Spare Change - Christian Beliefs

John 3:36

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."

Man carries his beliefs around like three coins in his pocket. One coin might have immense value, while another might be completely worthless and counterfeit—a fugazi! The denominations for the coins are experiential, influential, and intuitive. The easiest way to determine their value and express it is what we “know,” what we “think,” and what we “feel.” 

An example of a belief in what we know is when we first learned how to read. We practiced and learned how to do it better each day. But if we mispronounced a word, it didn’t mean we lost our ability to read. We still believed we could, despite a few mistakes. That’s experiential belief.

Now, our parents experienced many things in their own lives that they knew with certainty. They shared those experiential beliefs with us and had a profound influence on us early on. Our friends, teachers, and pastors also shared their experiential beliefs. As we grew older, our fabric of belief would be indelibly dyed with a rainbow of shades. We continue to live our lives in response to various external stimuli. These are our influential beliefs. Are they valuable or completely worthless? Time will usually give us the answer to that one. 

And then there’s the intuitive type of belief. It’s a belief in something because we know it. We don’t know how or why we know it; we just do. It’s instinctive and untaught. We all have this type of belief in us. It was part of our initial design, a standard feature. However, some have honed their intuition to a keener, sharper edge. At the same time, others have fallen victim to the “maybe” prefix. Maybe we should reconsider the notion that intuitive beliefs have always been a part of our cognitive system. Maybe Man has simply stopped relying on them due to technology and social media telling us what to doubt or what to believe. Maybe we’ll never know. But when the dust settles, we most certainly will believe in what we believe in… until we won’t! No “ifs”, “ands”, or “maybe’s!”

John the Baptist was there at the beginning of the Main Event and had the best seat in the house. He was the warm-up act for his cousin, the Superstar, Jesus Christ. He prepared the way for One whose sandals he was not fit to tie. John would benefit from experiential belief. He witnessed the Redeemer of the World walk into the water and stand humbly before him. He heard the Father’s voice validating Jesus’ Sonship. John’s beliefs were also influenced by the prophets' foretelling of the coming Messiah. God’s own Word guided him with every prophesied detail of Jesus’ birth, life, and death on this Earth. And finally, John had a pure and unmitigated perception of who Jesus the Christ was. He knew it instinctively, positively. Without doubt! John the Baptist was the sum of all his beliefs. Therefore, he was granted eternal life. He knew experientially, through flawless influence, and by his keen intuition about who the Son of Man was.

Even though you and I never attended that first event, I’m sure we’ve had many first-hand experiences with Jesus. We’ve been influenced by writers and teachers who share God’s Word with us. And we instinctively know that we have a purpose far beyond our mere existence in space and time. We, too, are the sum of our Christian beliefs, the total value of our coins.

Don't let these precious coins of belief slip through a hole in your heart. The passion to "go and make disciples of all nations" is measured by how firmly we hold onto them. It's time to take your coins out and share them freely. Explain their immense value: the belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again to offer us eternal life. If you cling to this truth, without being swayed by outside influences or faulty intuition, you possess the very cost of admission to paradise. They're way more than just "spare change"! Believe in them and share them with everyone!

I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the truth is... "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." - John 3:36