Why I Believe

For my studies on world views, recently, I had to write an essay that answered the following questions: What is a worldview? What is a Christian worldview? Why am I a Christian?  This is what I came up with.

It can be a challenge for unbelievers to grasp what Christianity is about when many Christians themselves are not sure what or why they believe what they claim to believe.  Half the time, it seems, the stands that Christians make don’t differ that much to the stands made by a non-believer.  It is sad when our beliefs don’t weigh our opinions on issues.  I suppose that if this is the case, then you don’t really believe in what you claim to believe, or you are denying the power thereof. 

That is a depressing state to be in for that is the definition of a worldview – the way one views the world based on one’s beliefs.  A Christian worldview, therefore, will always – I repeat always – view things in light of God’s word the Bible.  One example that springs to mind is one of the hot topics at the moment: abortion. People argue that a woman has the right to control her own body.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body^[a] and in your spirit, which are God’s.    Many people consider an unborn child to be less than a human, not technically a person yet.  However, we read in Exodus 21:22-25 that a man is held responsible if he injures a pregnant woman and she or her child suffer harm or die.  By this we see that God values unborn life, thus the Christian worldview also takes strong stands against abortion.

Earlier this year when Tony Abbot, who is a Catholic, was voted into place as prime minister of Australia, he made a statement on ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet saying, “…Faith has certainly helped to shape my life, but it doesn't in any way determine my politics.”  I have trouble believing this for if his faith truly doesn’t affect his politics at all as he claims, then he doesn’t really believe in what he claims to regard as truth.  I have noticed, however, that many of his standards on different issues actually exemplify his religion, even if he does not realize it.

The question unbelievers want to know much of the time –and believers need to be able to answer– is why choose Christianity?  Why not Islam, or Buddhism, or some other religion/worldview? It is a good question, one that I have asked myself and God.  To find the answer as to why I believe, I must go back to the beginnings of my Christian life.

I was brought up in a Christian home and as a child, my parents were responsible before God for my faith and my spiritual input.  I resented much of this, not enjoying devotions or private Bible reading and avoiding it when I could.  However, when I was about thirteen (or thereabouts), Mum told me that I was coming to an age where I was responsible for my own faith.  Perhaps it was the responsibility I now felt that made me start taking charge of my own Bible readings and prayer times.  I am not sure.  I do know, though, that once I started, Jesus gently started moulding my hard heart until it became like soft, pliable clay and He started shaping me.  I noticed changes in my attitudes and behaviour and I felt the love and the peace of God like I never had before and I never wanted to leave that.  Not having God gave me no boundaries, but it gave me no security either – the sense of belonging and purpose.  Most other religions and worldviews are centred around chance, fate and works.  What a hopeless prospect!  We all know we struggle with doing the good we want to do, and if we are just here by chance, what is the point of doing good anyway – chance has no high purpose.  Just the fact of knowing that we are created gives one a sense of purpose.  No one deliberately makes a useless object.  Even delicate collectables that sit on a sideboard for years scream out the skill and the handiwork of the one that so carefully moulded them.

That’s why I chose to be a Christian and choose to be one every day. – nothing else satisfies or makes perfect sense ot logic like the Bible and God’s presence.  All of science and history points to a Creator and a Saviour who died.  Who am I to ignore Him?