Belief is Big?
Aug 13th, 2007 by Amanda
There’s an interesting post at dailypress.com about belief and why it’s such a big thing in Christianity.
It’s especially interesting for me to read since I’m in this weird transition phase of my faith. On one hand, I’m reading it and I find myself nodding along with everything, because it’s a really well written Christian piece.
On the other hand, it brings up some of the many questions that I’m dealing with right now.
Have you ever wondered why Christianity makes such a big deal about belief? Why do Christians care so much about believing in Jesus? Does it ever seem almost too magical, like a trick you can play in your head? “Just believe in Jesus Christ, and you’ll receive forgiveness, peace with God, eternal life!” That’s what the good news of Christ actually says. But shouldn’t there be more to it, some requirement to clean up your act, to do right things to earn all this? Do Christians make it too simple to be saved?
To answer that, first we have to recall what it means to be saved, for that word has become religious jargon; it has lost its meaning outside of Christian circles. It just means to be rescued. You need not view it in a religious way to see that. To be saved from drowning is to be rescued from drowning. Christians mean just that sort of thing when they use the word. It’s being rescued from ourselves, and from the trouble we’ve gotten ourselves into.
Okay, so far so good.
God has standards for us, and none of us lives up to them. Nobody even lives consistently according to their own idea of what’s right and wrong. Surprisingly, the Bible actually seems to say (in Romans 2) that if you don’t know the Biblical law, God won’t necessarily judge you based on that law. Instead, your own moral standards will be your test. And nobody passes.
Says who? Seriously. The standards that we use come from the Bible, right? So how do we really know those are God’s standards, and not the standards of men trying to control other men (and women)? And seriously…I’ve never heard that God will judge you based on your own moral standards. I just reread the chapter in question, and I guess I can see where they get that from, but I’m not buying it.
There is a penalty for this falling short: eternal separation from God, the source of all love and goodness. It is eternal death. Salvation means rescue from this fate. It also has to do with being freed (rescued, in a way) from our own internal contradictions, the passions within that war against our own selves. Ultimately it means living forever with God.
So why should believing qualify us for these great gifts? God knows we cannot live up to our own standards, much less his own; we can’t rescue ourselves, and we can’t gain true, eternal life on our own. Christ’s life, death, and resurrection were God’s gift to pay the penalty for our sins and open the way for this. It could never be something we earn, for it’s far beyond our reach. God offers it in the only way we could receive it: as a gift, to be accepted by simple believing.
But let’s not overstate how simple that believing really is. It is a deep thing. To a great extent, our beliefs are who we are. They determine every choice we make. I’m not just speaking of religious beliefs now. If you choose to go to school, it’s because you believe something good will come of it. If you choose to love your spouse, it’s because of your beliefs about that relationship. If you lie or steal, it’s because you believe some greater good (also defined according to your beliefs) will come to you for it. If you indulge in any temptation, it’s because you believe the pain of denying it would be greater, or more consequential to you, than the damage you cause yourself by giving in.
Something he says here pinpoints exactly why I’m struggling: To a great extent, our beliefs are who we are. They determine every choice we make. Who I am is all wrapped up in the Christian belief system. Without it, I feel incomplete.
If you believe in God, you choose to order your life according to an entirely different reality than if you do not. There is a very short distance, Biblically, between believing in God and obeying him. In Hebrews 3:16-19, and in Hebrews 4:2 and 4:6, “unbelief” and “disobedience” are used interchangeably. In Hebrews 11, the Bible’s famous “faith hall of fame,” the Old Testament heroes’ faith was shown in every case by what they did — by their actions. One book later in the Bible, in James 2:14-23, it’s explicitly stated that faith and deeds cannot be separated.
Again, says who? I’m really having issues with the Bible, and using Scripture to back up claims isn’t going to get anywhere with me.
Believing in Jesus Christ comes first. It always remains the basis for our relationship with God, the beginning and foundation of a changed life. God asks no more of us than that when we enter into relationship with him. But it is no mere mental check-off, no simple assent to a creed; it’s something that in the end alters our whole approach to life. It is inevitably expressed through the way we live. What we believe determines what kind of persons we are.
