Saturday, January 21, 2012

Assumptions

Have you ever assumed something to be one way and then found the opposite to be true?

I have thought a lot about assumptions lately. There are many things I have assumed to be true; I am finding out I have been wrong.

I always assumed that a Christian would be against certain things and for others. Here are a few examples: Christians are against abortion. Christians view homosexual behavior as wrong. Christians think divorce is bad. Christians think sex before marriage is wrong. Christians are against homosexual marriage.

Well I was wrong and I'm not talking about so-called Christians or people who belong to mainline liberal denominations or people who think most Americans are Christians. I’m talking about people who claim to love Jesus.

Another bad assumption of mine is that Christians believe the Bible.

And before I turn a corner, here are a couple more bad assumptions of mine: I thought that because my wife and I were followers of Jesus our marriage would be easy and our kids wouldn't have any serious problems either. Wrong again.

So my last examples are the things that older, more mature people would smile at and know life will teach its own lessons but what about the others? I guess many of them are wrapped up in my assumption that education and facts will change people's minds. Well, wrong again.

Now there are many people who are changed by education and facts. When they became a Christian they began filtering all of their thinking through Scripture. Even when it is uncomfortable or hard, they face up to the truth and seek to conform to it.

Sadly, many so-called Christians have little time for serious time in Scripture. Instead of being transformed by it, they are conformed to the world.

Another sad truth is many people go to the Bible with their beliefs and twist it to justify what they want to believe and do. Some people believe false things because they are ignorant and some because of choice. For the latter, facts matter little to them.

So where am I going with this? I guess it explains some of the reason why the church is so messed up. It explains why things are sliding downhill and why liberal thinking is taking over many churches and Christian institutions.

I guess in the future it will help if I don't just assume where a person is and instead either ask questions or look for clues.

So what to do then? I will try to help educate people but when I find those who refuse to believe the truth and especially those who are corrupting others I will be ready for battle. I will not easily cede ground to them; I will fight.

Philip

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