I Believe What I Believe Because...

I have a neighbor who has a four year old – Janie. Try to carry on a conversation with Janie and her response comes like clockwork, “Why?” Topic? Doesn’t matter. Time of day? Doesn’t matter. Location? Doesn’t matter. The response is always the same, “Why?”

Aggravating? Sure. Frustrating? Right on. But maybe it is a gift that all children go through this stage, and it is definitely a teaching opportunity for the parent. The problem is that whatever you tell them in this stage, they will believe for a long, long time. However, many of us don’t know the answer to, “Why does grandpa smell?” Or, “Why did someone kill all those children on that school bus with a bomb?” So, you better make sure you tell them the truth.

Then, school comes along, and we allow someone else to answer the hard questions. How about this question, “Where did man come from?” Will the person who answers this question be an evolutionist or a creationist? His answer will determine to some extent what the child will tend to believe in the future.

I read an email from someone yesterday, a stranger to me, which got me to thinking. This person definitely believes differently from me on some theological positions. Why does that person believe so differently than I do? How do I know whether he is right or I? Have you ever been approached by someone of a different faith who wants to convert you? What did you do? Probably, you are in the majority who politely said, “I am not interested,” and closed the door in his face. Why did you do that? Was it that his beliefs contradicted your own and it made you uncomfortable? Why were you uncomfortable? Was it because you really don’t know why you believe what you believe?

One of the reasons we believe what we do is because our parents believed that way. Surely, they wouldn’t be wrong would they? Or, you have been taught something in school and now the philosophy is different and they are admitting that they had made a mistake. Our daughter is now a mother. We are finding out that all the things that we did when we reared her have been discovered to be incorrect. Child psychologists have now changed their minds. Spanking is bad for a child! Oh, where were you guys when I was a child!

How do you think it made the Russians feel when they discovered that their history teachers had lied to them all those years? How did you feel when our own government admitted that they had gone to war with Iraq on bad intelligence? And how will the Catholics feel when they discover that all their money, effort and prayers had no effect on how long their loved ones spent in Purgatory?

There is a statement that has become popular in the past few years thanks to John Maxwell, a contemporary leadership guru. He said, “Wouldn’t it be sad to get to the top and find out that your ladder was leaning against the wrong building?” Just a thought! What will the terrorist suicide bombers think when they find out that they just took the fast lane to somewhere other than paradise and there won’t be 70 virgins waiting for them? If they are there, they won’t be waiting on them and it will be too hot for sex anyway!

So, take any belief you have and find a quiet place and contemplate this question, “Why do I believe what I believe? Be honest with yourself and then do the research. Life is too short to believe a lie.

Don’t take too long with this because the next question will be, “How?”