In Sync.

Everyone’s world views are a product of their acquired knowledge and life experiences.  This is something I have been thinking a lot about lately.  No two people see the same thing the same way because they are influenced by a multitude of different perceptions.  When I see a homeless man, I see Jesus.  I see someone who needs a helping hand, who might not have had the opportunities that I had growing but or who is living out the consequences for some poor choices early on in life.  I see a soul that is at wits ends and needs a savior.  A friend of mine however, sees a product of their own demise.  He sees someone who scams the system, someone who is dirty, a beggar, too lazy to get up and work for himself.  He thinks they deserve nothing because they don't put in the effort to get anything.  I'm not saying that either viewpoint is right, but I am bringing to light the fact that two people can look at one situation and draw completely different conclusions.  This happens all the time when two people look at the exact same bible verse and draw completely different conclusions from it.  Both conclusions could be completely sound including further scriptural support, but which is right?  

How I view Christianity is completely different than how my friends Josh and Aaron view it.  Josh believes in Christianity but he has a world’s view of the church.  This causes him to have trouble looking deeper into Christianity, past the stereotypes that come along with it (that are sometimes very accurate about the people in the church today).  Aaron, a history major and extremely educated friend of mine from work, refuses to believe that there is only one right religion because there is too much evidence to support numerous different religions, especially ones that contradict each other when evidence seems to prove both true.  I know their outlooks are deeper than this summary and I don't want to discredit that but these are the aspects of their belief that has stuck out to me.  These kids have got me thinking and scrutinizing and investigating what’s real.  Hebrews 11:6 encourages us to “diligently seek” God (KJV).  The Beth Moore bible study that I’m going through right now uses Strong’s Greek translation of the word “seek” as a verb that means “to search for, investigate, seek out, beg, crave, demand back, require, scrutinize”.  I thank God for these people in my life, regardless of the questioning of my faith that happens in response to having long conversations with them.  In fact, not “regardless”, but “because of” would be better wording.  These kids help me to dig out answers for my faith and better comprehend how to share what I believe and why I believe it.  God doesn’t want us to walk blindly when we follow him, but he also wants us to have faith without evidence.  What a tricky concept.  Be able to carefully explain what you believe without having all of the evidence for it.  I guess that’s the beauty of faith.  To answer my previously proposed question, how do we know which interpretation is right?  I’d have to say that man’s interpretation is nothing in comparison to God’s intentions.  I think exegesis is essential to our faith but I also think that God has the final say in everything he wrote anyway and we can't forget that.  People get very strong headed in what they believe because they think that their ability to decipher God's word is from the Holy Spirit and therefore set in stone.  I only have a complaint about the latter.  There are traditional doctrines that God is very clear about, but there are also some that still infuse questions.  If we don't ask those questions honestly and clearly and truly listen to what God has to say about them, how will we know Him better?  He doesn't want us to listen to a pastor or an author or an elder or any human being on their own, He wants us to test what these people have to say with His word (1 John 4:1-3).

At the end of the day, I only care about being in sync with how my God views life.  I know that my God is there to listen to my prayers and lay with me as I fall asleep.  His comfort and warmth thaws the busy chaos from the day as it melts off of me and sinks into my pillow.  I thank him for his word that directs me, enlightens me, inspires me, draws me closer to him.  For people like Lee Strobel and all of the scholars he interviews in “The Case for Christ” for devoting their lives to apologetics so that everyone else can benefit from their findings.  I thank him for the amazing people in my life and the small day to day blessings that I never want to take for granted.  Because I know that at the end of the day, no matter what other people might think based on their own world views and preconceived notions about Christianity, those view points don’t change who God is.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), AMEN.