What you heard vs What is true (part 2)- Who you are vs Who you want to be
The assumption that it is easier to persuade a crowd than it is an informed individual forms the basis of branding and political influence. Based on that fact alone it should stand to reason that you should always fact check/question the crowd. The wisdom people find through media and the wisdom held by many in regards to God and religion are worth taking another look at. Especially since many who claim to be Christians actually spend very little time getting to know God other than what their pastor tells them.
What you’re led to believe: You can be a good person and live an honest way of life without pursuing the truth.
What is true: The reality is that the information we digest in the public and through media does not come without the bias of its author, a political agenda or the influence of branding being done by a corporation (which also influences political agenda’s). As a result we’re all affected by a crowd mentality that results in the uninformed being peer pressured into believing something.
“It appears no American seems to be able to achieve a viable organic connection between his public stance and his private life. This failure of the private life has always had the most devastating effect on American public conduct” –James Baldwin, ‘Remember this House’ 1979.
Unless you pursue the truth and are able to digest information about what is going on in the world around you. As well as what your purpose in life is/should be, you are bound to make unfulfilling, societal based decisions that may please the crown but will not fit any definition of what it is to be a good person and will lead you to be part of the downward trend in the conduct of American’s that James Baldwin mentions long after the Civil Rights movement.
“To watch the T.V. screen for any length of time is to learn some really frightening things about America’s sense of reality. We are cruelly trapped between what we would like to be and what we actually are. And we can’t become what we’d like to be until we ask ourselves just why the lives we lead on this continent are so empty, so tame and so ugly…they weaken our ability to deal with the world as it is. Ourselves as we are” James Baldwin, ‘Remember this House’ 1979
What you’re led to believe: That God hates any particular group of people
What is true: For ages many groups have attempted to use religion as a means for spreading hatred by attempting to point out God’s opposition to a group of people or a way of life. While it is true that God has a plan for how we should all live our lives, it is also true that none of us are meeting those expectations (hence salvation is a gift, Ephesians 2:8). There isn’t a priest or leader who has not sinned (Romans 3:23) and no man can judge another because none of us lead a perfect life (Matthew 7:1-5). While we should be teaching, sharing wisdom and correcting each other (Colossians 3:16), we are ultimately called upon to love one another (Matthew 22:36-40).
Love is not a feeling as I’ve discussed in my article The definition of Love and society's obsession with acting on 'feelings' alone. Love requires action to be taken, which is why simply saying you love someone or simply keeping them in your thoughts cannot be defined as love. This is one of the ways in which you can determine if a group is truly representing Christianity. Love is represented by Jesus’ sacrifice for us (John 3:16) and it is well defined by Dr. Martin Luther King:
“I don’t think of love in this context as emotional bosh, but I think of it as something strong and that organizes itself as a powerful direct action” –Martin Luther King debate with Malcom X, 1963
What you’re led to believe: I do my best to be a good person, why do I need to follow God?
What is true: This is a common question from those who feel like the concept of God is an intrusion upon their way of life. They aren’t doing anyone any harm and they try to do the right thing, so why have additional restrictions and ideologies forced on them? I cover this dilemma in my article DO YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE PLEASURE TO BE RELIGIOUS part 1 and part 2 . Like a parent reprimands a child because they know what will and won’t hurt them, or what is just a fad that will pass, so God (through the Bible) leads us in a direction that will bring us joy and fulfillment.
The reasons you should choose to follow God is because he loves us, he’s our creator and because WE WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH. Then what we do what we deem as pleasurable versus burdensome will change. The reality is many will run from the truth for the fear of being exposed or being forced to give up what they ‘think’ they like. Even though learning the truth will change the way they think.
If you are concerned about the effort behind following God, you should know that salvation is a gift (Ephesians 2:8), there’s nothing you could do to earn it even if you wanted to. The requirement is belief (John 3:16), but if you truly believe then it will manifest in your actions. Just knowing God exists isn’t enough, even the enemy has knowledge of his existence (James 2:19). For those who are enduring hardship, research has proven time and time again that positive thinking helps people to endure and to overcome. This science also forms the basis behind faith in God, it will exponentially improve the ability of your mind to endure and leaning on God will set your life on a rewarding path through the good times and the bad. So the reality is that faith and belief can make life less burdensome and help you achieve greater fulfillment.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” –Matthew 11:28-30
What you’re led to believe: The only day to worship God is Sunday
What is true: Like anything in life adaptation and improvement requires repetition. Spending time daily in the word and meeting with fellow believers during the week will help keep you closer to Jesus as you are bombarded with messaging and temptation from society.
The importance of having a specific day of worship stems from the 10 Commandments where we are called upon to set aside a day to focus on God and creation. The Sabbath day was established as the seventh day of the week and the day for this worship and although Old Testament Jewish law did not apply when Christianity was spread throughout the known world, the Sabbath day belonged to the 10 Commandments, not the Old Testament Jewish covenant. These commandments form the pillar of what is for and what is against God in any era (John 14:15, 1 John 5:3) and the enemy’s plan is to make war with those who keep these commandments (Revelation 12:17).
Where does Sunday come into play? During the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine (prior to the Roman Catholic Church) he became the first emperor to convert to Christianity and legalized it through the Edict of Milan. In legalizing Christianity he also declared: “On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed" (Codex Justinianus lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p. 380, note 1) in favor of his original pagan beliefs. This day then became adopted as the day of worship after the legalization of Christianity.
Common texts pointing to meetings on Sunday are: John 20:19-23, the disciples were actually hiding together, Acts 20:6-7, the disciples were eating together with no mention of worship (they broke bread any day of the week, ex: Acts 2:46 which reinforces the initial concept of meeting with Christians regularly), 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, they began saving offering on the first day of the week but it wasn’t given until Sabbath.
These general references to activities on the first day of the week don’t appear to replace the still well established Sabbath keeping that was kept in the New Testament by Jesus (Luke 4:16), Christs followers (Luke 23:54-56) or Paul who authored much of the New Testament (Acts 13:14, Acts 16:13, Acts 13:42-44). But no matter what day you keep holy, it shouldn’t be the only day of the week you spend time with someone you claim to love (Jesus).
So many people rely so heavily on the collective opinion of what’s true and what is right that they become a characterization of an acceptable person as opposed being themselves and thinking for themselves. If you’re able to uncover the truth, you are not only unburdened by what society deems acceptable but you can uncover a purpose that brings satisfaction to your life. We are so quick to accept the truths that we are bombarded with that we never stop to think about the source behind who is telling us what is true, whom we should be, what we should do, what we should own, how we should think and how we should act.
