Have you ever asked yourself why you believe in Jesus?
I know what you’re thinking... You’re thinking, “How could we NOT, right? I mean he – GOD - DIED so we could live, right?” Right. But be honest. Why do YOU believe? It could be because:
1. I believe that He is an all-powerful, benevolent creator and therefore is deserving of our worship.
2. I believe that God loves all of us unconditionally, as demonstrated by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. This act of love can only be repaid with our undying devotion.
3. Christianity makes the most sense to me. Other religions have fundamental flaws in logic (eg. The idea of god taking the shape of an elephant, jackal or wolf seems ludicrous, the improbability of enlightenment being attained through meditation, etc).
4. I have actually encountered God, thus proving (at least to me) that He is real and thus should be worshipped.
Or is it some other reason?
I’m writing this entry because I wanted to start a discussion about the reason behind our choice. I also wanted to get people to think about it, if they never have before. I think loads of people don’t give much thought to why they believe in God. It’s usually more about what I can do for God or what He can do for me. I think it’s important to know why we believe in something in order for it to have any meaning at all. If not, it’s just blind faith, which is ok at the start, but doesn’t last.
I believe that knowing this reason will strengthen your personal testimony and your ability to share with others and bring them to Christ as well. If someone asks you why you believe in Jesus, it’s a great opportunity to show them how strong you are in your faith and how aware you are of what you believe in. Hopefully, you won’t be at a loss for words. ;)
I believe that the rationale behind Christianity’s popularity is the fact that it’s not so much a religion as it is a relationship. That means it’s different for everyone. Your reason is unique. It’s between you and God. There could be a thousand reasons. 2.2 billion reasons (sorry, no statistical substantiation here. lol).
Care to share what yours is? You could write a comment or a related entry =)
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6 comments:
i think you stand a real chance of belittling the church of Christ and all his glory and power by pointing at the mass appeal effect of Christianity, with an intimate-to-individual God, as the reason for its popularity. i agree with you, but perhaps caveats are in order.
you basically said everything KB,though I wld have phrased it differently,you got the essence of it.:)
If somebody were to ask me "why are you a Christian?", I would first start with "Why are you NOT a Christian?".Think about it, I think it's a very powerful question to ask a non-believer.
-kash
haha! i think you'd be crazy to ask anyone that. it's the social equivalent of asking someone why he/she's not a zebra.
hmm. my answer would be, God's love. that He loves us despite, and in-spite of, who we are. tt in itself is just uncomprehendable. i guess, i caught a bit of what it is. and that little bit is already mind blowing.
hi kash, i understand where you're coming from, but i think it would create a divide rather than build a bridge. If I were a non-Christian and you asked me that, I would regard it as a rhetorical question from someone who isn't leaving room for discussion.
Anyway, that kind of isn't the point of the post haha.. the question is "why", not "why not".. it's more introspective haha
Just an obvious thing to point out:
It wld be hard to worship God JUST because He is the Creator.It wld be hard to worship God JUST knowing the fact that He died for you.I guess the God that touched and changed our lives shows that above all He is real,and so compels us to believe.
That said we have both head reasons and heart reasons for believing in God.Im working towards balancing myself out: in both having emotional closeness with God and KNOWLEDGE of Him,His word.I think it's really impt to work on the weaknesses of your faith eg. im very heart so i try to read more Christian books to figure out the logical tenets behind Christianity.
SO what i propose is that "Im a Christian,ask me why!" cannot only be logical reasons(eg.He created everything) nor emotional reasons(eg.He changed my life and gave me comfort).On a sidenote,maybe it's a very good time to do a self-check and work on your weaknesses in terms of approach to your faith.I think a balance of head and heart is needed to anchor one in rough times.
Yah OK Ive said the obvious,but just a lil reminder.
-kash
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