Not Easy at All

 

 

One of the hardest things to do

Is to challenge your own beliefs.

 

I received the above quote

From an influential elder

That played a pivotal role in my life

As both pastor and teacher.

 

I found the quote to be true

Especially regarding my beliefs,

I am what I grew up on

And my religion is chief.

 

What I was taught

Especially from my youth

Became my photo lens

For determining truth.

 

Being very trusting

Of my pastors and teachers,

To accept without question:

Was a desirable feature.

 

Back then it was declared

To be the written Word,

Thus, to question or disagree

Would have been absurd.

 

So, I drank it all up

And passionately preached it too

Just like I was taught

And probably, so did you.

 

Such that when I was forced

Those beliefs to defend,

I was quick to the draw

And only too eager to offend.

 

 

A dispensationalist to the core

And of the pre-tribulation too:

Nothing was ever allowed

To vanquish those views.

 

Jesus was coming soon

Meant of the imminent kind

And for me that definitely had to be

During my lifetime.

 

From 1948 to the present

Jesus was expected to appear;

Israel becoming a nation

Signaled the end was near.

 

 This is over a generation ago

Yet most still hold to it,

Therein lies the problem

When belief becomes an edict.

 

Traditions are so strong

Re the hold they have on us

That when they are proven wrong

In them we still put our trust.

 

It is critically important

Our beliefs stand upon the Word

And not necessarily

What for ages we have heard.

 

Time does not alter fact

Neither can it change the Word,

God’s Word stands forever

Regardless of what you heard.

 

Challenge your beliefs, I say,

In the light of God’s Holy Writ,

Find out if they are biblically based

Or just an uninformed habit.

 

Much of what we believe

We are afraid to put to the test

For fear that if it be found in error

It would rob us of our zest.

 

I could never face my church

If I find out that I was wrong

So, let me hold on to my beliefs

And continue to appear strong.

 

To challenge my own beliefs

Requires me to be honest

And to accept what the Bible says

In the event they fail the test.

 

It requires me to be loving

In how I share that truth,

Not in a condescending manner

Even when displaying the proof.

 

I must also be faithful

To the clarity of God’s Word

And to present it as it truly is

Even if friends are disturbed.

 

It requires me to be humble;

The Spirit must hold full sway,

It is he that reveals the Holy Word

And tells me what to say.

 

One of the hardest things to do

Is to challenge your own beliefs:

However, when one is able to do just that

It can bring tremendous relief.

 

Stewart Russell © August 29, 2020