The Explanation: Before (4)

¹Before the universe began to be,
and all that it consists of and contains,
the Word already was. He is the Power,
the Explanation, and the Reason for
all things. He was before all things with God,
and He was God.

                            -  John 1.1

Instructions

The first Word, to which Christians look as the touchstone for all their ideas and their worldview, is an altogether unique Word, and not just because He existed before everything else began to be.

He is unique because He is both with God and God Himself.

Now I know we’re talking about what Christians believe, and that such statements as the Word was “with God,/and He was God” are matters of faith. But that’s no different from any other worldview. All worldviews hold together by faith, whether or not those who hold to a particular worldview agree with that fact. Some people choose to believe one set of propositions about the world, while some people choose to believe others.

Certainly we know there are many competing worldviews at work in the world today. But each of them exists because the people who embrace these worldviews and build their lives on them believe that what their worldview teaches is, if not true, at least reliable. That is, you make decisions and plans, set goals, and engage in activities based on the things you believe, things you aspire to, and because you believe that doing so is in your best interest, in order to make sense of your life and to minimize the silliness.

The person who does not believe in the First Word Who was with God and is God Himself believes in other words, some of which are more “first” than others. The First Word for the Christian is the Reason or Explanation Who existed before everything else and Who was with God and is God. The closest thing to a first word for many people is something more like a phrase: “Whatever feels right for me at the moment.” This is what goes “before” all their other ideas, decisions, and actions. Choosing a job? Thinking about a life partner? Trying to decide which car to buy? Apartment to rent? Suit to wear? Candidate to vote for? Such questions might engage a good many of the “instructions” in our worldview: This offers the most money, and making money is good. She seems like a lot of fun, and I want my life to be fun. This car goes fast and looks cool. This car is more economical. And so forth.

But all those “instructions” which we follow in trying to assemble the pieces of our worldview and our lives have more overarching instructions back of them, and, for many people, the most overarching instruction of all – their “first word” – is: “Whatever feels right for me at the moment.”

I do not recommend following this instruction when assembling a child’s toy kitchen.

How much more would I not recommend it when trying to assemble your life?

An act of faith
Consider how much faith is involved in taking “Whatever feels right for me at the moment” as your “first word” in life.

First, there is the belief that “feeling” is somehow a reliable barometer for assessing personal wellbeing. Whether we call it “feeling” or “having a hunch” or just “really believing”, it’s not like something you can look up on the Internet or in a dictionary and get the right answer. You can’t test it through some infallible scientific process and measure the results before you act on it. There’s a huge presumption involved in leaning on one’s “feelings” for the big things in life. After all, what creates that sense of “feels right”? And of what does it consist? A sigh of relief? A glimmer of hope? Excitement about some possibility? Such responses are provoked within us by “whatever” we may be considering. But how can we be sure that the “whatever” we’re thinking about, and that is giving us this “feeling” of being “right for me at the moment” is even a true thing or opportunity, or even the only or the best thing or opportunity? Don’t we just believe that, because whatever it is provokes the feeling – or whatever – of “right for me at the moment”, we should go ahead and act?

See what I mean about believing? Could you test any of that in a lab?

And then there’s the inescapable fact that, by acting in this way, you assume that you, in the form of how you may be feeling at any moment, are the most reliable authority for making big decisions about your life. Can you say that you absolutely, positively know that this is the best way to assemble the toy kitchen of your worldview and life? Or do you simply believe this to be the case?

And if believe, then on what grounds? Who told you you were the most reliable authority concerning anything?

Believers all
We’re all believers. That’s the short of it. Every person believes in a few basic ideas – some more “first words” than the others – and these guide their lives in every detail.

And the things we ultimately believe in, it should by now be clear, are completely unseen. They are hoped for, felt, desired, and envisioned – maybe nothing more than figments and fragments in our brains – but they do not exist apart from somewhere within us, in our minds or hearts, or whatever. And yet these unseen things are powerful enough to command your beliefs and determine your daily actions for whatever seems right for you at the moment.

Do you also recognize that your “first word” is actually your own special private deity? Your first word is god – to you – very much the same way the Christian’s First Word is God. It’s what you bow to, organize your life around, devote your time and strength and resources to, and adhere to according to certain disciplines and “liturgies.” Your “first word”, whatever it may be, is your god, made up by you – not, of course, without some help – and pursued for guidance in all your everyday affairs.

The First Word of Christians – we believe – is with God and is God. But we don’t just believe this as the fruit of our best thinking or most sincere hopes. Christians have something concrete which anchors their beliefs beyond their own feelings or thoughts.

We have evidence.

Let’s try this: What evidence do your unbelieving friends point to in order to justify whatever may be their own “first word”? Ask a few of them. What do they ultimately believe, and what evidence do they point to in order to justify building their whole lives around such a “first word”?

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