"Fake it until you make it" is a saying with many worthy applications. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth until the situation gets better. But the scriptures teach us that there is one place where this mindset is not only ineffective but even detrimental: faith.
Now, I know what some of you may be thinking: "I have a relative who is struggling in their faith, shouldn't I encourage them to keep going to church and staying active—faking it until they make it—even if they don't believe?" Of course you should. But there's more to the issue at hand than just outward commitment to the gospel. True faith has an effect on us from the unseen world:
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17 – 18, emphasis added).
"Deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.... Deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God.... For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom; and to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; and to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; and again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles; and again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things; and again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits; and again, to another, all kinds of tongues; and again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues. And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will" (Moro. 10:7 – 17, emphasis added).
The above verses make it clear that belief is a prerequisite to experiencing the spiritual reality of discipleship. Faith is even the prerequisite to the gift of 'exceedingly great'—or even more—faith. But without faith, the spiritual blessings of the Gospel will not manifest.
One can go through the motions of church activity and participation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ all one wants, but if the heart is unbelieving then the desired fruit of such effort will never come:
"We will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—it must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea...
"But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof. And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life. (Alma 32:28 – 29, 38 – 40, emphasis added).
Paul goes a step further and calls unbelief an evil:
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.... To whom sware [God] that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Heb 3:12 – 13, 18 – 19, emphasis added).
The Israelites who followed Moses into the wilderness, whom Paul is referencing in the above statements, are a perfect example of how going through the motions of faith cannot produce the fruits of actual faith.
"Sure, they dragged their feet out of Egypt but at least they went, right?" Paul says, wrong! They were specifically prohibited from entering into God's rest and the promised land despite at least going along with the program.
Sometimes we might be a little like Israel in the wilderness and express activity in church while shuttering the faith we ought to have in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"But what's the problem with that? At least I'm going to church still," you might reason.
The danger is in believing that one is entering into God's rest by such a course of action. The danger is getting stuck in the wilderness of faithlessness and confusing it for the promised land of a spiritual life. Of course you should be going to church because being spiritually alive includes activity in the church; but activity in the church is not in itself an indication that you are spiritually alive.
If certain signs and gifts of the spirit do not follow you in your life, may I recommend repentance? Remember: faith cannot be faked—and God views unbelief as a sin! You must admit that you lack faith and then work up from a desire to believe until you do begin to believe. Believe in Christ. Believe in the gifts of the spirit. Believe that God can change your heart. Believe that God can open your eyes. Then as you change and begin to experience faith, the wilderness of your spiritual discontent will begin to blossom as the rose and fountains of pure water will nourish the parched ground of your soul until the fruit of spiritual blessings from the invisible world begin to bloom and grow within you.
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