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Increase Our Faith :
Mustard Seeds and Unprofitable Servants

by David A. DePra
 
And the apostles said unto the Lord, "Increase our faith." And the
Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you might
say unto this sycamore tree, 'Be plucked up by the root and be
planted in the sea,' and it should obey you. But which of you,
having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by
and by when he is come from the field, 'Go and sit down to meat.'?
And will he not rather say unto him, 'Make ready so that I can sup,
and gird yourself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drank. And
afterward you shall eat and drink.' Does he thank that servant
because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which
are commanded you, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We
have done that which is our duty to do.'" (Luke 17:5-10)
 
     The answer Jesus gave his disciples to their request, "Increase
our faith," is amazing, not only because of what He said to them,
but also because of what He didn't say. Notice that Jesus did not
say, "Here is the formula for getting more faith." Neither did he say,
"Just positively confess what you want to receive and you'll get it."
Indeed, when the apostles ask Him for more faith, He did not turn
to them and work some kind of miracle intended to increase their
faith. His answer to them was not what they expected at all.
     Jesus gave the disciples an indirect answer. It had to be
indirect because they were operating from a wrong premise. They
thought Jesus could simply zap them and increase their faith. So
His answer is really a correction of the question itself.
     This passage illustrates one of those times when God cannot
answer us directly because we have asked the wrong question. In
other words, our point of reference is so far off the track that even
the question we ask is flawed. The question itself is born out of
a wrong perspective and a wrong idea of what God is doing.
     Take a natural example. Suppose during a trip across the
country I stopped and asked someone directions to Smalltown,
Pa.. But imagine that there is no Smalltown, Pa.. Would directions
help me? No. The answer I need is that the place doesn't exist.
But because I am already operating under the premise that it does
exist, I have limited my receptivity to a certain kind of answer. I am
not geared for the real truth. I have no point of reference for it.
     Often when we seek the Truth from God, we come with a list of
options in our hand. On this list we have everything within the
scope of our point of reference. Those options, we think, are the
possible answers. We don't consider anything outside of our
point of reference, because we don't even know there IS an
"outside of our point of reference." We make the mistake of thinking
that Truth is limited to our perception of it, and that there is no more
to God than we presently know.
     When we come to God in this kind of condition, God cannot
answer us. We have no ears for hearing the Truth. So rather than
give us an answer which we would not grasp, or one which would
end up doing us harm, God is faithful to begin working on our
question. He begins to do a work in us which is geared to making
us fit for the real Truth we seek.
     The above passage is a good example. The disciples thought
Jesus could simply increase their faith. So they asked Him to. But
Jesus knew that faith doesn't work that way. So He answer was
intended, not to satisfy their question, but to correct it. He wanted
to begin expanding their perception of the Truth on the matter.
     God never blames us for being ignorant. In fact, if we had any
idea of our real level of ignorance, it would probably flabbergast
us. Indeed, many of the ignorant questions we ask Him may be
nothing more than a reflection of our real needs. It may be a
signal that God is working on something in us which will bring us
more freedom.
     We must be clear on one thing, however. When God sets about
the business of building in us ears to hear, and a heart which can
see the Truth, He is not merely preparing us to receive
"information," "the facts," or "doctrine." No. He is preparing us to
receive more of Himself. "Ears to hear" is a MORAL issue. I can
only hear God and receive Him if I have the moral ears to do so.
     The Book of Hebrews teaches this. It says, "Today, if you would
hear His voice harden not your hearts." In other words, hearing
God's voice has nothing to do with intellect or Bible knowledge.
No. HOW I hear God, and WHAT I hear, is directly related to the
condition of my heart. If I am unconditionally surrendered to the
Truth regardless of personal cost, my heart will be soft and
receptive. But if I harden my heart, then by definition, there will be
little which God can do to make an impression upon me.
     This is why some people get far off the track, and begin to
believe and teach heresy. God wanted to work in them to adjust
them to the Truth.. But they chose to adjust the Truth to fit
themselves. They weren't willing to let God crucify their spiritual
pride. The result is a moral twist and a distorted picture of God,
along with teaching that reflects it.
     The disciples made an honest request of Jesus. They wanted
to have more faith. That's good. But the answer Jesus gave them
