Something bad has happened to the message of faith and hope.
You can hear it when the language of faith and hope is used to encourage people to believe that God will grant “what He has put on your heart” (i.e. your own desires and dreams).
“With enough faith anything is possible.”
“You can do great things if you believe!”
“People are not successful, because they do not have the courage of a big hope.”
This sounds good until you realize what is missing: the message of Christ.
Usurping Biblical language, the hearer is supposed to have hope that whatever they believe will come true. No matter what it is, if you believe, you can get it. God wants you to have it. He wants your dreams to come true.
This is not the Biblical message of faith and hope. This is magic, wishful thinking, or motivational self-improvement.
The only place Christ is found in this message is perhaps as the divine Santa Claus who is appointed to give you what is on your wish list. This is not the Biblical Christ.
The true Bible message is not faith and hope in your success, wealth, health, or comfort. It is faith and hope in Christ, eternal life, salvation, and the glory of God.
What they are really preaching is determination, dedication, diligence, and courage – but they are not describing Biblical faith. These traits can help someone trying to achieve a goal, but it is not the Biblical substance that makes up the hope God provides.
God will not give you whatever you want just because you believe or hope it will happen (despite the abuse upon verses like Matt 21:22; Mark 11:24; and John 14:13). Even hope in heaven is vain without Biblical evidence.
True faith must be defined by Jesus Christ and the written revelation of God in the Bible, else you have invented your own self-serving religion of personal success and achievement. Christ is not your life coach; he is your life.
Faith is defined by His words, not your heart. Hope is found in Christ with God for eternity, not whatever you courageously claim for yourself before then.
If your faith and hope do not allow you to go through the rest of your life poor, sick, suffering, and unsuccessful, then you may have a bad faith and vain hope.
With hope in Christ,
Justin “faith through failure” Johnson