Beliefs
The beliefs behind how I live and what I build.
These are not finished answers. They are what I believe today, the standards I try to live by, and the things I am willing to keep questioning when I find something that challenges them.
I am not a Christian. I am a follower of Christ.
Christian is a label. Following Christ is a commitment I have to choose every day.
It requires me to put down what I want when I believe God is asking something different of me. To sacrifice my pride, comfort, desires, and certainty when they stand between me and where He is leading.
I do not always get it right. I do not always want to do it. That is part of what makes it a commitment.
I believe God is here to have a one-on-one relationship with us. I do not believe I need a church, pastor, denomination, or any other person standing between God and me.
I read the Bible. I pray. I ask questions. I talk to God directly. Other people can teach me something. They can challenge me. They can show me something I missed. But they cannot have my relationship with God for me.
I have to seek Him myself. I have to ask the questions myself. I have to listen. And ultimately, I have to choose whether I am going to follow where He leads.
I am not interested in wearing the label. I want to follow Him.
Scarcity is a lie.
“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
Exodus 16:18
This verse drives the way I understand abundance. When I read it, I see people gathering according to their ability and everyone having enough. The people who gathered much did not end with more. The people who gathered little did not go without.
Some people have more strength, time, knowledge, money, or opportunity in a particular season. That does not mean everything they gather was meant only for them. Sometimes you are able to gather more because someone else cannot. What passes through your hands may be part of how God provides for another person.
The other side matters too. You can gather more money, power, attention, and possessions than you could ever use and still convince yourself you need more. Enough never arrives when the purpose is accumulation. There will always be another number. Another thing. Another reason to hold what you have because you are afraid there will not be enough tomorrow.
I do not believe God calls us to live that way. Faith allows me to gather what I can, use what I need, share what I can, and trust God for tomorrow.
Abundance that stops with us becomes appetite. Abundance that moves through us becomes provision.
God provides. We decide whether what passes through our hands stops with us.
Truth can survive inspection.
I want to know what is true more than I want to protect what I already believe. That applies to my faith, my work, the things I build, and the ideas I have about the world.
Questions are not threats. Evidence that challenges me is not disrespect. Finding out I was wrong means I can stop carrying something false.
I do not want to build a worldview that only survives when nobody is allowed to touch it. If I believe something is true, I should be willing to examine it.
That means looking for evidence against my own position. It means listening when someone sees something I missed. It means admitting when an experiment failed instead of changing the story afterward. It means being willing to say I do not know.
A confident answer is not the same as a true one. A popular belief is not the same as a true one. My own belief is not true simply because it is mine.
Truth can survive inspection. So inspect it.
Belief should become action.
What I believe should eventually show up in the way I live. Otherwise it is just something I say.
If I believe knowledge should be shared, I should teach what I learn. If I believe abundance should move through people, I should share what I gather. If I believe a problem should be solved and I have the ability to do something about it, I should begin. If I believe God has placed something in my hands for a reason, I am responsible for what I do with it.
That is what I mean when I say:
Build the world you want to live in.
I do not mean that I control the world or know what the future should be. I mean I am responsible for the part I can see.
There are problems I understand because of the life I have lived. There are things I have learned that another person has not had the opportunity to learn yet. There are tools available to me that were not available to the people who came before me. There are things I can build today that I could not have built a few years ago.
I should use them. Not because everything I build will work. Not because every idea I have is right. Because belief without action leaves the world exactly as I found it.
I want to leave something useful behind. I want the person who comes after me to begin further ahead than I did. I want what I gather to help someone else gather for themselves. I want to use what God has placed in my hands well.
That is the standard.
Follow Christ.
Seek the truth.
Share what you gather.
Build what you can.
And give the glory to God.
Build the world you want to live in.
Follow Christ. Seek the truth. Share what you gather.