A Little Faith Goes a Long Way

You‘ve got an 8:00 a.m. class, or a four-hour sales meeting, or you‘re kiteboarding from Florida to Cuba.

Whatever. You‘re part of the 21C generation of young adults looking for a quick way to spike your energy level.

Traditionally, that role has been served by a strong cup of coffee, but these days the latte is passé – the real adrenaline buzz now comes from a can. And a small can at that.

Enter the energy drink.

Need to fly through that midterm? Crack open a Red Bull (it “gives you wings”).

Drained after a night of clubbing? Get back on track with some Monster Energy.

Got a big project to tackle? Amp it up with Amp, which was spawned by the same folks who brought you Mountain Dew.

Rockstar and Zipfizz are other options. With colorful names and word-of-mouth buzz, energy drinks have become the fastest growing segment of the soft-drink market. Surveys show that 22 percent of college students are slurping down these sugar-packed and caffeine-fortified cans of juiced-up juice. Now there are some 200 brands of energy drinks following in the wake of Red Bull, the over-hyped daddy of them all.

At about $3 a pop for an 8-ounce can, what’s the attraction? It‘s probably not the taste. Red Bull, for example, tastes something like “liquid Sweetarts” – really, really sweet. The caffeine is a bigger draw, but the reality is that an average energy drink has about the same caffeine content as a weak cup of coffee.

The most-hyped ingredient, though, is “taurine” – a nonessential amino acid that sounds pretty testosterone-fueled: taurine – Taurus – bull (hence “Red Bull”). The presence of taurine in the ingredients has even led to rumors on campus that it‘s really bull urine, or bull semen, or bull testosterone added to the drink.

Fortunately – or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it – that‘s really a lot of bull.

What is clear (or maybe not) is what Red Bull claims its drink can do. Here are just a few of the rather vaguely stated “benefits” of chugging it down:

• Improves performance
• Improves concentration and reaction speed
• Improves vigilance
• Improves emotional status
• Stimulates metabolism

While a Men‘s Fitness magazine study showed that there may be some short-term benefit in a Red Bull buzz, the effects may be more psychological than physical.

Still, there‘s a real appeal to the thought that slamming down a can of Red Bull can turn you from a tired wimp to a stampeding stud or studette. To put it in perspective for the boomers among us, it‘s the pop culture equivalent of Popeye scarfing down a can of spinach which, when you think about it, may have been the original can of Red Bull.

Whatever the situation, whether facing a final or battling a Brutus, the cry goes out from the tired and fragile among us: “Just gimme the juice!”

When the disciples cry out to Jesus in today’s Gospel, “Increase our faith!” it sounds very much like a similar request for an instant energy boost. “Just gimme the juice!”

In the verses immediately preceding our text, Jesus tells them that they have a deep responsibility to not “cause one of these little ones to stumble” in sin (vv. 1-2). Not only that, when someone wrongs them they are to forgive the person who sins against them even “seven times a day” (v. 4).

The persistence and energy it takes to guard oneself and others from wrong and to forgive even the repeat offender is daunting. It‘s no wonder, then, that the disciples, hearing Jesus’ commands, were suffering from a severe case of spiritual fatigue!

Spiritually speaking, the demands of discipleship can leave even the strongest among us feeling tired and defeated. We can become like the pastor who remarked to a clergy colleague, “Ministry would be a great job – if it weren’t for all these people!”

It‘s during these times of spiritual fatigue that we join the disciples in wanting an energy-cranked shot of faith, and we‘ll try to get it in many different ways.

For some, the quick fix can be found in the latest seminar, book, retreat or program that brings the rush of a dynamic spiritual “high.” We figure that all we need is a lot more faith, a lot more time and a lot more energy. We vow to do better and, freshly fueled with new ideas, we plunge back into the grind determined that we’ll be okay and that, finally, everybody’s needs will get met.

Problem is that when the effect of the proverbial potion wears off, we‘re more burnt than we were before – our time toasted, our energy exhausted.

Jesus’ response to “gimme the juice” is to instead give ‘em some advice. The answer isn’t more faith or a cranked-up, caffeine-fueled ministry – it’s simply embracing the faith you have, even if it’s only a little bit.

Jesus uses the metaphor of a mustard seed – the tiniest of seeds – to symbolize the kind of faith his followers should embrace. Over time, a mustard seed grows, matures, and blossoms. But that takes steady nurture, the right conditions and a patient vision for the long term. In the same way, true faith is the result of the long-haul discipline of discipleship. It starts small and grows gradually, steadily, intentionally.

So, the truth is, there’s no faith-shaped Red Bull buzz.

There’s Mustard Seed Faith. That’s it. But that’s enough – more than enough.

If you want to do well on exams, climb the corporate ladder, mountain bike in the Himalayas, or serve a neighbor, the real energy for execution isn’t found in the bottom of a loudly labeled can. What you really need is proper rest, good nutrition, plenty of good old water (which, even in its bottled form, is usually a lot less than $3) and, if you’re a follower of Christ, a simple faith in God’s ability to use you to do the impossible.

Jesus said that even a little faith could cause a mulberry tree, a shrub known for its deep and entangled roots, to be uprooted and “planted in the sea” (v. 6). Impossible? Absurd? That’s the point. But notice that Jesus doesn’t say how long pulling up those deep roots will take. It may take a manic minute or a lifetime, but with faith even the most stubborn, entangled lives can be moved!

What are the impossible tasks in our lives?

• Forgiving others – repeatedly?
• Watching out for others?
• Getting to the root of relationship problems?

Here’s the good news: The more daunting the task, the weaker we may feel, the more God can work in us and through us if we’ll only have faith. Faith is not about our ability to do the job, but God’s ability to do the job through us, and we know that with God “all things are possible.” What we have to do is slow down, take care, and make ourselves available.

And, because faith is more about God’s ability than our ability, it also means that God is the one who gets the credit. Jesus goes on to say that we ought not to think that our oftentimes manic approach to ministry is going to get us the recognition we think we deserve.

God is not looking for adrenaline-fueled junkie superstars of faith, but servants who do the simple stuff and who do “only what [they] ought to have done” (v. 10) without seeking the head rush of a reward.

Want to improve your performance as a disciple? Want to really improve your “emotional status” and energy for serving others? Kill the quick fix buzz of activity and people-pleasing performance and dive into the freedom of following Christ.

All it takes is a little, just a little, bit of faith. That‘s the real deal – no bull.