“Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice.” -Proverbs 1:20
So many voices, who do I listen to?
I have always easily become overwhelmed when multiple tasks or competing priorities require my attention at once. Some of my friends thrive in these situations, but I have never enjoyed them. It feels as if I am in the center of a room with a crowd yelling different things at me, each insisting that their issue or task is the most important.
It is not much different as we travel through life. There are many voices that accompany us along the way. These voices vary in both their intensity and content. They start from the moment of our birth and continue until our death, continuously making their claims and insisting on their veracity. Some of these voices are genuine, but the information they provide is steeped in falsehood. Others have no idea what they’re saying, or don’t even believe it themselves, like a salesperson selling goods that they would never purchase.
Not only are there multiple voices to choose from, but there are also multiple methods for these voices to reach us. These include the marketplace, radio, TV, phones, tablets, schools, universities, religion, parents, friends, media, advertisements, internet, teachers, books, magazines, peer pressure, and many others.
These voices speak on a wide range of topics in life, offering us a multitude of choices. They address how we should live, what is right and wrong, what to learn, where to work, what to eat, what to wear, what is equal and diverse, whom to listen to, whom to love, whom to fight, whom to follow, and so on. But there are some topics that are particularly meaningful to me. For example, does God exist? And if so, where is He, and what is His name?
What do you think about God?
Obviously, I don’t want to delve into each of these topics, but instead, I want to focus on the voice of truth about God, or what others might refer to as the Creator of the Universe. I bring up the topic of God because I believe that our stance on this issue greatly influences how we make choices among the multitude of other life topics. Think of it as the ‘Master topic’ that governs many of the other topics in life (for those ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans, it’s like the ‘One ring to rule them all’).
Regardless of our differences, each of us has made a decision, whether openly or secretly, about the existence of God. Some people claim to believe in God and live their lives according to that belief (without getting into the various options regarding which God they believe in). Some people say that there is no God. Others admit that they are uncertain and struggle with which belief to embrace. Another group acknowledges the existence of God but disagrees with what God has to say. Yet another group (probably the most deceived of all) claims to believe in God and identifies as part of a religious organization (such as a church, mosque, temple, etc.), but their actions and overall lifestyle show no evidence of this claimed belief, leading many to question the authenticity of their faith. You can call yourself a lion all you want, but the traits that define a lion must also be present. Finally, there may be a last group that simply doesn’t care either way.
What I am trying to highlight is that what we decide about our idea of God (no matter what it is, be it indecision, ignorance, or complacence), affects many of our other choices in this life. How I live my life, how I use my money, what I consider to be good, what I consider to be bad, what I teach my children, what I choose to watch on TV, what type of music I listen to, how I choose to entertain myself, who and what I surround myself with on a regular basis, and so on.
Everyone has got a religion, what is yours?
Now, I want to quickly address those in the group claiming to have no belief in any religion (or deity). I have always cringed at the word “religion” as it conjures up images of cold and rigid institutions in my mind. However, according to the third definition from Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith,” religion does not have to have anything to do with any God; it’s a system of beliefs. Therefore, in a way, every single person on Earth is religious. It may not be a formal system, but regardless, the person who has no belief in God is following some system of belief and is religious by the mere fact of having that belief.
The world often portrays religious people as those who believe in a God and attend a temple, mosque, church, or found wearing some sort of garb adorned in white or orange. This is a misconception created by popular media and gives the world a false perception. Don’t be deceived, everyone has a system of belief. For those who do not believe in a god, that is their religion. Of course, they are entitled to that.
Some parts of society believe that religion is the problem with the world and are very antagonistic to any religion that believes in a being called God. They believe in the elimination of God from the world in order to achieve peace. But what that is doing is just replacing it with their form of religion. I state this only to emphasize that all of us have a religion, and it’s foundational in how we make our choices.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” – Jeremiah 29:13
What I sought and found
Amidst the multitude of voices, how can one determine who speaks the truth about God? While I can only share my own findings, I urge all groups to seek God with a sincere heart. He definitely works with that. Based on what I am learning, God honors those who seek Him sincerely. There are those who say, “If a God has not shown himself to me so far, that is his problem not mine,” putting the responsibility on God to show himself. Ironically, God has already done this and does it daily. Unfortunately, we are often blind to his presence, and for that, we will be held responsible. I don’t say this to anger or scare anyone but to encourage you to seek sincerely and then stand for what you believe.
