Erwin McManus on Faith

"A casual listener to Christian teaching across the airwaves would conclude the solution to every problem is to have more faith. If you have a problem, all you need to do is believe. If you can't overcome the problem, you're just not believing big enough. The metaphor of the mustard seed is thrown into this mix of faith talk. We are told that Jesus said all we needed was faith the size of a mustard seed and we could speak to the mountain, "Be removed," and it would be cast into the sea. Jesus' words are interpreted to mean that what we have is a faith problem--we just don't believe enough. This spiritual journey becomes an endless cycle of trying to muster up more belief, bigger faith. But Jesus is pointing us to the very opposite conclusion. He's not saying we need to have more faith; he's actually telling us we just need to have some. It's not about making your faith bigger. All you need is mustard seed sized faith. The implication is any less is none at all. Jesus was not calling us to work up our faith. He was calling us simply to put our faith in God. It is not our faith in an event that is critical, but our faith in God himself. It is not about believing in a miracle; it is about an unshakable confidence in the character of God."

from Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul pp192-193