Bible Text: John 12:21 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” John 12:21

They refer to them as “look-alikes,” individuals who strive to make themselves look like someone else, usually someone famous such as a movie star or a rock performer. They may “look alike,” or even sound alike. They may dress alike, but they are not the real thing–they are imitations, some of whom are very good. They may even be witty and a very good substitute, but the authentic article–they are not!

Lately, I’ve been wondering if we haven’t been seeing a lot of “look alike” faith, too–not exactly the real thing but a good imitation. Like an artificial flower that resembles the real thing–it looks good and even feels good. But look-alike faith can’t stand the heat when the pressure is on.

Jesus told a parable to illustrate the fact that it takes far more than going through the motions to produce the real thing. It was a story of a sower who took seed and planted it. Some of it, however, fell along the side of the road, and immediately the birds came along and devoured the seed. Scores of individuals who go to church, whose parents have gone to church before them and who know the language, fall into this category. Their faith is like a second-hand garment which doesn’t quite fit, something left by someone else who looked good in it. But the “look alike” model just doesn’t have the backbone in it.

In the story Jesus told, some seed fell on rocky ground and it sprang forth only to wilt, like the individual who grows discouraged not being able to cope with the accusations of friends and associates who accuse him of being “too religious.”

Other seed fell among thorns which quickly grew up and choked the seed, a picture of “imperfect faith,” not fully formed — like the ear of corn that has been picked before it could mature and be fully formed. The pressures of the real world are too demanding, the cost too great, and individuals in this category eventually relinquish their desire to know God.

But some seed fell on good ground and brought forth a harvest, some 30- fold, some 60 and some 100. Have you this kind of faith?

This kind–the kind that survives in the real world–is based upon the sure Word of God, which is unchanging. It’s a rock upon which you can stand in times of trouble, and the more you know about God, the stronger will be your faith, and the more you know about the Word of God, the easier it is to trust Him for the needs of your personal life and your world.

Where do we get this real-world faith? Certainly not by going through the routine of a religious experience; otherwise, it would be saturating our world, because religion today is experiencing a rebirth almost everywhere you look. It comes, though, through an understanding of the nature and character
of God.

Paul addressed this very issue as he said, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV). The more you know of the Word, the greater will be your faith in the living God.

Dwight L. Moody, a man who knew what real-world faith is about, once said, “I prayed for faith, and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Now faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’ I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.”

It worked for Moody, and it will work for you. Real-world faith is the only kind of real faith. Look-alike faith will never stand the test.

Resource reading: Romans 10