If you are not familiar with this passage, please take a moment to look it over. If you are familiar with it, take a moment anyway and just renew your mind on this thought. God expects us to be able to give a competent, reasoned answer for what we believe if we are questioned by unbelievers.
I don’t know if you have ever noticed, but it sure seems to me that our society likes to paint us Christians as big pushers of “blind” faith. I will admit that sometimes our own team members (so to speak) don’t help our cause any. But the truth of the matter is that the Bible is very much against any such notion of blind or illogical faith. The Bible states that merely observing thecreation logically leads to the conclusion that there must be a creator(and here). We are told not even to blindly trust special revelation to ourselves by spiritual beings, but to test the spirits against God’s word. In fact, the Biblical worldview is provably the only framework known that can logically explain the universe as it is seen today. (This is a much deeper topic but I highly recommend this book for those who are interested, in fact I will buy you a copy if you promise to read it)
So if God expects us ,as His children to be able to provide logical answers to the questions people may raise, it makes sense that we should put in some effort to make sure we are able to do so. Just keep in mind that not all effort is equal and some methods of preparation are more effective than others. It is for this reason that I want to share with you today one of the methods I have found to be very effective in my life, not only in the sense of being able to provide answers but also in my quest to increase my understanding in a more general sense.
My advise? Get a notebook. Make sure it is a special, single purpose notebook, not something you use for other things as well. Then open it up and on the first page write “What I believe and Why.” Take some time to jot down a few doctrinal statements that you believe to be true. I recommend only 2-4 individual statements per page, making sure to leave plenty of room in between them.
Now comes the hard part. Put that notebook by your Bible and take it with you everywhere you take your Bible, to church, to Bible Study, to Sunday School, etc. Then every time you come across a Biblical passage that supports one of the statements you wrote, fill it in underneath. In this way, over time, you can get a very nice listing of all of the supporting scriptures that back up the doctrinal propositions to believe to be true. An example from my note book-
Christians should always be seeking to better themselves.
I have been very pleased with how this method of study has helped me retain information of the long term. It can also draw attention to things you believe that may not actually be very sound. If you right it down and a year goes by but you haven’t found a single Biblical reference to support the idea, perhaps you need to dig deeper into why you think that proposition is true.
This may also work in digital format as a word doc with embedded links if you like that better, but I like the idea of a notebook or tablet that can be mobile. The main thing is to keep it with you so that when you come across things you may not have been intentionally looking for, you can write them down.
There are many other ways to aid our growth and development as a Christians. This is just one option, but one I highly recommend. The standard has been set, He expects us to be able to give an answer, so let’s get prepared (or stay prepared ;-) and do Him proud.
-Chief
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