Faith or Superstition

"I have noticed something specific to religious people who do not walk with God. They cannot tell the difference between legitimate faith and superstition."       –Beth Moore

    

     As I read this the other morning, I couldn’t help but think one simple word:  ouch! Which was quickly followed by another question: how many times have I been at a dormant state in my walk and made that very same mistake?

     Of course I can’t pin point an exact time in particular. I do know that I identified with this statement. Although, I’m not completely sure why. Maybe because I’m sure there’s been numerous times that I bought into superstition and mistook it as having a genuine faith. Or maybe it’s because I don’t want to make that mistake in the future.

     Either way, as Christians we need to be aware o our mind sets. Are we going to be confused by superstition or will we be confident in a faith that cannot be shaken? My hope is for the latter to be the reality for myself, and for the entire body of Christ.

     The real question is this:  how do I keep myself from getting true, genuine faith and superstition confused? Another question to ask yourself is:  how do I break the confusion, how can I learn to tell the difference? I believe that there are a few ways to answer both of these questions.

     The fist is by daily getting into the Word of God. How better to learn the facts about life and faith than by going directly to the source of ultimate truth? There’s also no better way to fight a superstition either. We, as Christians, are called to challenge everything. If we aren’t in the Word daily, then how would we be able to defend ourselves and our beliefs? It’s simple, we can’t. For this reason it is essential for us to be in the Word. If we aren’t it’ll be that much easier for us to lose track of God’s truth and grasp superstition instead.

     Another way to test whether something is superstition or if it is genuine truth on which to build faith is through prayer. Not just prayer, but also through listening for an answer. There’s nothing more powerful then going away, setting apart time, going into solitude, praying your heart out to God, soaking in his presence and waiting on God to answer. If we are to be able to discern what is superstition and what is not, prayer needs to be a life-style and not just something we do in an emergency. Living a life-style of prayer also helps us to get to know God and His will for us better.

     In order to have a well-balanced opinion of what sincere faith looks like, we must be involved in a community of fellow believers. By being involved in a community, we are opening ourselves up to others helping us mold our view of faith. Without a community of fellow Christ followers we can easily lose perspective and begin to believe in superstitions.

     Along with living in a community of Christ followers comes accountability. Or doing life with someone to the point of sharing everything, especially our failures. Doing life with a fellow Christ follower allows us the chance to openly question anything, without having to fear of judgment. We are told that iron sharpens iron, so by discussion topics such as Christ, sin, life struggles, death, and our spiritual walk with a fellow believer it gives us strength to face superstitions head on.

     Also, we must do yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, and sometimes hourly self “diagnostic” tests. We should consistently be looking for places where we are allowing superstitions, mistakes, misunderstandings, hurt feelings to prohibit us from listening to God and following the direction He’s giving to us. I urge all of us Christ followers to take self-diagnostics of our hearts, minds, motivations, actions, words, and of our entire lives. This will take prayer, and is bound to hurt sometimes, but without growing pains, we will never grow.

     With Christ, superstitions are nullified. Living a life fully for Christ would mean reading God’s Word daily, worshipping Him daily, praying AND listening to God continuously, living life in a community, and having an accountability partner with whom you can share anything and everything.

     Is this something that I myself have mastered? Absolutely not! Like most of my writings, this comes from what I am learning in my own life as well. I know that I’m learning it for a reason, and my findings are bound to help someone else. Only by the grace of the Almighty God can I come to you and share what He is teaching me right now. I hope in some way this will help you as well.