Your Lack of Faith Makes Me Feel Sorry for You

“Historians agree that Jesus was a historical figure.”

Tommy Blaze made the statement in his social media feed – possibly to start trouble (which it did) or maybe to spur on an open and honest discussion – either way I felt compelled to respond to the responses.

Tommy Blaze didn’t just make the statement, he expounded on the elements of the Good News Story that had been debated.

The comments were not shocking, but they did annoy me. The ideas went along with the points I made when I shared the truth about how you should think. Almost none of the commenters were thinking.

I did a quick search on a few of the points before I shared anything. I used the “mainstream” sites and articles to support the points. I quickly received a response that literally made me laugh out loud.

“The author of the article you shared is a Christian, not a secularist. Obviously, Christians believe they have evidence that Jesus was real because that’s what makes them Christians.”

I tried once more to share a link that included more references, but the response that came back was almost identical to the one above.

My natural need to explain (or my husband would say my stubborn need to be right) demanded I respond until the other party conceded. I stared at the comment. I took some time to reread the comments that had filled the thread.

Instead of responding, I clicked out of the thread. I was left with a sincere pain in my heart for the ones that had written the comments against faith.

Winning the Faith Argument

“YFeed the dogs and the cat.” It was one of the things I asked my sons to do. I left them alone while I ran errands with a list of things to do that included feeding the animals.

Scratch that. My sons had been left alone after I had told them a list of things to do. I know better. My oldest son is almost 21. I have been married for almost 25 years. I have brothers. This is not my first rodeo when it comes to dealing with boys.

But even though I know better, I didn’t do what I knew to do. I told them what needed to be done and trusted that they would do it.

My son was emphatic about my lists. “You said to feed the cat.” He repeated.

“Yes, I did say to feed the cat, but you seem to have left out all the words that fell between “feed” and “the cat.”

He was convinced that I had told him to feed the cat because that was what he had heard – and apparently those were the only words he had heard.

When it comes to a discussion of Faith, too often those involved only hear the first word and the last word and ignore all the words in the middle. Most of the time they are too busy forming their own retort to listen to what is being said.

I can tell you. I can demand you listen. As long as you believe what you believe and refuse to hear any other words then you will always believe what you believe.

To put it simply, nobody ever wins an argument.

Hopeless Darkness

I was blessed to be part of a unique Bible Study when I was in college. I’m pretty sure the girl that volunteered to “lead” the study had no idea what she was getting into. We had a Church of Christ member, a Southern Baptist, an Episcopalian, a lapsing Catholic on the verge of agnostic, and a declared atheist (who came out of curiosity). Because of the VAST differences between all of those attending, we had one rule:

You have to be able to show the words in the Scripture if you wanted to add it to the discussion.

This one rule challenged all of us to dig past doctrine and to learn for ourselves (and not just go by what others had told us or taught us). I learned a great deal through this Bible Study, but more importantly, I learned that an open heart COULD learn, and share, and ultimately would grow for the effort.

People who are locked into something because others told them (or taught them) are in the dark. Even IF the ideas are the Truth, without the foundation of understanding it will still leave the person in the dark.

Most of the people that had been commenting on the thread shared by Tommy Blaze were not open to new ideas. Although I am firm in my Faith, I still read the article, researched the information, and went to learn. Because I looked for myself and because I wanted to learn for myself, I added the firm foundation of Faith I already had formed.

Stop letting others – even the “experts” – tell you what is right and what you need to think. Take time to dig down and dig in. Find sources in the “mainstream” and outside the mainstream. Go to the source of the story (if possible) to discover the initial thread of information. Learn how to think and you will never get locked in the dark again.

What have you learned as of late? Be sure to share with me in the comments below or connect with me on Social Media.

Be blessed,

Build a Difference

Find your way to make an investment in others and for others the natural path. Practical Proverbs offers practical tips from the Book of Proverbs to live bold, walk in purpose, and settle in peace.