That's what I've been asking myself for the past two weeks. I think that is an important question for any Christian to ponder. Especially as Christians, we need to know what we believe and why we believe it. Since I am working on a new ministry, this is something I definitely need to know. Part of the process of starting a nonprofit ministry is developing a statement of faith.

If you have been to any church or ministry website, you have probably seen their statement of faith or their beliefs. The belief statement of a church or ministry does not just come out of thin air. Obviously, if a church or ministry is biblically sound, their belief statement is based on scripture, but that statement still needs to be written. For many churches or ministries that come out of a denomination or group of ministries, they can just copy the statement of faith from the parent organization because they most likely already agree with that statement. However, some ministries do not want to be affiliated with a specific denomination or parent group, so they have to develop their own. Since my ministry will be a stand-alone organization, I went with the latter option.

Even though I want to have my own statement of faith, I don't have to completely start from scratch. What I decided to do was copy the statement of faith from several organizations that I respect and sort of use those as a guide as I write what I believe in my own words. Of course, what I've learned from studying the Bible and my seminary studies also comes in handy. It also doesn't hurt that I took some theology courses and that this is a subject I have always been passionate about.

That is what I have been working on. I am not done with my statement of faith yet; I probably need another week and a half to really get it just right. After that, it's probably going to be a month or two before I even share it. I am also in the process of getting a large group of friends together at the beginning of August to help me develop a ministry plan. I hope that out of those friends, I'll be able to select members for a board of directors, which is a necessity for a nonprofit organization. Once I have established a board of directors, they will then need to vote on this statement of faith.

Now that you know how I have been occupying my time, I want to ask you a question: Do you really know what you believe? Do you think it's even important to know what you believe? Hopefully you know exactly what you believe, and you realize how important it is to know that. Sadly, many Christians don't really take the time to figure out what they believe or why they believe it. As Christians, we need to take the time to read the word of God to help us understand what we believe. This isn't just reading it as fast as you can so you can put a check mark next to your daily Bible reading. It means searching the scriptures and verifying what you hear. Take the example in the following verse:

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. – Acts 17:11

I have always liked this example of the Bereans in Acts 17. They did not respond to the gospel with just a feeling. They did not respond out of their cultural or political presuppositions. They did not respond with a happy dance. They responded by examining the scriptures. To determine what to believe, they used God's word as their guide. As a result, they were considered more noble because of how they approached matters regarding truth. If every Christian verified what every different source wanted them to believe as truth against scripture, there would be a lot more discernment, wisdom, and maturity among Christians. Maybe it is something you hear at church, from a friend, or on TV. Maybe it is something you read in a book or online. Whatever it is, I think it is important to examine scriptures and verify that something that is presented as truth lines up with it.

Sadly, most Christians don't invest time into reading the scriptures, something that is important for their continued spiritual growth. As a result, they don't have a firm grasp on what they believe. This can be very dangerous. Since we are constantly bombarded with the ideals of a secular culture, if we are not filling our minds with scripture, it gets a lot harder to filter out the bad. Not only that, but false teachers disguise what they teach to look like truth so if you are less familiar with the truths of scripture it gets easier to accept what is false as truth, even unintentionally. That's why the Bereans are such a good example. When somebody tells you something that they say comes from scripture, you should be willing to examine the scriptures to verify these things. This will require less work as you become more familiar with scripture, but it is still important so you know what to believe and what not to believe.

Consider these verses:

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. – Romans 8:6

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:2

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. – Matthew 7:15

The things of the world are passing away and setting the mind on those things only leads to death. We should not be placing our minds on these things. Instead, we should set our minds on things that are above. Thinking about spiritual things as revealed in God's word leads to life and peace. If you are constantly hearing what the world thinks and you are not taking the time to read scripture and fill your mind with spiritual truth, it will corrupt your mind. Just like spending time with bad company can corrupt your morals, spending time with worldly ideals and false teachings can corrupt your mind, especially if you don't know what you believe. If you don't know the truth that well, it is harder to recognize what is false. Remember, false teachers look like Christians, but they are really wolves on the inside. Ultimately, the corruption from being surrounded by what is worldly or false can affect the quality of your walk with God and put you on unstable ground in your faith. In the parable of the two builders, Jesus made it clear that we need to build our lives on the solid foundation of scripture. Failure to study scripture only means that you are building on a foundation of sand.

So, what do you believe? Is what you believe truly based on scripture? Do you need to be more diligent at examining the scriptures? Even for a seasoned Christian, the answer could be yes. I know there have been seasons of my life where I've been less diligent at studying scripture than I should have been. Let this be an encouragement to you to keep up the Bible reading. And, when you read it, don't just gloss over it, try to understand what God wants you to know through the text. As a result, you'll know exactly what you believe and why you believe it.