what is the core of faith?
over the past year i have asked this question a few times to many different people. while it may seem like a silly question, you would be amazed at the lack of answers, or the "atuomated corporate line" answers i get. and to me, both responses seem to side step the issue by either not answering [i think people think it will go away if they do not answer the question] or giving some "corporate line" in response. but i think many people are looking for us to go a bit deeper then the surface. here is the question i think is important for us to have an answer to.
"what are the 'cores' to being a christian?"
now, this is the hard part - ready? :)
there needs to be a scriptural back-up for what we see as a core - and a reason why that scripture supports your view - for example, if you believe that believing in a trinity is a core to being a christian, you need to have scripture to back it up - and you need to have your words explaining why that scripture backs it up. that seems only fair to me because we often say "this is important" and then we can't really say why it is important or we say, "this is important" and then pop some name and numbers [mark 4:2 - for example] without knowing the scripture or explaining how it truly is important.
so, let me start by saying that i believe one of the cores of being a christian is LOVE.
for me, this is centeral to our faith - without it we are only posers to a faith that requires that we love, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," [matthew 5:43-44]. this may sound harsh, but people can tell me all day long they believe in jesus as the christ, but if they do not show love, live love and practice love then they are just speaking empty words. love is the core of all our faith and it should be what we see as the center, the starting point, of all we do, say and strive to know
given that that entire section of scripture deals with how we are to love others - even those who hate us and wish us harm - we are called to walk with love as a guide. when we think of "cores" many do not think love is a core - but i think it is the very core of our faith. in my mind, i do not believe we can say "i love jesus" if we do not love others.
"what are the 'cores' to being a christian?"
now, this is the hard part - ready? :)
there needs to be a scriptural back-up for what we see as a core - and a reason why that scripture supports your view - for example, if you believe that believing in a trinity is a core to being a christian, you need to have scripture to back it up - and you need to have your words explaining why that scripture backs it up. that seems only fair to me because we often say "this is important" and then we can't really say why it is important or we say, "this is important" and then pop some name and numbers [mark 4:2 - for example] without knowing the scripture or explaining how it truly is important.
so, let me start by saying that i believe one of the cores of being a christian is LOVE.
for me, this is centeral to our faith - without it we are only posers to a faith that requires that we love, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," [matthew 5:43-44]. this may sound harsh, but people can tell me all day long they believe in jesus as the christ, but if they do not show love, live love and practice love then they are just speaking empty words. love is the core of all our faith and it should be what we see as the center, the starting point, of all we do, say and strive to know
given that that entire section of scripture deals with how we are to love others - even those who hate us and wish us harm - we are called to walk with love as a guide. when we think of "cores" many do not think love is a core - but i think it is the very core of our faith. in my mind, i do not believe we can say "i love jesus" if we do not love others.
1 comment:
Amen. I think you would be correct.
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