So, if I would ask you what it means to believe in God, what would you say? I did this once at a retreat. I said, "What does it mean to believe?" And someone said, "Well, it means to trust." And I said, "Well, what does it mean to trust?" And they said, "Well, it means to have faith." And I said, "Well, what does it mean to have faith?" And someone smiled and said, "Well, it means to believe." We had just done a circle.
What does it mean to believe in God? It's an interesting thing that every once awhile, there will be a poll taken in the United States about the percentage of people who believe in God, and it's usually this huge percentage. And I always think, if all these people who say they believe in God would show up on Sunday in our churches, the buildings wouldn't be big enough to contain them!
There's a lot of confusion out there about what it actually means to believe in God. And Psalm 24 really speaks into that confusion
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
There's your definition of what it means to believe in God.
First of all, it means that I really do believe that he is the Creator of everything that is. "The earth is the Lord's" - that's a pretty flat-footed statement. "And all of its fullness." And, by the way, everything that lives on the earth. God founded it, God established it.
Now, what's the implications of that? If you say, "Okay, I believe that God made everything," there are two inescapable implications of that.
First, and it's here in this passage, God owns everything. I don't own my mentality, I don't own my psychology, I don't own my emotionality, I don't own my personality, I don't own my relationships, I don't own all the things that I think that I own. It all belongs to the Lord. And so, if you believe in God, you don't live with an ownership mentality, as if your life and your things belong to you, and you can use them however you want. No, you have to live with a stewardship mentality, this belongs to God, and how does God intend for me to use what he's made? Everything belongs to God. Human ownership is a delusion.
The second thing that comes out of that is, if God is Creator, then he has a purpose for everything he's made. I'm a painter by avocation, and I have a studio, and when I go into my studio to paint, I just don't start throwing paint on a canvas and hoping it will turn into something. I design the painting to accomplish a purpose. So, everything that God has made, he's had a purpose for that thing.
And so, to believe in God means I constantly ask the question: What is God's purpose for this? What is God's purpose for my life? What is God's purpose for my ability to think? What is God's purpose for my emotions? What is God's purpose for my money? What is God's purpose for my physical body? What is God's purpose for my sexuality? What is God's purpose for my relationships? What is God's purpose? What is God's purpose? What is God's purpose?
I think that a lot of the people who say they believe in God don't actually believe in God. What they believe in is the concept of God, but they don't believe in God. Because Psalm 24 says, if you believe in God, it starts with believing that he made this world, that it belongs to him, and that he has a purpose for everything he made, and you live your life inside of his ownership, inside of his purpose. I would ask you today, if I watched the video of your life, would I say: This person believes in God?
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
1. If survey data shows that so many people claim to believe in God, why aren't the majority of those people showing up on Sunday mornings at churches? What are they doing with their time instead? What does that show they truly believe? What do you do on Sunday mornings? What does that show you believe?
2. In what areas of your life is it easier to believe that God owns everything? What evidence have you given recently - thoughts, words, or actions - that proves you truly believe Psalm 24:1-2? In what areas of your life is it more difficult for you to believe that God owns every part of you? Why?
3. In what areas of your life have you failed to ask the question, "What is God's purpose for this?" How can you be more practically intentional about putting that question on the forefront of your mind as you walk through your days, weeks, months, and years? What might it look like to be a steward of God's world this week? Be specific.
Conversation Prompts to Use with Children
For Younger Children: Do you believe in God? How can I know you believe in God? If someone said that they believed in God, but never acted like it, would you think that what they're saying is actually true? How can we know that someone really believes what they say if they say they believe in God? How do our actions help us understand our hearts? How can our words be made stronger by our actions? How can we ask God to help us right now as we think about where our words and our actions don't match up?
For Older Children: If I told you I believed in God, but my actions, words, and attitudes reflected the opposite of that, what would you think about me? Why is it such a big deal for our words and actions to match up? What does it mean to steward something? Why is stewardship not the same thing as ownership? If you made something at school and someone else came along and wrecked it, why would you be upset? If God made you and owns you, who ultimately calls the shots in your life: you or him? What do you think God's purpose is for your life? How can we both be more intentional about seeking God's purpose for our lives?
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