Column: Christians should challenge their beliefs for a deeper understanding of faith

The words and teachings of the great ancient Greek philosopher Socrates are still relevant and are more pertinent to modern-day society than ever before:

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

At its roots, Socrates meant this to be a call for action: do not scurry around in life without knowing who you are, why you are here and what you really believe in.

Right now, it is possible you are reading this column on a device that could reveal to you a lifetime’s worth of knowledge with a quick Google search. In a day and age where books can be downloaded instantly, thousands of articles are published daily and academic journals are categorized online for our convenience, we have never been so shallow in our understanding of how the world works.

No matter what medium you are reading this in, though, I encourage you to think through this next question deliberately. There may be some hesitation to answer it truthfully or ignore the question altogether, but restrain from doing so.

Really consider: “Do I know why I believe the things I believe?”

It is a complex, sometimes frustrating, sometimes affirming question—and one that deserves your time.

I wholeheartedly believe it is a great thing that a large percentage of Liberty students were raised in Christian homes relative to other U.S. universities. Even great things have unintended consequences, however, and I fear that being raised in a Christian environment can prevent anyone from ever truly thinking through life’s eternal questions.

When confronted with these questions—What is real? Why does life matter? Who is God?—a typical Christian may answer quickly with an everyday “Sunday school” answer. This is not belief, but rather muscle memory. To believe, you must analyze and challenge your foundational beliefs about the world to ensure it is you, not your parents, who believes in God.

This means not only digging through the Bible for answers, but taking the time with scripture to thoroughly comprehend its meaning. It means reading excerpts from Plato as well as Aristotle and from Nietzsche as well as Luther. It means reading anything, really, and figuring out why different people of different perspectives and religions think the way they do.

Find someone who does not agree with you and have an intentional discussion with them. These discussions should provoke you to analyze your philosophies and establish a defense for them.  It is not only a privilege, but an innate duty that we as human beings take time to be introspective with our thoughts and presuppositions so that we may have confidence in our God and our corresponding belief system.

I say “confidence” intentionally, because it is confidence that we are lacking in our faith nowadays. It is not enough to simply say, “I believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” If you are one day called to lay your life on the line for God’s will, you must confront all skepticism with unrelenting faith.

If you are hesitant to explore other belief systems because you figure it may change your mind and cause you to shift on your beliefs, then I would question if you ever believed those things in the first place. God gave humans the amazing ability to reason, and that gift is going to the curbside by ever believing in something without reason in the first place.

By doing so, you may go your entire life as an on-paper Christian with no understanding of what it means to really be one. Without this deep understanding, your faith in God will forever be like walking on the edge of a cliff – one misstep will cost your life.

Instead, stand on solid ground, and then stand up for what you believe in. Find out what you really believe in; college is a great place to do this. Live a whole, examined life, where things make sense and you are left with no more doubt, no more fear and no more skepticism.

Socrates would be so proud.