What would you believe if you weren’t taught what you believe?
[In other words, do you believe what you believe simply because you were taught to believe it or because you really believe it? Deep down, what do you believe? Sometimes it looks like what you want to believe is true but were taught wasn't true.]
Tags: Belief, Christianity, church, Question, teaching
This entry was posted by Jeromy Johnson
on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Church Re-Formed, Kingdom of God, Questions, church.
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About The Author
I live in Folsom, CA, with my wife, Jennifer, and three kids. I am surrounded by and cared for deeply by some great friends. Their love for me is truly a moonlit reflection of Papa's love, and for that, I am deeply blessed and grateful.
I would believe that love is the grandest thing in the world. Lightening the burden of others, laughing with friends, and sharing deeply with someone are all up there as well.
I would believe that life is more about the other people in your life than your own life.
I would believe that Jesus was very very radical. His life dramatically points out the darkness in our own life. His life makes me feel greedy. His life makes me feel hateful.
I would believe that churches do a very poor job of being the “body of Christ.”
Now there’s a question that’s been on my mind for a while now, mainly because what I’ve been taught to believe has been consistently isolated and challenged in recent years. I’ve discarded some, revised much, and held much of the rest as open for debate or exploration. But I can’t avoid the basic premise that there is a Person at the center of the universe who is entirely good and ultimate love and who made the effort to connect me and the rest of humanity to himself once and for all, and who offers all the good things he embodies to us on a daily basis.
I hope that didn’t sound too much like a party line. Perhaps it did. Outside of that though, I haven’t found any real hope in the world. I’ve written more about my process at amalfipaper.wordpress.com (blatant self promotion!)
Jonathan
Adam ~ Beside all else, I love your thoughts about Jesus, his life, and how that effects yours and my life. Indeed, his light makes our light seem rather dark…but it also gives us hope.
Jonathan ~ Your first paragraph embodies my own journey well. No party line heard, just your heart. I’m curious how your journey has been for you…freeing, frightening? How have others responded?
I’m going to go with more frightening than freeing. Or maybe a better F word: just plain frustrating. I went from a passionate and dynamic Christian community to having none at all, which on the one hand made me take a good look at what I really believe when no one else is propping me up, and on the other hand pretty much sucked when I would take steps of faith and no one was around to catch me if/when i fell. Enter the challenging and revising.
On the other hand I’m still holding out hope for dynamic Christian community and even on some level for the big dreams that just won’t leave me alone. But then again it’s about the journey, right, not the destination.
And I’m with Adam on Jesus’ radical bellwether life. You can’t escape it.
I think the most powerful moment in my life was when I chose to walk away from what I believed and chose to discover what I believed on my own.
Jonathan (non-Brink) ~ I see. My experince has been one of both freedom and fright, though now it is much less frustrating and frightening, and more freeing. I hope you find that community once more…
Jonathan Brink ~ What do you mean?
What a great question. What if I were raised Hindu, Muslim, Jewish or atheist/agnostic? Would the God I worship be the God that I worship now?
I think so.
I stopped being good for everyone else.