Sermon Archive

Belief Systems

Theme for tonight is “TV said it so it must be true!”

How do you respond to that? Hopefully with contempt but we’re going to look at Belief Systems – what one is and what influences what I believe, how our belief system comes about and how it affects us.

The aims of the night are:

To raise awareness of the things that influence what we believe
To look at why we believe what we believe so that we are equipped to fulfil

2 Peter 3:15 – “always be ready to give a reason for the hope/faith/belief you have within you.”

To examine our own belief systems and work towards how we build a godly belief system for ourselves

We start with a “FRIENDS” VIDEO CLIP: looking at what a belief system is. (Ross’ fervent belief in evolution is challenged by Phoebe who asks if he’s so arrogant that he couldn’t accept that there could be other explanations for humanity – he crumbles and she says, “I can’t believe you caved! You just abandoned your whole belief system. Before I didn’t agree with you but at least I respected you!”) Going to leave you thinking about a couple of things from that: What’s Ross’s belief system? What’s yours? and How would what you believe in stand up to a challenge like that? Can you be sure that what you believe is right or true, and how?

This has hopefully got you thinking already. It’s a big topic for a Sunday night so let’s ask God to give us insight and show us something important tonight:

Father, Help us to recognise what we believe and where those beliefs come from, Help us to grasp the things we discuss tonight and to build our belief system on you. Help us to search for truth well and, Lord, increase our faith in who you are. Lord, we do believe, help us overcome our areas of unbelief. Amen.

WHAT IS A BELIEF SYSTEM?

What do we mean by beliefs and belief systems?

1) The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another:

My belief in you is as strong as ever.

2) Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.

3) Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

4) A vague idea in which some confidence is placed; "it strengthened my belief in his sincerity"; "I had a feeling that she was lying" - impression, notion, feeling, intuition, hunch, thought, suspicion, opinion, idea.

Belief System: Complete confidence in a person or plan: doctrine, “-ism”, philosophy, a system of belief accepted as authoritative by some group, any personal belief about how to live or deal with a situation.

A series of ideas organized in the Mind to project an image of what is ‘Real’.

A shared system of beliefs and values that systematically define a way of perceiving the social, cultural, physical and psychological world.

A system of values that are applied to meet a culture's needs

Synonyms: belief, credence, credit, faith. These nouns denote mental acceptance of the truth, actuality or validity of something: a statement unworthy of belief; an idea steadily gaining credence; testimony meriting credit.

A belief system is essentially the thoughts that we put our faith in and live our lives by, the beliefs that we build our lives upon. A belief system is the understanding that we operate out of and the set of beliefs that determine our world view.

DO I NEED ONE? WHY?

There is a saying “If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for everything”. Element of truth. Without knowing what we believe and why, we can easily fall into the double-mindedness Helen spoke of over the last couple of weeks.

Being sure of what you believe brings stability . If you don’t have a belief system you’ll be blown about, not sure of anything, which is the reality for many people around us.

Maybe you’re not sure what you believe because you’ve never really been challenged to think about it. Perhaps what you believe changes frequently as your experiences have a say. If so then having a godly belief system will help us to search for truth in a deliberate way, wanting to have honesty and integrity about what we believe.

Some things that we believe we don’t discover until we have to deal with them, like being faced with abortion/euthanasia – ethics next week. But having a belief system in place will give us boundaries and methods for figuring out how we come to those conclusions.

We need to recognise our need for a belief system because consciously or sub-consciously it is the thing that determines our whole outlook on life. It will affect our relationships, influence our decision making and the choices we make. It will contribute to our identity.

Take Ross for example. His belief system is “evolution is unquestionable, the truth”. That belief system is going to affect his whole life. In a later episode he discusses his belief that from an evolutionary/anthropological viewpoint monogamy (faithfulness to one partner) is a difficult concept to live out. So how’s this particular belief, rooted in his bigger belief system of science, going to affect his relationships? Is he going to be a faithful partner/ husband if even on a subconscious level he is agreeing with his belief system that monogamy is too cruel a rule? Ross in fact sleeps with several women throughout the series.

