I think one of the questions everyone needs to constantly ask themselves is, "what if I'm wrong?". We all seem to live in this bubble that "I am right, and everyone else is wrong". I'm not just talking about Christians here, I think, generally, we all fall into that category. But it's a dangerous way to live. To be so arrogant that you can't even, for a small moment, consider that there's a chance that someone else may be right. But then, I got to thinking...what if we discovered that parts of our faith WAS wrong? How would that alter our lifestyle? Our faith? our religion?
Yesterday I went and saw the movie "Paul". It's a movie about an alien trying to get back home, so he hitches a ride with 2 british nerds. What surprised me in the movie, was the religous undertones. YES, the movie was poking fun at Christianity and other religions, but I found that it moreso posed the question of "what would you do if you found out you were wrong?". Another major controversial thing going on right now is Rob Bell's new book, "Love Wins", in which he comes up with (apparantly anyway, as I have yet to read the book) very controversial views on heaven and hell. Many Christians a quick to judge Bell, many bookstores refusing to sell the book. But I think, if Christians were smart, they would ask themselves, "ok...what if I am wrong, and Rob Bell is right?", and read the book to see what he has to say. Perhaps, at the end of the boo, they will stand firm in their beliefs. Or maybe, the book will open their eyes to something new.
Here's the thing. If you believe that the world was created in 6 days (leaving the 7th for rest), 4000-6000 years ago by God, then that is great. But what if you are wrong? If you believe that man evolved by chance 400000000000 years ago, and that there is no God, then that's fine too...but ask yourself "what if I am wrong?". Maybe neither of these options are true. Maybe, it's a combination of both. The point I am trying to make is...don't be so arrogant in your faith that you can't even consider someone else's point of view. Don't believe something just because it is what you always have believed, or because it easy to believe, or fun to believe, or whatever. To be perfectly honest, most aspects of our faith don't truly matter. Let me clarify. There are really only 2 things in the Christian faith that are VITAL to our faith. 1) There is a God and 2) He sent His son Jesus to die, and rise again, for our sins. Everything else, if we are wrong, doesn't matter as much. So what if God created the world using evolution 6 billion years ago...it doesn't matter. Who cares if Adam and Eve are mere mythological characters and aren't real...it doesn't really matter. To go even further...if your whole faith is based on the fact of "good Christians go to heaven and bad heathens end up in hell", then perhaps your faith NEEDS to be shaken up. Christianity is much more than just the afterlife (or lack of afterlife, or whatever). Christianity is about living for God NOW. It's about serving God NOW. It's about loving God, and everyone around us NOW. Heaven is just the bonus, it's not the point. Jesus didn't come to Earth to just tell everyone to forget about this life and prepare for heaven...he came to show us to love one another, to love God.
I'm not saying that I believe there is no heaven, or that I believe that the earth is 7 billion years old. What I am saying is that we just need to always ask ourselves "what if i am wrong? What if this person, this religion, this idea is right?"
Perhaps I didn't explain myself well, I don't know. But what do you think? Should we ask ourselves "what if i'm wrong?", or should we live as if we are right? Your thoughts!
2 comments:
Great question... (You know I love questions). Why stop there? Why not go further and just assume that we're wrong. I mean really, what do I really know about life-beyond or life-between cells and particles so small they've taken lifetimes to discover.
What if the whole point of life is not to be right but to ask the right questions?
...what if there are no wrong questions?
What if the destination isn't anywhere near as important as the journey?
...of course I'm wrong. Seriously what arrogance to suggest that the universe has conspired for eons to produce all the right answers in li'l ol' me?
BlackSheep
P.S. - I trust all continues to go well in your neck of the woods.
consider this:
If all that we believe about Christianity is wrong, in the end, we lose nothing.
BUT....
If everything in the Bible is true, and God is real, and Heaven is real, and Hell is real, and we chose to reject Him,in the end, we lose everything.
Aside from that, I agree with you...the little points don't matter...we don't have all the answers and we shouldn't waste so much time trying to argue with people who don't believe the same as us. We should instead, use that time to show LOVE, because that's what God wants us to do....
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