Before We Question God or the Church, We Must Question Our Own Beliefs

When bad things happen many question their Church. You may ask where your Church support has been and why you should go to Church when people there don’t understand, don’t care, or are hypocritical?

There may be an even deeper level of questioning as well. Maybe something has so shaken your faith that you question God as well as His Church. You may ask where was God when this was happening, why God would allow such a thing, whether God is really all Good and all powerful, and why God did not answer your prayers, your desperate cries, for help?

Maybe your faith has been so shaken that you question the very existence of God.

Before we can question the Church or God too closely however, we must question ourselves, our beliefs about what we think should be done for us, what we think we deserve, and where we get those expectations. We must reexamine who we believe God is.

3 Mistakes We Are Taught About God.

When we are young, our beliefs are formed. Our beliefs about who God is are often based on weak or incorrect notions. When those beliefs are challenged they don’t hold up and too often people question the church and God or even reject both outright without putting in the time to investigate on their own.

Ask yourself if any of the following are beliefs you have accepted or are passing on to your children. Then ask yourself how to more fully embrace the reality of who God really is and the purpose of His Church on earth.

1. God is a kindly, loving father who would never allow evil to touch our lives. In this case, the Lord appears to be an magical, imaginary, Santa Clause type figure just waiting to do good things for us, bringing us his overflowing sack of health, happiness, and financial gain. He exists to give us what we want and what we perceive is the best with a wave of His magical hand.
2. God is a distant uncle who lived once a long time ago and died leaving us stuff we are entitled to whether we spend time getting to know Him, thank Him, and listen to Him or not.
3. Gos is a self-righteous dictator who, after imposing ridiculously stringent and unrealistic regulations on his subjects, lurks behind every wrong move, immoral thought, and display of humanly cowardice hoping to catch human beings in condemnable acts so He can crush us with His iron fist and punish us with an eternity of hell.
4. God is…nothing. Too often children are taught nothing at all about God. Sadly, some parents do not have any faith at all. Others feel that God is uninterested in our lives, and still more parents feel that the teachings of the Bible are outdated or think they can excuse their way out of accountability for certain dictates. Some parents who do have faith assume their children will “just know” what to believe or should decide for themselves. This opens doors where others fill gaps in children’s moral and spiritual development.

Before we can question God or our Church’s presence in tough times, we must question ourselves. Examine the above points and decide if any apply to you.

Perhaps you are a blend of more than one.

There is a natural tendency to question God and the church when evil strikes. Before we can do that however, we must examine our own expectations of the Lord.

How have your experiences changed the way you think about God? How have you let them dictate what God should be to you?

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Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders.

Psalm 119: 27

God Bless…

 

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