Take another character, like Phoebe. In one episode she won’t go to the dentist because she believes that every time she goes to the dentist someone dies. So take a person with a superstitious belief system and you’ll end up with someone crazy and paranoid, driven by a belief system that causes chaos and pain!

So if someone has a godly belief system, how will they turn out?

What about if it becomes too religious rather than based on a loving God?

What about a struggling Christian who believes that God is full of anger and judgement?

And where are you in this?

HAVE I GOT ONE? HOW DO I KNOW WHAT MY BELIEF SYSTEM IS?

You might be thinking that Christianity is obviously your belief system. You believe in God. Great but many people who believe in God’s existence don’t have the same belief system. There’s an element of interpretation. Probably true for most of us here that Christianity or “the Bible” is what we would imagine our belief system to be but what does it mean? And how does it affect your everyday living? What we believe will be reflected in so many ways: our view of God, relationships, our self image, politics, ethics, etc.

It’s highly likely that many of us have never really thought through what we believe. It amazes me that we assume we all believe the same thing because we’re Christians but when you consider all the different ways that we accumulate our beliefs it seems impossible to pinpoint one system. Yet there must be things at the very core that are non-negotiable beliefs that unite us. We just might not have been consciously aware of our beliefs system or our process of deciding what we believe.

Sometimes we discover what we believe best when we’re challenged about it. I want us to challenge our beliefs for ourselves tonight and beyond. Because what we believe will affect everything!

We find out what our belief system is by looking at what we believe, why we believe it and how it affects everything else! So...

WHERE DO MY BELIEFS COME FROM?

ONE FACTOR/EXAMPLE: OLD WIVES TALES/CHILDHOOD/FAMILY MOTTOES

Discuss: Have you seen the book “Great lies to tell your kids”? E.g., if you eat apple pips an apple tree will grow out of your belly! “Traumatise and psychologically damage your child” might be a better title!

What were some of the weird and wonderful things you were led to believe when you were a child? E.g., Eat your crusts and you’ll get curly hair. – What beliefs did you absorb? Why did you believe it? What did you believe in?

Feedback: Why did you believe those things? What did you believe in? E.g., Santa, tooth fairy, Easter bunny. What made you stop believing or what happened when you stopped believing? And what about Jesus? What made you carry on believing or did you stop? What was the difference?

How might a childhood belief develop and affect the adult they become?

E.g., a child who believed walking under a ladder was bad luck?

We can fall into the trap of building our belief system on the things we absorb from childhood/from TV/from our churches. Could be good or could be damaging.

Paul says “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put childish ways behind me.” 1 Cor 13:11 Our reasoning needs to move on. Our belief system may need to move on.

For some of us this may be necessary in the beliefs we hold about ourselves. If you’re told you’re stupid enough you may believe it and let that form the basis of your belief system. Never try anything because you’ll probably fail. Maybe it’s time to be unfaithful to some of the things we were led to believe then, to stop being faithful to outdated beliefs.

This might feel weird and like you’re betraying something you always believed. But it’s ok to challenge your own belief system before someone else does. I’m doing it right now. Coming into KIWI CULTURE!!! It’s making me challenge my British belief system – “I can’t do this cos I’m a Brit” vs. “Get over it”!!!

It does make you feel a bit vulnerable but it’s also incredibly freeing to challenge yourself about what you believe. Also look at some of the things from childhood that were the basis of your belief system. E.g., “I mustn’t ever cry in front of people” – crap!

I don’t want to be hindered or crippled by a belief system that shuts me down, takes me further away from God. I want one that sets me free and brings me closer to God. And if that means swallowing my pride and changing what I think then I will. What will I be faithful to? This challenge might mean breaking faith in old lies.

SO WHAT’S INFLUENCING MY BELIEFS? Not just childhood, although one part of it. What else influences our belief system? TV?!

MINDMAP – in order to help us find out what’s influencing us let’s mind map a bit.

Family influence, old wives tales, what else? Mind map at tables and feedback.

