Below is an excerpt from The Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre. Although theology is important, Mike makes the case that believing is more than just "knowing" God. Believing involves trusting, and trusting "always reveals itself in behavior." The early Christians were known as followers of the Way - "a way of life instituted by Jesus (Acts 9:2). Following Jesus was understood not as an act of believing but primarily as a way of living." The excerpt below talks about Mike's concern about incorrect view of believing.
"The vast majority of people in the United States say they believe in God, yet that belief makes little to no difference in how they live. Believing Christian theology does not equal following Christ. As Mark Buchanan writes, "to have carefully tested theology is good, but it is not the same thing as knowing God. Too often theology ends shy of love, worship, and service. Too often it gets stuck in smugness, dryness, and rigidity. Too often it is as impersonal as calculus...Jesus' apostles were theological idiots, while demons almost always showed themselves to be astute theologians." I'm convinced it is possible to be able to agree mutually w/ information about Jesus and still not know him. It is possible to be able to recite our creeds and belief statements and still not have come to accept Jesus as Forgiver and King. It is possible to have great theology and still not trust Christ."
As Zippay mentioned in his sermon last weekend, a foundation has to be established in order to stand up to the storms of live. A foundation of biblical theology and a transformed way of living are the bricks and mortar needed to form that solid base.
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Why the gap between what we belief and how we live?
This guy hits it on the mark...because it's merely intellectual agreement. Or to put it in other words, the gap exists because they really don't believe at all...and they aren't worshiping Christ truly...Profession him yes, but functionally worshiping something else. And yet someone along the way lied to them or falsely assured them that this is what "to believe" in Christ means.
There is no place in the scriptures where biblical faith / belief is left to mere intellectual assent. To put it as Tim Keller recently said, when this gap exists it is because people have Jesus on audio and "other things" on video.
So, one implication for us is that our responsibility as pastors is to communicate what true believing involves...agreement of the mind, warmth from the heart, passion from the emotions, engagement of the affections, submission of the will, sacrifice of the body, surrender of one's agenda, hope from the soul, and captivation of the imagination...all of these working in various degrees at the same time comprise true believing.
Then and only then is Jesus on video and "other things" on audio.
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