Christian Living

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Stalemate Debate

I have been reading some of the blogs of debate concerning the intellect and the "blind" Christian belief this past week. Each side is trying to pull the other side into an understanding of the other. When everything was said and done I didn't see any agreement as the end result. Everyone seems to have their own, individual "proof" or reason for what they believe.

As a Christian, one of the things I've learned through life is, it's very hard to try to convince someone else what's taking place on the inside of us. What I mean by this is, when I accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of my life, I did so initially, with my heart.

Jeremiah, a prophet in the bible, records a word spoken from the Lord. In chapter 29 verse 13 God tells us that we will seek Him and find Him, when we seek Him with all our heart. When we seek Him with our whole heart means we are making Him the center of all that's important to us. He's at the very center of our emotions. And in that place is where He gives us His peace and assurance that everything will be alright.

From here, as we continue to seek Him to receive and learn His truth, our minds then become fruitful. He feeds our intellect with His understanding. It's like what Paul, an apostle in the New Testament, wrote to the Romans-they'd be transformed by the renewing of their minds with the truth of God.

It becomes a nearly impossible thing, for the Christian, to try to convince someone else otherwise, who's convinced they are wrong. At best we can take the advice of Peter, another apostle, in 2 Peter 3:15 when he told us to always be ready to give an answer to every man, that asks for a reason of the hope that is inside us. We are to do this in meekness and respect. Meekness, in this regard, is to do so with patience. Not doing it to "prove" a point against them but to let them know why we believe what we do.

To those who want nothing to do with the truth of God, we can only pray that God will then start moving in their lives. James tells us, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man (follower of Christ) accomplishes much. It's only as God begins to break down the walls of deception around our "hearts" that this understanding can come in.

Receiving Christ as Savior is kind of like "love" between two people. You can't see what's happening but you know it's real. You can't always explain it, but you can feel a difference. It pulls you to the other person as if there were magnets inside.

In regards to basing all belief on factual thinking, I'm reminded of a saying I learned in the manufacturing world in recent years. Measuring is knowing. This is good advice. The only thing we have to remember is, for some things this is really quite simple. For others it's not that cut and dry. When we try to figure out origin and things that were in place before we were born, it becomes much more complicated.

To think we can have all absolutes, when measuring what may have taken place years ago, is still a dream. Someone pointed out in one of the blogs, they believed they could determine something as "factual" because of a "high probability of it taking place." (my paraphrase) Even a high probability isn't necessarily conclusive. It's a belief. There is still room for something to be different.

Think about our universe. There's so much to know and learn. Scientists report, it continues to expand. The only way we can determine something conclusive is if it's fixed. What's fixed in our world? Our world moves. Planets move around us. Things are moving beneath us. There's only a certain amount of information we are able to call conclusive.

Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 13. He said that for now we only have a certain amount of knowledge available to us and that we're seeing through a dark glass. His way of saying there are many things hidden from us.

Scientists and archaeologists have uncovered many things that were hidden from us for centuries. There are many more things to be uncovered. To say that we know "everything" would be a misstatement.

In the book of Daniel, in the bible, Daniel writes that in the "last days" knowledge shall increase, tremendously. It is. He wrote that people would be going to and fro. His way of saying we can go almost anywhere we want when we want. It's happening. It's increasing.

Technology is growing at astounding rates. Information is coming quicker now than ever before. And still there's more to be found.

For now, all our conclusions will have to be settled individually, by what we choose to believe. One puts their faith exclusively in facts learned to date. Another puts their faith in information that's been handed down through the ages. Someone else has a different twist altogether.

As for me, I choose to continue to believe in the All-Knowing God of the bible. There's another scripture in Malachi 3:6 that quotes God as saying, "I am the Lord, I do not change." He is the only one I've found who's fixed. He's the only one I've been able to put my hope in, completely. Also, Paul wrote - Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever.

As I continue to grow in understanding, of the truths written in the bible, I find how relevant they are to what's happening today. Things they've written about ages ago are being revealed today. The "contradictions" I've read have been unraveled by my remaining open to more of what God's Spirit wanted to teach me. He goes to the heart of the matter and gives it to whoever desires it. As long as we've given Him complete access to our hearts.

I've noticed an underlying fear, in some of the blogs, in giving someone this much control over you. To anyone else, in the known world, I'd have the same fears. I've found out over the years that God is Love. He's the same love Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13. He doesn't force us to believe anything. He's proven that same love to me many times over the years I've known Him. He's taught me how to give that same love out to others in daily life.

The writings, from the Old Testament, concerning the seemingly unbalanced side of God as it dealt with the law in Deuteronomy, were about specific situations dealing with specific groups of people. God was coming to meet them where they were in "their" thinking at the time. He had to talk their language in order to get them to even listen to Him. He did not lead them to this way of life. If, this was His way, He never would have pursued the idea of His son coming in the flesh, to provide the strength necessary, to help change man's corrupt ways.

He never intended for one man to be in control of another man when He first created him. He only wanted what was best for man. He gave him everything he needed to have increase and abundance. Unfortunately for man, he wanted to learn about the dark side too. Here we are. Still happening.

As far as debate and getting angry with each other over issues that have been resolved individually? What's the point? At least in a game of chess when you come to the place of stalemate or deadlock, when the king can't move and he's in check, someone wins.

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