(See chart at the end of these notes)

What about you? Can you identify some of the influences on how you have constructed your belief system?

Because I grew up in the martial arts arena I was told that pain wasn’t real, it was a figment of my imagination. If you’re told a lie enough you start to believe it. Consequently, if I was injured I was led to believe that it didn’t hurt and it was in my head and the pain’s not there. Unfortunately, believing this led me to ignore my body when I was injured which then led to further damage. I had a whole belief system around having to be tough, that crying was for the weak, that pain was an illusion. It’s taken a long time to be set free from that belief system which was deeply ingrained. I’m still on a journey and in the process of deconstructing the remains of that ungodly belief system in order to rebuild one built on what God says about those things.

For some of us it’s time to put our belief system under the microscope so that if we need to we can do away with troubling beliefs and rebuild on solid foundations. It’s also time to be really positive and affirm what we do believe and look at why we believe it.

But what about those influenced by Christian culture? Christian teaching? Our Christian belief system? 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Test everything, hold on to the good, avoid every kind of evil.” Carefully weigh things up. Just because a TV preacher said it, doesn’t make it true. Toxic religion binds and removes you from God. Godly belief systems will bring you closer and help you make godly decisions.

HOW DO I PRIORITISE WHAT INFLUENCES MY BELIEFS?

As you look at the chart and order the biggest influences are there any surprises?

How we have prioritised may reveal/determine our subconscious values!

What is the basic recurring challenge?

HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT/TRUE?

Big questions to which the philosophers here will all be itching to hypothesise about!

How do we know what is ABSOLUTE? Post-modern world says everything’s right or nothing is right/true. Very little correct and incorrect answers. In teaching I was told, “Don’t put a cross next to a wrong answer because they are entitled to their opinion of what is right”. CRAP! We need absolutes. What impact does a lack of absolutes have? Too many choices, no right and wrong, no morals, no guidance, no boundaries. Confusion from bunny brain – too many options so I’ll just freeze in the headlights.

Don’t stand for anything so I’ll fall for everything. Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Scientists might say what’s proven true by testing, repeating, concluding: knowledge/facts/truth is gained by those tests.

Philosophers might say by what I’ve experienced.

But basically, our belief systems are formed by FAITH and what we are personally convicted of and committed to. Philosophers/Theologians may decide that we can’t trust our experiences or ourselves so we must place our trust in something beyond us. Even a scientist begins with a hunch, an intuition, a belief, faith that something is so, that gets confirmed by repeated experimentation. The first person to eat an egg must have had faith!!!

How have you arranged your own search for the truth?

Knowledge comes from a willingness to personally commit to something. All belief systems start as a stab in the dark based on the things we’ve looked at. Those things can help us to reason why we believe what we believe. But the bottom line is FAITH.

Faith in who? What?

SO, HOW DO WE BUILD A GODLY BELIEF SYSTEM? ON WHO OR WHAT CAN I BUILD MY GODLY BELIEF SYSTEM?

FAITH –

“Blessed are those who believe yet have not seen.” John 20:29.

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

Reasons for believing in Jesus in JOHN’s gospel:

10:37 – did what God did

10:38 – believe miracles

13:19 – scripture/prophesy fulfilled

14:6 – stands up to claims

14:10-11 – evidence of miracles

16:29 -31 – explained truth

20:27 post resurrection appearance to Thomas

JOHN: Testimony – 19:35

Gospel written that we might believe – 20:31

Testimony, eye-witness accounts, gospel written that we might believe, evidence of miracles, weighing up if Jesus stands up to his claims, prophecy fulfilled. History, martyrs, personal experience/subjective witness, supernatural, sustainable tradition, testimony, people I trust.

WHAT ABOUT WHEN IT GOES WRONG? WHEN I WANT TO BELIEVE BUT IT’S NOT MY EXPERIENCE?

E.g., would like to believe in miracles or healing but it hasn’t happened.

Does experience alone dictate what is true?

Does an experience that does/does not happen once mean it will always be that way? Don’t build a belief system on one-offs!

