# 118: The Need For Childlike Faith

What is so special about the faith of little children? They believe, without the least bit of doubt, whatever their mothers and fathers tell them. Could we also believe our heavenly father without the least bit of doubt? Yes. Do we? No. Why? That is the question I will attempt to answer. “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17. “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3. Those verses and more are extremely descriptive concerning the quality of the Christian faith/belief. The one ingredient that renders the lives of SINCERE Christians as powerless is when faith is mingled with doubt. Doubt not only makes faith powerless, but completely destroys spiritual life, usually without the individual’s awareness. This type of mingled faith, which exists throughout organized Christianity, has become the status quo. How did we get in such sad shape? Most likely from two sources: the pressure the world puts on us to conform/trappings of society, and the mediocrity that has been preached in America, since who knows when, from behind 300,000 Christian pulpits.

Several other required attributes are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The way this is done is to obey God's commands. The apostle John says in 1st John 5:3, "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome ..." How many of us Christians are actively striving for that type of love? I mean above and beyond what we declare with our mouths. And almost as poignant, although much more trying/annoying, is to love your neighbors as yourselves. Jesus said, “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:27-28. Well, excuse me, Jesus; where is grace? Two questions: Do you doubt it is necessary to obey the above commands? Who has enough childlike faith to actually obey these two commands? Answer: It is the grace that God gives to authentic Christians which enables them to love in that manner. To adhere to the above two commands is, most likely, the most unnatural lifestyle/commands for potential Christians to desire. BUT, if we have childlike faith, we will ignore our natural tendencies and live as commanded.

Several other qualities essential for all Christians are found in Matthew 10:16. “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” The word “wise” is used instead of “shrewd” in several other Bibles, and the word “harmless” is used in place of “innocent.” They essentially say the same thing. How wise and innocent are we in our Christian conduct to the degree that we actively obey, without reservation, the above commands?

Here is the answer: Christ is the only way to obedience. In essence, He said, I obeyed my Father with child-like faith, and the only way anyone can obey is by following my instructions to the letter, with their lives. In short, He is our only and perfect example. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” 1st John 2:6. No ifs, ands, or buts. Let us never forget, the New Testament is the road map to obedience. If we don’t follow the COMPLETE map with child-like faith, we will never get to our eternal destiny.

The above four paragraphs are the heart and soul of the Christian life, and in essence the remainder of Bible is trivial, although always solidly resting on the above. And still, I could easily understand why people conform to worldly standards; and I can also understand why the clergy preaches a diluted message. Some preachers may do so inadvertently, while others purposely dilute their messages of any teaching that would make the laity feel uncomfortable. The reason is that they want them and their 10% back next week. This website is dedicated to making these undeniable standards and shortcomings known. In short, organized religion has, in large part, become a worldly, financial business instead of an institution that should be known as always having necessary spiritual substance. ‘“The apostles said to the lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ He replied, ‘If you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you.’” There are a number of verses that invoke the supernatural which have been deemed out of charter as part of the realm of ordinary Christians. I am not sure that is where the problem starts, but diluting or ignoring such verses has had catastrophic consequences. All machinery, etc. can only function correctly when all parts are working in a synchronized manner. Remove just one vital part and it can’t work as required. That is called irreducible complexity. That principle also applies to any complex biological, spiritual, etc. entities. This reduction is just one reason for the doubt that exists in Christianity as a whole.

This is what complicates the problem: To compensate for a weak faith as a result of doubt in what God through Jesus Christ said in the New Testament, some believe that many Biblical principles do not apply to our modern times, thus attempting to make much of the New Testament fit into America’s ungodly culture. This is what I mean: Since we have made great advances in medicine with all the sophisticated technology and associated sciences, some deceivers and others that have been deceived believe that God does not have a need to perform miracles through His chosen, as in Jesus’ time. It has been said that the following verse is not necessary or applicable in today’s life; that is a blatant lie. Listen to what Jesus said: “. . . or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even GREATER THINGS than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:11-12. [emphasis added]. I emphatically say that if the above verse (and others like it) can’t be trusted as applying to modern Christians, then the complete New Testament cannot be trusted.

There are at least two reasons why Jesus Christ performed many miracles: because of His uncompromising compassion and empathy for hurting humanity, and to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He was sent from God Almighty as the promised Messiah. That is the exact reason authentic miracles are needed in the present time: to prove that Christians are what they claim to be. Of course, there will be fraudulent Christians also doing miracles. We can tell which ones are really of God by comparing their lives to all that the Bible requires of His people. In second Thessalonians 2:9-12, the apostle Paul makes this deceit very clear. “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For that reason God sent them a powerful delusion so they will believe the lie.” Additionally, Jesus emphatically warned in Matthew 24:24-25: “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” Repeating, therefore we must not equate all great miracles with God, but first check the life/lives of the one/ones performing the miracles. Therefore, those who make little or nothing of some Bible verses, by doubting they really mean what they say, will lead many to perish. Christianity is not for the faint-hearted.

With that said, we have to admit that the reason much of the New Testament is not materializing in the modern Christian church is because of our doubt as to what God can do through ordinary Christians like ourselves. Knowing these facts of Scripture, the question remains: How can we, who are aware of our inadequacies, remove doubt from our lives? It is easier said than done: For people who have been involved in organized religion most/all their lives, it would be next to impossible. If church-going Christians, who make going to church the biggest event of the week, were required to obey and live by all the verses they have neglected, it would mean a complete life change. Who is able, and who even desires to do that? They are between a rock and a hard place. Most likely, they will not be able to acquire that childlike faith. I feel heartbroken to realize that the above statements are true, and the devil—whom I hate with a passion—has the upper hand in many of our lives. In summary, it could be a devastating situation many church people are in.

It would be much easier for an outsider to believe and live as the Bible directs, without many preconceived ideas as to what the Christian life really consists of, than for a good church-going person. Since contemplating the aforementioned message, it strikes me that one of the evil one’s main tools to get “Christians” to worship him is a little word by the name of “doubt.”