corrected their question. It shows that an increase of faith is NOT
a gift. Rather, it is the result, or fruit, of another process.
     Notice the indirect way Jesus responds to them. He said, "IF
you had faith like a grain of mustard seed..." By this He doesn't
mean that their faith needs to be small, like a tiny seed. No. "Like
a mustard seed" means "like a mustard seed grows." It is the
smallest of seeds, yet grows into a fantastic tree. In other words,
Jesus is alluding to the fact that God does give to each a measure
of faith. A tiny bit like a mustard seed. But once received, faith
must grow like a mustard seed grows. And if it does, then great
results will be forthcoming.
     Jesus is saying, "You ask Me to increase your faith. But you
have already been given a measure of faith. If you want an
increase, your faith must go through a process of growth, the same
way in which a mustard seed must grow."
     Faith, by nature, must be tested. That is the only way in which
the things we believe can become part of us. It is the only way
faith can increase. God cannot just simply increase our faith by
waving His hand. Faith doesn't work that way. But God will
expose us to the elements necessary to test our faith, so that by
standing we might grow.
     The way God tests faith is by exposing us to contradiction to
what we believe. Think about how ironic that is. Our faith does
not grow primarily by seeing nothing but the Truth. No. It grows
by seeing and believing the Truth, and then by being bombared
by lies. It's the "resistance increases strength" principle. The more
we stand by faith against the lies of the enemy, the more we grow
in faith.
     Contradiction to the Truth can take many forms. And most of
them involve much more than doctrinal lies. The real test of
faith comes when I cannot see HOW God is telling me the
Truth, because all I can sense is evidence that He isn't. At
that point, I will either stand by faith, or I will believe my
natural senses and understanding.
     Jesus did not end His response to the disciples with the
mustard seed. He went on to give them a teaching which
reveals much about HOW God increases our faith. His words
stand as a correction to much of the faith teaching which goes
on today.
     The Lord painted a scenerio of a servant who has worked
all day in the field, doing his duty for his master. Then, at the
end of the day, at meal time, this servant comes in. The master
does not reward the servant by telling him to relax and have a
meal. No. In fact, he does not thank him at all.  Instead, he
points out to him that there are still duties for him to perform.
The servant must feed his master first. Then he can eat.
     Note the root logic in this parable. Everything the servant
does for the master he is commanded to do. Everything. The
servant cannot be rewarded for doing what is commanded him
because it is his duty. And even if the servant does do all that
is commanded of him, Jesus says he is still an unprofitable
servant. Then Jesus adds, "Likewise when YOU have done
all things commanded you, YOU are unprofitable servants.
You have merely done that which is your duty to do."
     What in the world does this have to do with increasing your
faith? Apparently much. The implication is that if do all we
are commanded, we still won't see an increase in faith.
Jesus is getting at something here. He is speaking to the
nonsense of thinking that we should receive a reward for doing
what God has commanded. He is telling us that such thinking
in a natural "servant-master" relationship would be absurd. So
why do we bring it into our relationship with God? His teaching
says that if we do everything God has said, we have still done
only our duty. We are still unprofitable servants.
     Jesus is getting at an attitutude and motivation here. There
are many of us who obey God for what WE think we are going
to get out of it. We think we will either get a reward, or avoid a
penalty. We do what He says because it serves our own
interests -- even if they are legitimate, eternal interests.
     That's why Jesus said to the disciples, "If you had a servant
who did all you told him, would you thank him? Would you
reward him for doing what a servant must do?" He was
correcting an attitude He discerned in them, and, if we will
receive it, in us all.
     It's not that Jesus expects that we won't be concerned about
our eternal reward. But in Christ, there comes a motivation and
attitude toward living which goes beyond all of that. We are to
no longer belong to ourselves. We are to obey God without
any reward in mind. We are to completely and unconditionally
surrender to Him, and obey Him without calculation as to what
we will get in return. That is not only what it really means to be
a true bondslave of Christ, but according to Jesus, it is the way
in which faith is increased.
     Faith is increased by the death of surrender. It grows only
if I take the faith I already have and abandon myself to God.
Contrary to some modern teaching, which suggests that
planting a seed of faith will result in financial gain, planting a
seed of faith actually results in a harvest of more faith. Faith
is increased only through the growth process. The more I
give myself to Christ, the more the faith of Christ becomes
mine.

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