don't be easily moved

While it is good for us to remember that our thoughts are unfinished it's also important to not be easily moved from beliefs that we have, and in another sense we're not to be moved at all from the faith which we have in Jesus.

There are what we might call first level beliefs, such as our faith in Jesus as he is revealed to us in Scripture, our faith in God and in what he has done for us in Jesus, etc. These are beliefs we hold to in our commitment to Jesus. We believe them because they are an inherent part of the faith, and of our faith.

Our understanding of these beliefs can be changed, but shouldn't be easily changed. So we need to be those who are not easily moved, because after all there are other Jesus' being proclaimed other than the real Jesus. And there are other spirits who are speaking to people than the Holy Spirit of God. However we should be growing in our understanding of the meaning of what we hold to be true, expressed for some of us Christians in creedal form, and for others of us in basic statements or confessions of faith in regard to what we believe to be essential.

This should include other areas as well. What we believe in regard to politics for example (to pick up a hot potato) should be related to what we believe concerning the faith. While Christians will agree on certain essentials of the faith such as the centrality of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, etc., our understanding of what the revelation God has given to us in Scripture means for us in the here and now will differ sometimes in quite significant ways. So that while one Christian leans Democrat, the other leans Republican. Or as I know firsthand, while one Christian will go to war and do the duty of the state if need be, another Christian will not take up arms. Etc.

This is a bit of a balance perhaps to the post recently on unfinished thoughts. We need to be open to see the faith we believe in in new ways and applications to our lives and life in general for Christians here and now. But we need to not easily be moved from most of what we believe or have come to believe to that point. A good majority of that will never change, only our understanding of it in the light of everything else will grow. An exception for me is the importance I saw for the first time some years back in regard to the kingdom of God come in Jesus. This did revolutionize my thinking, yet my basic beliefs from Scripture remained unchanged. Though my understanding of the whole, the Story of God was changed in helping me see it better, I believe, with reference to all of Scripture. This is a big subject and I'm still working on it as I simply read the word, and interact with the thoughts of authors.

But my main point here is- knowing that we won't be moved at all in our faith in Jesus, we're not to be easily moved without good reason in our beliefs pertaining to that, always testing everything by God's word, and holding on in some shape and form to all we believe. Part of that is learning to let go, downplay or agree to disagree on beliefs that aren't that important such as how we fulfill water baptism, what we believe in regard to the truth of Jesus' Second Coming, etc. Interpretations Christians differ on about truths on which we generally agree.

Hope this post is not confusing. Do you have any questions or thoughts on this subject? What do you think about this?