Today’s post is more or less a call to reflection. It’s going to raise some big questions that would draw us to a place of reflection. Today, we ask ourselves, what do you believe in and why?
The truth is that if many believers answered this more honestly, Christianity today would have been much more progressive. We would have more genuine, devoted believers. We would be able to recognize when we are going off track and quickly align ourselves.
It is only when we answer these questions that we will be able to press forward, keeping our eyes on the goal. (Php. 3:14)
Do you believe in the eloquence of men?
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God…so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power
1 Corinthians 2:1&5 NIV
It shouldn’t surprise you that many Christians today are only concerned about eloquence. If the preacher isn’t “dropping bars”, then they don’t want to be there. If the preacher cannot speak smoothly, they doubt the presence of God in the preacher’s life. On another side, some people are scared of answering God’s call because they fear they’re not eloquent. Moses felt the same. He feared the people would reject him because of how he spoke. We disqualify the people God has led into our lives or disqualify ourselves from God’s great plan because we are looking for eloquence where we should trust in the power of God.
That’s why I raise this question to you: Is your belief in eloquence or in the power of God?
Is your belief in power?
Now there is another group of Christians that take this too literally and all they want to talk about is power.
These people hate when the sermon is about love, kindness, or humility. All they like to hear is matters pertaining to “How can you become more powerful in the spirit”, “how to increase in spiritual power”, “What to do to chase demons”.
These things may not be bad in themselves, but the overemphasis placed on them is where the problem lies. It is bad enough that these people hate to talk about what God really cares about but what makes it worse is the fact that the focus shifts from what God can do or what God is doing to what can be demonstrated. It is the same issue Jesus had with the Jews of His time. They were so obsessed with signs and wonders, with display of power that they didn’t even recognize or acknowledge the power of God standing right before them. (Matt. 12:28-29)
Have you based your faith on God’s display of power and neglected the heart of God? Remember, it is from His heart that we were saved. God already decided in His heart to save us even before He carried out the action.
Is your belief based on the belief of others?
If you were the only believer left on earth, would your faith in God be disturbed? If you’ve never asked yourself these big questions, there’s a possibility that your belief may not be genuine.
Many of us are only believers because we were born into a family of believers. We don’t really have a conviction or reason as to why we believe what we believe. In this case, our belief is based on the belief of others. The day your “hero” stops believing, you lose your grip too. This journey to Christ is a personal one (Rom. 14:12). No one can take the trip for you. You must establish yourself in the truth and not in someone else’s devotion. This is the reason why when a pastor or man of God errs, some believers leave the faith. They have grounded their belief on things other than the solid ground of the truth.
What should your belief actually be based on? : back to basics
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11 NIV
The very essence of Christianity is Christ. That is what our belief should be about; belief in Christ and Him crucified. The faith is not about eloquence or demonstration of power or the character observed in another believer. The faith is about Jesus. He pioneered it and He alone will complete it (Heb. 12:2). Christians must go back to the basics of faith if we are to continue grooming well-grounded believers. Our belief must be re-established in Jesus Christ and what He has done. Our response to “What do you believe?” should be the finished work of Christ. That is, the salvation He has given and eternal life which He has promised.
And why? Because there’s evidence to prove it all. The faithfulness of God has never wavered—and it won’t start now (Heb. 10:23).
Faith+blog 