I was listening to Rush Limbaugh recently. (OK, keep reading.) He was talking about a speech he gave to the Conservative Political Action Conference. He said he does all of his speeches virtually extemporaneously because he does not need a teleprompter to tell him what he believes. He said his core beliefs are so ingrained in his being he knows them by heart.
That got me thinking. Do I have a set of core beliefs that are so ingrained in my being I could boil them down to a few well delivered points? If a stranger approached me on the street would I be able to articulate in less than five minutes What I Believe? (Notice the capital letters. They are on purpose to differentiate Important Core Values vs. other things I happen to believe. Like: two ply is better than one; and small yappy dogs are annoying). How do I take a subject this important and do it justice? Luckily, last night I had a dream. I happen to come up with some of my best ideas while dreaming. With your indulgence, here is my list.
1) God is in heaven. Whether I believe in Him or not does not change who he is and where he is.
2) God loves me. Whether I acknowledge him or not his character does not change.
3) There will be judgment. (Keep reading.) People don’t like this one. We have become too comfortable with the notion we can do our own thing as long as our actions don’t hurt anyone else. The problem with that is modern culture does not dictate truth. And the truth is one day I will have to give an account for my actions on earth. Either I will be eternally separated from God, or ushered into his very presence in paradise. This leads to number four.
4) Jesus. One word. I don’t have enough time or space here to describe the significance of this one word. People spend their whole lives studying the spiritual, historical, and personal consequences of this word. Suffice it to say Jesus is the foundation of my faith and central to everything else I believe in. As it relates to the above, Jesus said of himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me". (John 14:6) Whether I accept it or not, this is the truth. Which leads to number five.
5) Choice. Choice is an action. We consciously weigh the risks and rewards or our choices and act upon them every day. I’ve thought a lot about one through four above. I choose to believe, or not. I choose to acknowledge, or not. I choose to accept, or not. And what I choose regarding one through four above has eternal consequences. I’ve weighed the risks and rewards and made my choice.
If you haven’t done it already, I encourage you to write down a list of your core beliefs. The very act of making a list gives clarity to your beliefs. It refines them and makes them more “real” to you. The list may change over time, as it should. We grow in wisdom and deepen our understanding of things around us – seen and unseen. Plus, a list allows us to speak extemporaneously to the Things That Really Matter, without needing a teleprompter.
