Increase our faith

Luke 17 verse 5
Turn with me to Luke 17. I reckon it is one of the least preached-on passages of the Gospel! Confronted by Jesus' warning to 'Watch yourself!' (verse 3) and challenged by the need to continue forgiving those who foul up when they are repentant, the disciples plead for more faith in a way that all who are Christians will relate to.

In the face of the seeming triumph of evil in the world, the lack of response from our team-mates, and the poverty of our own Christian walk, who has not cried out, "Oh Lord, increase my faith"? The disciples surely felt the tremendous responsibility of living for Jesus in the world. They knew they would fail, that they might cause a little one to stumble.

They feared that in the hectic rush of life they would fail to forgive. Rightly they saw that only a strong faithful discipleship would see them through; so they do not ask to do better - they know they can never be good enough; but they do ask for more faith: "Lord, help us to keep trusting you."

Jesus' response is fascinating! Surely with a smile on his face, he affirms that they are asking the right question. Faith will overcome anything. It is highly unlikely that he envisaged us going around hurling trees into the sea! Mind you, I have often felt like it on the golf course - I could do with moving a few trees out there! No, his point is, "You are right; faith is the key to a powerful Christian life."

But how do we get more faith? This is the question Jesus is addressing in the highly politically incorrect verses, 7 to 10. The great danger for us, particularly sportspeople I think, is to fall into the trap of thinking that because we take responsibility on the field (we are players), we also take responsibility in the spiritual sphere; that is, we try to do it in our own strength, rather than trusting God.

So Jesus reminds his disciples in very graphic language that we are dependent on God. He is the Master and we are servants. The focus of our lives should not be our lack of faith, but God, the object of our faith. The servant coming in from the fields should not have his mind full of his "rights" and his "wants" but instead, the needs and desires of the Master.

Week by week we discover ourselves to be "unworthy servants" (it is true isn't it? - attitude to the ref, gossip about a team-mate, anger about non-selection, etc etc), but what a thrill it is to know the Master, to be on his staff, a contracted (in his blood) player for Jesus! When you think about the team you are on, and the Captain who leads you, faith grows.

Andrew Wingfield Digby
Non-Executive Director, Christians in Sport

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