“Do you really believe?”
Last month, a dear colleague of mine asked me this question. It got me thinking about my faith journey. Here is the story.
I was standing nearby as my colleague retrieved a spoon from our communal plastic cutlery bin. An unrepentant jokester, she licked the spoon and asked if I wanted to use it. I laughed as I told another colleague who happened to be walking by that I’d just caught madam jokester licking all the cutlery.
The first words out of my dear colleague’s mouth were, and you just posted an announcement for a workplace prayer group! I smiled and told her I have never claimed perfection. We joked that this is how those pesky hydra-headed rumours get started. That from licking plastic spoons, it would be that I had caught her licking staplers in the copy room. Mid-laugh, my colleague’s expression turned serious. It was then she asked the question.
Instead of offering a possible conversation stopping yes, I found myself telling her that although I grew up in the Church, I have not always believed. But that now, I can’t imagine doing life without Jesus Christ. That even if at the end of the day God was a myth, and the Bible a collection of made up stories, I would have lost nothing.
For the first time, my colleague told me how she also grew up in the Church. She had stopped attending because the people she encountered there did not reflect the Saviour they professed, the Saviour she wanted to serve. Sadly, her reason for stepping away from the Church is exceedingly common.
I walked after from that conversation and prayed the words I spoke become germinated seeds. The experience served a reminder that I cannot forget that there is sterling integrity attached to the name of Jesus Christ. People are watching. They instinctively hold Christians to higher standards. I must ask myself, even on my worst days, whose grace and mercies do I reflect?
To be in the position to answer the questions which will come our way, to grow in His likeness, we should know the basis of our faith. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God. And as His children, surely we want to please Him?
I pray that we get to bask in His peace as we continue our journeys.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.