accounts, let's move forward with the thinking that Jesus has already given his power and authority to his disciples. In Matthew 17:19 we read: Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “why couldn’t we drive it [Demon] out?” This feels like they understand they have authority, right?
So, Jesus has given them authority, they couldn’t drive a demon out of a boy, and now Jesus is telling them they have little faith… if I were a disciple, I’d be confused.
This is what would be rolling around in my head: “Jesus we are doing what you told us to, and told us we could do! How could we have little faith when we are doing exactly as you asked? We are being obedient, this demon just isn’t cooperating. Now you are saying we don’t have large enough faith, and insulting us that we don’t even have a mustard seed size! We’ve followed you, done things in your name, chosen you over and over, yet now we don’t have faith? What the heck?”
If anyone would have large enough faith, it would be the disciples, right? They KNEW Jesus, spent time with him, lived, ate, and breathed with him. They would be the most faith filled in my perspective, they walked with the Lord! And yet their faith was too small.
I don’t think the size of their faith has anything to do with human measurement, but of the state of one’s heart.
We can see all over scripture that God looks at people’s hearts before all else.
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. - Proverbs 21:2
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7
If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart? - Psalm 44:20-21:
Jesus was talking to his disciples about faith, and what are disciples? Humans. And what are a few things that humans do really well? Forget, become arrogant, become reliant on their own strength instead of God’s.
It is so easy for us to forget about our need for God, and rely on the knowledge we have in the back of our mind instead of that with which we have been directed to remember.
Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6
Look to the Lord our God and His strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgment he pronounced.
- 1 Chronicles 16:11-12Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the lord is gracious and compassionate. - Psalm 111:3-4
I don’t know about you, but I easily move into autopilot when it comes to pretty much every area of my life. I feel like I’ve been coasting on autopilot when it comes to my faith for the last several years. I know the Lord, I know the word, but when it comes to diving in, I have stayed in the shallow end. My autopilot mode has led me to skate through without diving deeper, experiencing and living with God on a deeper level, and honestly being a bare minimum effort.
I have a hunch the disciples were on autopilot when it came to this moment of casting out a demon, and being told they had a little faith. They had seen Jesus do miracles left and right for quite some time, they had been given power and authority to do the same and seen results, they were prime candidates for great levels of faith. Yet looking at their mountain, it would not move.
When has autopilot ever been enough for you? When has it ever led to health, wholeness, and delight? I can bet, if you think hard enough you won’t be able to find a time that fits that criteria.
Acting in power and authority must have felt like second nature to the disciples by this point, but I think Jesus is pointing out that they need to be not be in autopilot when it comes to faith, they need to be active in it, remembering the power that comes with it, the power that comes from Him.
This section of Matthew ends on a somber note:
When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” and the disciples were filled with grief. - Matthew 17:22-23
There was an urgency to what Jesus was telling them about faith, because he was going to leave them one day. There was urgency in them understanding that they cannot live a life of abundance, in his power and authority while on autopilot. Their faith must be active and rooted in the truth of who the Father is and what he has done, and will do.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to skate by on autopilot anymore. I want to be ALIVE with Jesus and act in His power that a mountain can move.
Cheers,
Ruth.
