I got to thinking this past week about the stock market. Apparently, over the past few weeks, it’s been flirting with an all-time high. All-time. That means higher than pre-September 11th. That means higher than before the doc-com bust. And gas prices are working their way down. A friend of mine payed $1.99 for a gallon in GA, and prices around O-Town are right about $2.40. That’s some pretty positive economic news, I’d think. Yet it still seems like the Republicans are powerless to turn this into noticable momentum for the upcoming election. Strange.
Of course, most of my readers will know that I don’t really care about the economy or politics. Well, I do, but then I also don’t. Not enough to write much about it.
One of the great things about working at my church is that 2 of my elders have been on the examination committee for the prestybery for a while. So they’ve seen a bunch of examinations, and know what will matter when that day comes around (at least for this presbytery). Every once in a while, they’ll give me a little pop quiz, just to see where I’m at. I’m probably weird, but I actually enjoy it.
So a question my pastor asked me a few weeks ago really surprised me. It seemed simple enough, but it got me thinking. “What is the ground of your salvation?” Seems simple, right? I thought about it for all of 2 seconds and said, “the person and work of Christ alone.” I was able to answer quickly not because I’m some kind of genius, but because it’s just one of the five solas, which seem pretty basic to the Reformed faith. My pastor just smiled and told me that all too many candidates across the years have said “faith.” I thought about it a little bit. After all, that’s another of the solas, isn’t it?
I got to thinking of all the times in Christian circles that we tell people to just “have faith.” Or, even worse, say that God is teaching us to “have more faith.” As I’ve been walking into the Counseling program, I’m very aware that this is the picture that many people have of Christian/Biblical counseling. But I think it’s crap. I can’t make myself have more faith, any more than I can give faith to someone else. Faith is a gift from God, which He gives by His grace through His Spirit mediated by the ordinary means of grace.
What does this have to do with stock? So often, it seems to me like we talk about faith like stock, and how you just need to buy more of it to feel more secure or more complete or something. If you feel lacking, just invest more and you’ll have another claim, another piece of that pie. Again, I think that’s crap.
Nothing we can do can drum up another claim on the work of Christ. We all get the same payment at the end of the day. But what I think gets missed is the immense worth of what we have been given in Christ’s work. There’s no need for more claims, because what we have been given is of matchless value. I don’t need to encourage those around me to “invest more” or “have more faith”, but instead to realize the sufficency of the grace that has been given, and trust God that the faith that He grants is enough.
I don’t know if that makes sense, but it did a little something in my brain today that really reassured me. Hopefully it makes sense to somebody else out there.
Good thoughts, Tim! I’ll have to dwell on it a little more so thanks for the encouragement. Mike was right that he said you were a little sharper than the rest:o)