“…even if you do not believe me, believe the evidence of the miracles, that you may learn and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (Jn 10.38).
One of my favourite scenes from a film is from Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams (watch clip – this will take you to another website). The premise is that the farmer, Ray, removes acres of corn from his fields to construct a baseball diamond for players who died before they could achieve their baseball dreams. Each night the diamond fills with these mysterious people who play hours of baseball before disappearing back into the corn when finished. But not everyone can see the players. Ray’s brother-in-law can’t see them, he can only see how the loss of the corn is causing the family to lose the farm. One afternoon when one of the players steps off the field to assist an injured child, the brother-in-law is finally able to ‘see’ the players – and his understanding of reality is instantly changed.
It is striking how the way we view reality shapes the way we think. Like the brother-in-law in the film, whose perception of reality did not include the possibility that dead baseball players would come back to play a meta-physical game in a redesigned corn-field in the middle of Iowa, we all have expectations of reality that are based on what we believe.
Belief provides the context on which we build our view of reality. What we believe determines how we think, which determines how we live. Belief leads to understanding. Learning more from the One we believe, helps us grow into greater understanding.
I remember the first time I heard someone say that God is good. I had been a Christian for a long time but the idea that God is good had not yet penetrated through my false perceptions of God as being angry at people – angry at me (see post). Hearing this statement challenged me to investigate the Scriptures. What I found there led me to reconsider the conclusions I had come to about God. I realised that I needed to adjust my beliefs so they would be in line with His nature; rather than being in line my broken perceptions of his nature. Through making this adjustment, I have grown in a deeper, more complete understanding of God, myself and the world around me.
I also remember when I first came across someone with a genuine prophetic gifting. I had never experienced a conversation with someone who had such supernatural insight into the secrets of my heart. Whereas I had been taught this type of spiritual activity was not to be trusted, and therefore, should be avoided; the clarity and accuracy I experienced was undeniable. I again found myself searching the Scriptures for wisdom as I learned more about how God speaks through his people.
I’ll never forget the first few miraculous healings I witnessed. Again, I had grown up in a belief system that did not presume God actually wanted people to be well. For me, sickness and disease were a part of life and we simply had to do our best with what life [fate] brought us. But when I encountered a church that took seriously the fact that Jesus’ work on the cross was for, in the same measure, our diseases as well as our sin (Ps 103.3) I was, again, challenged to reconsider my perceptions. When I witnessed a woman who had been paralysed get up out of her wheelchair and run across a stage, I entered a new paradigm that challenged me to re-learn what I believe. (Read post: This will take you to another blog site).
This is, I think, what Jesus was trying to communicate. God desires all people to be in relationship with him so he speaks in various ways to communicate his love and desire for relationship. Outside that relationship people have varying degrees of hard-heartedness, but a willingness to hear, see and respond to the message of God enables our hearts to recognise his voice and respond with belief. On this foundation of belief we are able to learn more about God’s nature, his character and his ways which, in turn, influences our understanding of who He is, who we are and how life in His Kingdom operates.
Knowing Who we believe, rather than what we believe, helps us settle into a posture of intimacy with the Father in which he provides a peace that goes beyond what we can define with our understanding (Phil 4.7). In this relationship of trust, Jesus promises that, when we come to him we will learn from him (Mt 11.28-29). Belief in Jesus compels us, entices us and draws us into deeper experiences with him.
We don’t believe because we understand; we understand because we believe. Therefore, it is essential that we know WHO it is we believe, rather than simply what we believe. The more we are with him, the more we learn (Jn 15.15). The more we learn, the more we understand.
Believe, Learn and Understand.