What We Believe
People don’t question what they believe enough. I think it’s caused by:
- fear of being wrong
- fear of having to change (beliefs and actions)
- ingrained fear of breaking orthodoxy
- apathy
1 Peter 3:15 says “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”
I think we need to ask ourselves hard questions and be prepared for hard answers. This verse assumes people are going to be asking “why do you believe what you believe?” Am I living my life in a way that causes people to see my beliefs in action, and thus question me about them? Am I intentionally sharing my faith, which would put me in a situation to answer this question? If we are never put in this kind of situation, we never have to answer this question. But what if you believe the wrong thing? I mean billions of people on earth have faith in something or someone other than Christ, and if they are never brought to a point in this lifewhere they have to question what they believe and why they believe it, well it’s not going to be good. But what about us? Shouldn’t we be asking these same questions. If anything, I think it will produce the following:
- An assurance in the things we hope for (Heb. 11:1), as our faith is solidified
- A heart that cherishes Christ for being truth in the midst of a world of lies
- Such a strong conviction about our beliefs that it pains us to the point of compassion to see lost people believing lies.
- A boldness in proclaiming the Gospel as the power to save people
- Passion, Passion, Passion. Who wants to convert to a dead, boring faith?
- Theology leads to biography which should culminate into Doxology. What we believe changes who we are which culminates into worship and praise. But I don’t see this happening unless you know why your theology is what it is.
Repentance
I was hit hard with this truth the other day. There are many counterfeits to true repentance:
- Mere Confession: repentance is changing, not just confessing you need to.
- Religious Repentance: seeing everyone else’s sin and repenting of that, or thanking God you don’t do that. No, it’s dealing with your own sin.
- Worldly Sorrow/Grief: where you feel bad, but don’t change. You feel sorry, but nothing comes out of it. Like Tiger Woods, he messed up, admitted it, but does he have the power to change? He may go on Oprah and make a public apology and look good. We do the same thing by making up for our sin by doing good in another part of life, but never dealing with the issue. Everyone in the world can have sorrow, but only Christians have the power to change. Ouch, it hurts.
- Pagan Repentance: when you repent so God will bless you, like appeasing the old gods.
- General Repentance: saying “Well, nobody’s perfect.” and just trying to be overall better. Jesus calls people out for specific sins, and we are to repent of specific sins.
- Excuse making: “I’m a guy, it’s what we do.” or “I’m Irish, we drink and cuss a lot.” or “It’s my personality.” etc.
We’re not seeking penance, but an ongoing lifestyle of repentance that may include restitution, if needed. The worldly sorrow thing hit me pretty hard. If I don’t repent, I’m just like Tiger Woods –feel bad, grieve a little, maybe make a public confession and apology, but NO heart change.
God’s Presence
Christianity is an experiential religion. It’s not solely focused on the afterlife. The kingdom of God is here, Christ proclaimed. Our body’s become temples where God chooses to dwell. Yet, just presuming on this fact is not enough.
Ways’ that I neglect God’s presence (from Haggai 1):
- Living a life that is consumed with more stuff than I need, and allowing that stuff to control me. A life of excess. Man, it creeps in.
- In Haggai 1:7-8, God told them that the way to please and glorify Him was the build the temple. That was a representation of God’s presence. The way I can please and glorify Him is to see that through Christ, my body has become the temple. Doing things that grieves the Spirit and His presence is not what pleases Him. Building this temple takes discipline working itself out from grace. His presence is met and understood in obedience. When I am not obedient or disciplining myself, I am not “losing my salvation” but I am reaping the consequences of the sin that I have sewn. Part of those consequences are grieving the Spirit, hardening my ability to hear Him, and decreasing in a desire to pursue His presence.
I desire to experience God the way that His people did in the OT. My body is a temple, and there is no reason we shouldn’t know him in the same way today. Sometimes I find this hard to believe. Most of the time I don’t sense God’s presence. But tying it back into my first topic, I believe He is still with me. And because of this, because of His grace, I will choose to act and be obedient out of the acceptance I have, rather than for acceptance.
Keep running hard.