As it is my personal conviction, there is nothing I can do to convince you, nor do I wish to be the harbinger of conviction because I was not convinced by any one person. I am generally pessimistic and untrusting by nature. I heard many things about God from others, went to church, had knowledge about other religions and what they generally believed. But it was only when I investigated the claims and spent time in the things God had said that I discovered who He was. I come from a country that claims many gods, so there were many voices to choose from. I had to ask myself who was telling me the truth. There were times when some of the voices said similar things and had hints of truth in them. But what I was seeking was complete truth. The best falsehoods are ones with hints of truth or incomplete truth. I’m not suggesting anyone is intentionally lying, but rather highlighting why it can be confusing when there are similarities.
Eventually, I had to assess all the different voices claiming to be true. Some were easy to dismiss, but others required a deeper understanding and evaluation. Most of these voices claimed to be the only truth, while others claimed to be inclusive of all truth. However, you cannot group exclusive claims and call them all-inclusive because it negates their exclusivity. Each voice is claiming to represent the truth in a unique way, and by having that uniqueness, they cannot all lead to the same place. You cannot just say they are all saying the same thing. After evaluating each one, it becomes evident that they each make unique claims about God.
I chose to believe in the voice of Jesus because He was the only one who accurately told me who I was and who He is. No other voice was as truthful or loud. In my search for truth, I realized that truth is not hidden, but stands strong and out in plain sight. It is not hiding in silence, out deep in the forest, instead it is screaming into a megaphone for anyone to listen. There is only one truth when it comes to God and all the voices cannot be right because they all say different things. Either one voice is correct or none are, but not all can be correct at the same time. In my search for the truth, I learned that God honors those who seek Him, and that sometimes requires evaluating all claims of truth. Asking hard questions helps to discover what one truly believes.
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” – John 3:4
Being Reborn
Understand this: we are all called to seek God. God has intentionally designed us this way so that we may find Him. I believe emphatically that it does not matter which religion you are born into – Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, or any other belief system. What matters is that you sincerely seek God within each of these faiths. Don’t seek the institution or culture; truly seek God alone. Although we may be born into different belief systems, that does not have to be our final fate. If we do not search for God within these systems and resign ourselves to the belief that “this is just the way we were born,” we become people who identify ourselves as being associated with a club or culture, without any heart for seeking the True God.
This warning especially goes for Christians, as many identify being in this group, but in my opinion, many lack the traits of our Master Jesus. Again, you can call yourself a lion, but that does not make you a lion. Many Christians think they don’t have to also seek God. But here is a newsflash to all Christians, we are not born into Christianity. We are all born into rebellion. Know this, whatever faith you were born into that God requires every last one of us to be reborn. This rebirth is only possible for those who truly seek Him and found in Jesus alone.
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” – Psalm 9:10
Be a Seeker
If you are evaluating Jesus’s claims, my suggestion is to spend time with any of the four books of the Bible that focus mainly on Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) which are available in over 1600 languages1 and read it sincerely. When you are done, ask yourself one question: Is Jesus lying to me?
You may be wondering how you can know if what you are reading is really from Jesus or if it’s made up. There is plenty of evidence available to address these questions, but if you don’t want to read it all, just read what’s in the 4 gospels and ask yourself if Jesus is lying to you. It may sound simplistic, but after reading it for many years, I can testify that asking this one question helped me to see that Jesus was not lying to me and that he was the only one telling me the truth. Even today, asking this question helps me when doubt or questions arise.
My journey of persuasion did not end in a sudden “eureka” moment. It was an inner work that went much deeper. It was only when that persuasion led to actual practice that it started to be built brick by brick and continues to be built. I hope to expound on this inner work for future posts. Continued seeking also goes to those who already claim belief in Jesus. Our journey of seeking God does not end in finally knowing the truth about God. We are just wading on the shores and barely have gotten our feet wet. There is an endless ocean of seeking that has yet to be discovered.
You may have other questions that need to be answered differently and require a different approach. God does not provide cookie-cutter solutions. I share my personal approach in the hope of helping others in their search. Whatever stage you are at in your journey, I encourage you to find out for yourself and seek the name of Jesus. He has been to heaven and come down to earth, and he stands on the roadside giving away truth freely. Remember, above all things, you are not alone in your search for God. God will be ever-present with the sincere seeker.
May God’s peace and undeserved kindness be upon all those who sincerely seek him, and may God’s mercy be upon those who have not yet found him.