Wisdom Wednesday: Believing Wisely at Christmastime
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:20-21 (NKJV)
My daughter and I watched (and enjoyed) the 2004 movie “The Polar Express,” which explores the power of believing in the magic of Santa Claus. The movie teaches the concept that learning to believe in what you can’t see is essential for Santa’s magic to remain in your life. Non-belief in the reality of Santa, as you grow old, makes the magic disappear. Included within the lyrics of the beautiful theme song “Believe,” composed by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri and performed by Josh Groban are the words:
Believe in what your heart is saying,
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste,
There so much to celebrate.
Believe in what you feel inside,
And give your dreams the wings to fly.
You have everything you need, if you just Believe.
If you just believe.
If you just believe.
If you just believe…just believe…just believe.
I still remember in about 1953 when I sat on a footstool and asked my mom if Santa Clause was real. I had all the common questions about the scale and scope of his abilities (flying, global reach, speed of coverage in one night, and so forth). As a budding young scientist, even then, I began doubting. I was about the age of the young boy who began to doubt in the movie.
Polar Express is an entertaining story with a nice song, but wise belief is based on evidence and substance, not just hope, a concept or magic. The elements that we generally consider making up the process by which we perceive something and then come to believe in it distinguishes between the intellectual aspects of believing and the acts of the will to trust:
- Observing – We observe God’s creation and the behavior of created beings. These observations of evidence lead to a general perception of the world, and then, more profound questions.
- Inference – We reason and infer things about the world to form beliefs and doubts about our existence.
- Believe Cognitively – Our reasoning leads to the things we believe about key questions. The “Big” questions include:
- Q1: Who am I and where did I come from? (Is there anything out there?) This is the Question of Existence.
- Q2: Why am I here? The Question of Purpose and Meaning.
- Q3: Where am I going? The Question of Destiny.
Paul addressed these questions by the observation and reasoning (thinking) we “know” of God’s existence: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:20-21 (NKJV) We further read the Scriptures and look at the evidence for how God has revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. We come to understand Jesus’ death and resurrection for our sins and are convinced of our own sinfulness (conviction by God’s Spirit).
- Act on Belief, Commit to Decision and Results– Yet while we “know” (believe with near certainty) something, we must still choose to act. We may accept and trust in God by faith with the results described in the Epistles – our repentance (change of direction), obedience, walking in God’s Spirit, producing behaviors and good works. Or we may decide not to act on the knowledge, and we may deny or suppress the truth. Or we may accept, trust and act on that knowledge.
Science generally uses the English term believe in the narrow sense to describe a purely rational measure of the cognitive process (a proposition is coherent, corresponds to observations and theory, and complete).
But John’s Gospel uses the act “to believe” (πιστεύω) in the wider concept of cognitive agreement and the act of the will to choose to act on the belief and trust in the object of belief – the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. “John 14:1 (NKJV)
Wise belief is based on the evidence of God’s glorious creation, and God’s revelation in Scripture. Let us be wise to look and listen to the message, believe and act on our belief by trusting in God’s provision for us – His Son, Jesus Christ.