Mis-belief corrupts us this way. E.g.,. My experience told me I failed my driving test so I’m never gonna pass it. I might as well give up. I’ll always fail.

My experience tells me I prayed and nothing happened (at least not MY way and in MY time) so I might as well not pray, God never answers. Are you in the relationship with God just for what you want to get out of it? For a genie God?

Raising the dead?! Why do you believe you will? Keep praying! When I started to pray there were plenty of people who didn’t get healed but then some did. Same with the dead...Why do I believe? Cos I have faith in what Jesus said. Doesn’t mean I’m not in reality but if I expect nothing I’ll get nothing!

“Without faith it is impossible to please God – anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 Are you seeking the truth with faith?

ALL COMES DOWN TO CHOICE

Mainly own free will, choice. What beliefs are you willing to test/surrender?

What are you putting your trust in as your source of truth?

What are you personally prepared to commit to?

What do you have faith in? Are you making your beliefs or are your beliefs making you?

WHAT ARE THE NON-NEGOTIABLES IN YOUR BELIEFS ABOUT GOD?

Creed (from Latin credo “I believe”) – earliest formulated set of beliefs written down.

Figuring out what we believe often happens when we’re confronted with a challenge. That’s how the earliest creeds were put together. APOSTLES CREED came about to provide a basis of common belief. Later the NICENE CREED came about because of arguments that challenged those beliefs. The early church Fathers worked hard at creating a belief system for the Christian faith. Foundational beliefs. May be working through what your Christian belief system looks like. Here’s a good starting point!

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended into hell.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come 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.

Probably something’s in there that we’re not sure about! Challenge you to have a look at the foundational beliefs of Christianity – a good starting point! Easy to assume we have the same belief system. Later looking at forming a godly one but here’s a starting point. But I want to encourage you to challenge yourself and your own belief system tonight.

Rich Mullins wrote:
“I believe what I believe, it’s what makes me what I am,

And I did not make it, no, it is making me,

And it’s the very truth of God not the invention of any man”

Time to reflect and to personally commit to your central beliefs.

On a large sheet with cross drawn on: one side is for old beliefs, second for renewed beliefs. Write on the left side of the cross - beliefs I have held on to but now want to relinquish about God or myself. Things I want to confess and relinquish unbelief about...

On the left side of the cross write in the things I want to put my trust in God for, what I want to experience, what I am definitely committed to.

(NOTE: chart below will help you to see what’s affecting your thinking/belief system most predominantly. Challenge yourself as to the validity of the sources of your beliefs. Ask God to reveal himself to you in a way that gives you a firm foundation on which to build your faith)

What’s impacting my belief system?

14 things that may be influencing my belief system...	My priority number	What questions may be asked to challenge this idea as a valid influence in your belief system?
FAMILY MOTTOES – Old wives tales, traditions from upbringing, family “habits” of belief, engrained “truth”
“EVIDENCE” – Historical documents, eye-witness accounts, “reliable” sources
MY OWN INNER THINKING – Feelings, emotional based reasoning, imagination, identity, “I feel it so it must be right/true”
BOOKS – Bible, other holy scriptures, poetry, historical/religious epics
PRESSURE – Peer pressure, brainwashing, indoctrination, toxic teaching, fear, doubt (reinforced or challenged)
MY OWN CHOICE/FREEWILL – Independent conclusions, “I can believe whatever I want/choose to believe”
CULTURE/TRADITION – Racial background, socio-economic, nationality, denomination
PEOPLE I TRUST – Parents, teachers, ministers, doctors, “experts”
LIFE EXPERIENCES – Whatever’s worked, trial and error, “what life has taught me must be true”, Pos/neg life experiences
DEMOCRATIC RULE – The masses must be right, majority vote, mob rule, follow the crowd
EDUCATION SYSTEM – Godly/ungodly? Secular, scientific, humanism, arts based, experiential
POPULAR OPINION – pop culture, TV, media, advertising, song lyrics, magazine polls
PHILOSOPHY – western mindset, New Age, subtle influences
SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE – Personal faith, vision, revelation, mysticism, dreams, prayer