Misconception: “Miracles happen because of faith”

As a Christian, I believe that miracles have occurred in the past. I also believe that they occur today. For example, I know of people who have experienced miraculous healing from diseases that hadn’t shown signs of remission from other causes.

But there’s a big misconception that I believe many Christians and non-Christians have about what miracles mean. Many Christians today believe that miracles happen in direct correlation with faith. They want to have the “apostolic faith,” or the faith that can make healings occur.

Some churches use their miracle accounts as evidence that they are the true church. Others, who live in churches without a lot of miracles, think, “If our stodgy religious communities would just have more faith, we would see healings happen!” This sort of mindset can actually be very damaging.

For example, in this video, the skeptic Shannon Q discusses an alleged miracle in which a woman was healed from multiple sclerosis.

Not only because Barbara’s story is one that I don’t personally buy into, but because it’s so frequently weaponized. When I looked into her story initially, I didn’t look into it because I was interested. I looked into it because I had been under a barrage of people, some with and some without the best of intentions, who had sent me her story because they thought it would give me hope. . . . The point is when you use this type of story with somebody like me, functionally what you’re saying is if you were more pious, God would make you better, but you’re choosing not to be pious, so God won’t. . . . When you send something like this to someone like me, you’re functionally saying that you could change the state of affairs of your physiology, something that’s beyond your control, something that God would have known was in the plan for you, by simply acting different or believing different than you currently do.

Shannon is deeply troubled by the miracle claim, because she sees a miracle claim as essentially the statement, “This person had so much faith, that they were healed.” That’s probably partly because that’s the impression the people who discussed the claim gave to her. However, it does seem to be the prevailing view today—and I think it’s very mistaken.

Why do miracles happen?

God causes miracles. But why does he? Are they the reward for awesome faith?

No, because some of the people with the most awesome faith have been martyrs. God didn’t save them miraculously; in fact, he allowed them to suffer and die for his sake.

Okay, then maybe these people had a special kind of faith. They believed so forcefully that they were healed that God pretty much had to heal them. After all, Jesus said,

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14 ESV)

But notice that Jesus said this of whatever is asked in Jesus’ name. John expands on this in the book of 1 John:

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14)

God doesn’t give just anything that we ask for; he gives “according to his will.” So what is God’s will? To find out, let’s look at where miracles happen the most.

Where do miracles happen?

There are indeed times that miracles happen to people of great faith. However, there’s another, perhaps even stronger, theme to when miracles happen. Let’s put together the following information:

• Miracles happened in the time of the apostles, and many people believed in God because of them.
• God healed Naaman, a pagan general, who believed in the God of Israel because of that (2 Kings 5).
• Miracles happen in many areas of the world where the gospel is first preached, and people believe because of them.
• Miracles happen surrounding spiritual revival, and people believe because of them.
• I know a few people who experienced miracles only when they were end of their rope, and they were able to retain their faith because of those miracles.

So what’s the theme? Miracles serve, not to fulfill our whims, but to authenticate the message of the Kingdom. Miracles can help break through barriers of hostility, strengthen people’s faith, or give people courage and resolve to maintain their commitment to God. In other words, miracles often occur, not primarily for the people of strong faith, but for people of weak faith. Even in many cases where someone of strong faith receives a miracle, it could be that God gave it for the sake of people of weak faith who wouldn’t have believed on God otherwise.

But it’s true that there must be faith, or willingness to believe, for a miracle to be effective. After all, God can only help those who will actively do their best to believe in him.

How should we respond to miracles?

Those who haven’t experienced miracles, like Shannon, shouldn’t take it as a slam from God. He isn’t punishing them for lack of faith.

We also shouldn’t take miracles as proof that the person to whom they occur is absolutely right about all their religious beliefs. That’s not what miracles mean, either. After all, miracles can happen for people as bad as false prophets and deceivers (Matt 24:24, 2 Thess 2:9-10).

Instead, miracles that lead people to God show us that God meets people where they are. He’s been working with humanity ever since the beginning, even with our quirks and shortcomings. He makes all sorts of concessions in order to win us, although there are some concessions he won’t make.

In sum, God may be giving miracles mainly to those who have less faith, not those who have more. Jesus told Thomas, after Thomas doubted him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). In other words, the fact that Thomas wouldn’t believe without witnessing a miracle actually showed that his faith was weaker. However, because of his (weak) faith, Jesus met him where he was.

God calls us to be among those who don’t need miracles in order to believe him. When we end up in desperate places, God shows people miracles, if that’s what it’s going to take for them to be able to trust him. Of course, he has no need to show miracles to those who literally won’t believe. Nor does he need to show miracles to those who will believe him without them, though it’s up to him whether he chooses to or not.