“…comparing Spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:13b-14 NKJV
Recently, I have been learning more about the world and how various people think and believe. While some things seem out right crazy to me, I have to stop and wonder how my beliefs look to those who do not share my background or faith.
Does my faith seem crazy to the world?
I have decided that yes, yes it does seem a bit farfetched, crazy and slightly fairy tale-ish. But my faith is real to me. So the things I do not comprehend do not bother me as they do those who do not share my deep found assurance in Christ.
This leads me to the scripture above. I originally made a conscious decision to believe in the Salvation of Jesus Christ. Once my natural man made that decision, I was given the Holy Spirit who guides me to discern the scriptures. Outside of the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Bible can appear to be a “great work of fiction” instead of the inspired word of God.
So what makes a natural man decide to make that initial decision?
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Romans 1:20 NLT
I believe we all desire to understand how we came into existence, who we are and where we are going. Based on how we answer these questions, we come up with our world view (great book on this is, ye shall be as gods by Larry Johnson- book review coming soon).
I come into my world view through a revelation found in God’s word. I questioned my life, I sought answers and I decided I liked what I found in the Bible so I accepted them as truth. It took faith, faith of a child because there were things I still did not understand. I simply decided that even though I had questions, the overall explanation found in the Bible was enough. I decided it didn’t matter that I didn’t understand, because I trusted in the one who has all the answers.
But it is not that simple for others; in fact it is downright difficult.
I think many Christians don’t spend much time contemplating various other world views. This should not be so. The lost and dying world is seeking answers. They are reading the Bible and they need help in believing. They need courage to embrace Christ with faith like a child. They need you to understand them and help them to understand Christianity.
The Bible says, Narrow is the gate leading to life (Matt 7:14). I think this gate is narrow, not because God doesn’t want everyone to be saved, but because it takes faith to enter through. Faith is not easy to understand or to explain.
I have my faith, it comforts me, it guides me and it sustains me. For me, it is simple but for the natural man, the man without the Holy Spirit, it is complicated.
Christianity is not meant to be confusing, in fact it is very easy to be saved- it is man who makes it complicated (please see my post labeled Salvation-http://tcavey.blogspot.com/2011/08/romans-road.html). The steps may be simple, but they are not easy. Faith is difficult. The older we get, the more we learn and the more we experience in life, the more difficult it is to believe in a loving/redeeming God.
To help me help others, I am going to continue to learn more about other religions/non-religions. I am going to do this because I have come to believe that unless I can begin to understand opposing beliefs, I will never be able to adequately tell people why my faith is of value to them.
I cannot simply tell people, ‘because it’s true’. While I believe the Bible is true, many do not, therefore that is not a valid point of discussion.
I challenge you to do the same, to learn more about the world around you and then I encourage you to talk to those who do not share in your faith. Talk to them not about spiritual things they cannot understand, but talk to them about things they can. Find common ground, then you can witness as a friend who understands them (or is trying to understand) and not as someone who is trying to convert. Also, respect them. Jesus respected us, he gave us free will to choose what to believe and we owe that to others.
Questions: Have you ever thought about your world view in relation to others? Do you have friends who are not Christian and do you discuss your differing beliefs? If you are reading this and you are not Christian, what about Christanity seems crazy to you?
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