Hey Andy, what is it called if you believe there is a God, but don’t? Say you attend church (because the ones in my town are nothing more than popularity contests) and pray, but find yourself questioning the actuality of it, and you don’t wanna say you don’t believe because you kinda do? It sounds like a religious procrastination…..I’m lost!
Hi Lost, if you believe God exists, but then also don’t, that’s called “doubt”. There’s actually a place in the Bible (Mark 9:21-24) where a man tells Jesus, “I believe! Please help me with my disbelief (or doubt)!”
The basics of Christianity is that it’s not a “religion” for the sake of obtaining salvation, but a “relationship” with God through His Son, Jesus the Christ. Romans 10:9 also says that “if you acknowledge Jesus is Lord with your lips and believe that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved.” But you need to nurture your relationship with Him by praying, reading scripture, meeting with other Christians in worship, tithing, sharing about Him with others, etc…not for the sake of doing, but for the sake of “becoming” like Jesus.
So I don’t know if I would say that what you have is “religious procrastination”. If anything, it sounds to me more like you just want to be sure that God exists, that Jesus is the Way to God, and don’t want to put your faith into just anything, especially for the sake of doing what everybody else in your town is doing. I think that’s very wise of you. I mean, yeah, Jesus said blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe, but with so many false faiths in the world, false prophets, false teachers and preachers, and even false Christians, I think it’s wise to be careful of what and who you put your faith in.
To help you with your doubt and caution, I would suggest you pray and ask God for help with your doubt. You could start off by saying, “God, I’m confused…” and mention everything you typed in this question. Then keep your eyes open for His answers. You could also ask God to help you find a church where you could freely worship Him with others who have prayed for the same opportunity, and actually do love Him because of who He is and what He’s done in their lives, and not because it’s the “in” thing to do.
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