From Hearing to Believing, Part 2

In my previous post, I said that both faith and fear come the same way: “by hearing, by accepting it as truth and believing it could happen to you.” I also said that, in order to overcome fear and worry regarding the current economic situation, I needed to hear and believe something other than what I had been listening to (e.g., the news media) – that, specifically, I needed to hear and believe what the Word of God says about recession, the economy, and my financial security. I also gave some examples of Scripture that covered one part of the equation – what God’s word says. But I saved other two – hearing and believing – for today.

So here I sit, with underlined Bible in hand, or clutching a paper scribbled with verses. How to I get that from “mere words” to “truth believed”?

For me, believing seldom seems to come from sitting down and silently reading my Bible. (Learning comes, but not necessarily believing.) Keep in mind that the original Gospels and Epistles were carried from church to church and read aloud to the congregation. In the book of Acts, the apostles travelled about and preached the Gospel (aloud). Likewise, we go to church and listen to the pastor speak to us out loud. (Are you seeing a pattern develop?) There seems to be an element of believing that requires hearing the Word of God spoken out loud.

The problem is, most of us attend church once, maybe twice, a week. Okay, so we also listen to sermons on Christian radio or on our iPods but, ultimately, all of that remains a passive activity. If faith without works is dead, then what must I do to engage my faith and go from hearing to believing?

Here’s a thought. How about reading Scripture out loud to ourselves? Think of it as “preaching the gospel to yourself.”