The cereal shelf IS an entire aisle. I stand there looking at the hundreds of boxes and get overwhelmed. "Why can't there just be 3 or 4 choices so I could grab one and get out of here?" It is easy to get stuck in one aisle for a long time if I am at all indecisive. I can get lured in to a new cereal just by the prettiness of the box, only to find I don't like what is inside once I get it home. Then I'm stuck wishing I had just bought what I always buy.
Occasional I discover a new favorite! What a joy that is. I enjoy every delicious bite and go back to the store to buy it again. Sometimes the store has "remodeled" and it is not in the place where I found it last time. So the search begins. Sometimes it has been discontinued, or was just a "limited time" special. In my disappointment I go back to my old favorite. But something has happened to it. The box looks different. OH NO, it is "new and improved"! I know that means it is different and I most likely won't like it any more.
Religion can be like grocery shopping. There are many choices out there. Consider these facts:
- There are roughly 4,200 religions in the world.
- One study I found states there are over 33,000 Christian denominations.
- Within the Lutheran church alone there are some 140 variations, 211 in the Baptist denomination.
The more I researched this, the more overwhelmed I felt.
I meet so many people seeking "something". Looking for "something" to believe in. Lured in to fads and popular ideas that have no depth or lasting significance. At some point in the conversation I will ask them if they have ever read the Bible. Immediately they show signs of disdain. They don't believe in the Bible. It is dismissed as fake, made up, old-fashioned, etc. I've heard it all. Yet, they willing accept evolution as fact when it is theory. They believe it is possible that there is life elsewhere in the universe when we have no scientific proof ("I saw a movie once that made a lot of sense to me.", is what I typically hear). They may believe that "mother nature" rules everything and their "aura" will be absorbed back into the earth to create energy of some type. Or, what I hear the most is, "There is something bigger than us, but it is too hard to figure it out." They are overwhelmed by all the input they have received over time and have decided NOT to pick one.
This is not limited to those who have not accepted Christianity or are "unchurched". This feeling of not knowing what to believe. Christians are just as confused. They want to believe the Bible but they don't want to appear to be uneducated. I heard that in a recent study of Christians, less than 9% have a true "Biblical" worldview. How can this be?
I have a theory. We will call it "Barb's theory of Biblical truism". Here it is:
I believe we feel like we have to know everything about everything before we will have the confidence to say something is true. I believe we (humans) have this unmet need to have all the answers before we are willing to stand firm on a Biblical world view. We have to first disprove the opposition. If we can't, well then we leave room for doubt. Sometimes I think we don't understand the true meaning of "faith". Also, sometimes we have issues with authority and to bow to God just because He is God, well, that might just be asking too much. Sometimes we just want to live life "our way".
BUT, if we spend any time in God's word, what we call the Bible. I think, God reveals truth to us in a way we can understand. Not ALL things are revealed. If they were, then why have faith at all.
Job 11:7 "Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty?"
I can't. BTW, God is not looking for the religious only the faithful.
