How important to our lives are the basic precepts that guide us? If you really believe that something is true, can it be true for you but not true for your neighbor? Is what you believe in relative or real? Is it worth fighting for? Is it worth dieing for? Is it worth killing for? Think about these things - you can't do so quickly because they are too encompassing to who and what you are.

There are definitely those who believe in relativity, that something that is true for them but may not be for anyone else. This, to me, is both illogical and dangerous because it is basically the same as standing for nothing at all while justifying any belief or behavior. It is more scarey for me (because of the threat to my person and those that I love) to think of the many in this world who believe something so strongly, with so much conviction that they will kill to enforce their view, or reinforce their view. However, this second instance seems to me to be more logical because truth is absolute, not relative, or by its very nature it would not be truth.

The difference between Biblical Christianity, christiantity and other religions is that it isn't up to us to convince others of what we believe, that is the work of the Holy Spirit. However, it is our responsibility to share what we believe, otherwise others will not hear what Jesus' true message really is. We also need to know why we believe what we believe, otherwise we can't be very convincing and my guess is that it is this point that trips many of us up, we aren't sure why - or we aren't sure how to express why we believe what we do.

In light of the above, Adrian Rogers once said that "it is more dangerous to believe the wrong thing than to do the wrong thing. When you believe the wrong thing you do the wrong thing over and over." When this happens, wrong compounds wrong - teaching the wrong lesson or message to those who see or hear it. This is why we need to go to the Word to confirm what someone, even the pastor, tells us. This is one reason why we need to spend time in the Word, so that we know where to look to confirm what we hear.

I write this as much to myself as to anyone else. I need to remember this and yet be willing to move beyond myself and the thoughts that limit my action. It is our willingness to share and follow that he wants from us, He will do the rest. Why should that be so scary?

Brad