Stuck in What I Have Always Heard

It is easy for us to look back and ask why the most religious people of Jesus' day didn't know He was the Messiah. Maybe they couldn't see because they were so convinced that what they had heard much of their lives didn't agree with the One walking amongst them. He didn't look like the Messiah they expected. He didn't act like the Messiah they expected. He wasn't political and didn't wait for them to vote Him in as the Messiah.

Many times people disagree with me on this blog. They have the right to do so. I look for substantive reasons they might give me for their disagreements. Most of them don't give me any. They just state their conclusions without any evidence. They have heard what they what they have heard for so long that they can't understand why I don't agree with them. In other words, saying, "That's not true," isn't a reason for something not being true.

People have always tended to lean toward the majority of people. Yet, saying that 98% of theologian agree with me doesn't make anything true either. Even 100% wouldn't make it true by the fact that there were 100%. It could be that everyone is wrong. Remember that religious people said the earth was the center of the universe at one time. I don't know what the percentage was but I would say it was a great majority.

Quoting very smart fellows doesn't make something true either. There are some preachers that I respect greatly but disagree with them on some of their theology. I believe in a God who still speaks to His people. I believe that the spiritual gifts are as valid today as ever. There are preachers whom I respect who don't believe this. I have even looked at their reasons and their reasons haven't convinced me. At least, they have reasons.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to let the Bible speak for itself. I don't need to let my own prejudice or my denomination determine what the Bible says. I need to go where the Bible leads and believe what the Bible says. I need to take it in context of the time it was written and within itself. The context is in the sentence, in the paragraph, in the book and in the whole of the Bible. I can't take out a passage and make a doctrine that doesn't agree with the rest of the Bible.

All that being said, I have been wrong many times and have appreciated those who have given me solid reasons to straighten out my errors. Of course, I don't think there is a chance followers of Christ will miss Jesus' second coming but I do believe that I might miss the work of the Lord right now if I just repeat what I have always heard without any solid reasons.

Much of what I have always heard has substantive reason. I still hold to it because I believe it is true. 

But on the other hand, I still long to see Jesus. I'm afraid I'll miss Him if I am stuck in what I have always heard if I don't have reasons to believe what I have always heard.

Our faith is based on evidence; not wishful thinking. The cross was real. The empty tomb was real. The resurrection was real. The word of God is real. Jesus is real. The Holy Spirit is still working in a real way today. I believe in Someone I know is true. I don't want to miss Him. I want to know Him today. Sometimes I have to give up what I have always heard.

Philippians 3:10 (NIV) ¹⁰  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,