It’s no small thing to believe in Jesus Christ — it’s the first step of a complete turnaround. It means that we experience all of reality in a new way. It kicks off a positive change in our character. It starts us on a new life, a life of peace with God, and the freedom of forgiveness; it opens up the power (through Christ living in us) to truly love, to give, to have joy, to have self-control, patience, kindness, and more. It provides the potency by which we can have a powerful positive effect on the world. None of us experiences these changes completely on earth, but ultimately belief in God opens the door to live eternally with God.
So it you wonder whether there ought to be more to it than mere belief, you’re partly right.
All God requires of us, to be rescued from ourselves and to receive his life, is that we believe in him. But when it comes to Jesus Christ, genuine belief is the start and foundation for a good and great transformation of your heart and your life.
This is hard.
When I think of all Christianity has “to offer” and the community and the love and the freedom that is supposed to come from this faith…I want it. Badly. But just because I want something to be true doesn’t make it so.
Most Christians get it wrong when they say that the Christian way of life is written out word for word in the bible. As if it were a list of rules to follow.
It’s not. You’re absolutely right. There’s no way to tell whether the rules were written by men in order to control other men, or if they were written by men trying to enlighten other men as to God’s way. So what is there then?
There’s a method. There’s a way of looking at life that doesn’t contain any sort of simple answers. The Way isn’t a path that’s already laid out for you to follow. It’s something that lives and breathes in you, and grows along with you. It helps you walk a path with an *unknown destination*, trusting your life in God’s hands. It’s scarier, not as comfortable, but it’s truer.
If the rules aren’t helping you see the method, or if they’re outdated or in error, that’s okay. Change them. If that means leaving Christianity, do it. It’s just a label. The movements of your heart towards truth and love and God are what matter the most. Keep walking forward into the unknown. You’re not alone.
My take: belief is, in a very real sense, fantasy. We say we believe in God, but we recognize our understanding of our own belief is incomplete. We don’t have all the answers. God as a concept is both comforting and confusing. Our human conceptions of power, size, age, morality pale before the possibility of a truly transcedent being—and, if we are honest, we recognize that our beliefs are not only incomplete, but incoherent. The reality which is God, if true, is simply one that we can not completely wrap our heads around.
In order to function, we essentially engage in fantasy, filling in the gaps in our understanding with a mixture of imagination and hope—what some might call wishful thinking.
I further note that this belief, which is fantasy, is also impossible to justify purely on the basis of facts. It is startling to realize that we believe things in the absence of evidence, yet that is the very nature of belief in something like God.
Having said all that, Mandy, I yet believe. I do not claim that it is complete, or coherent, or justified, or even entirely rational to do so. Nevertheless, I believe, because it is simply part of the core of who I am, of what I have experienced, and of the journey that I am taking. It is not the kind of experience that makes it impossible for me to ask questions, or to recognize its potential shortcomings, or that prevents me from engaging the world. Rather, it is what is, real to me, part of myself. That is something that requires no Bible, no church, no dogma, no Damascus experience to justify.
Courage and peace….Scott
Hello
I have been reading your blog with interest. I see you are thinking deeply at the moment. I do a lot of that too…
Belief and Faith, as you say, are vital aspects of Christianity. However I wonder if you are confusing faith in the Bible with faith in Jesus or even God? I know some conservative Christians beleive every word in the Bible is the word of God but many others think it is the word of man inspired by God. The difference is that the second allows but some errors in translation. Have you considered just concentrating on the words spoken by Jesus on which to base your faith? I’m not saying the rest of the Bible should be ignored, far from it, but maybe it’s something better understood in the context of Jesus’s message.
For example, the Old Testamanet speaks many times of people who commit sexual ‘crimes’ being put to death (as one of your other commentors pointed out in your post about a homosexual). Yes we know that Jesus saved a woman who committed adultory from stoning, so clearly did not condone executions of that type. He acted out of love and compassion and, along with the need for faith in God, I would say this is what you need to beleive in.
hi i enjoyed the read