Workbox 09: Statement of Faith

A statement, a stance, a sign

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 Do you have a personal statement of faith? Have you thought about that before? Is it written down? Maybe these are questions that you have answers to. Maybe, these are questions that you have never been asked. I was confronted with these questions about three years ago. I was blessed to have several great mentors in my life who challenged me to develop a personal statement of faith. Now, I will share with you what I learned.

A group of friends and I, under the guidance of our mentor, began a year-long process of evaluating our church's statements of faith with the goal of making our statements of faith. We then dissected, discerned, and debated through them. We compared and contrasted different churches, why they would put certain statements in (like baptism of the Spirit), and why they would leave certain things out (like angels and demons).

The process proved to be enjoyable and challenging, which for me created a lot of growth. The challenge of writing down what you actually believe and why is a wonderful process of assessing your faith. Questions such as "Where is that actually in the Bible?" became common for me. The question encouraged me to search the scriptures for myself and understand the contexts surrounding certain passages. In some way, I became like the Bereans in Acts 17.11, "searching the scriptures to see if these things were so."

Also, outlining which stances to take on things, for example: dating, marriage, and entertainment, was important to nail down. These subjects are key in shaping anyone's worldview and are often not even considered. Too often we go with the flow, making huge life-shaping decisions without much forethought on how to live them out. It's like building a house on the sand, easy and enjoyable for the moment, but lacking in structure and stability. 

On the note of shaping a worldview through writing a statement of faith, it is important to establish a Biblical perspective on these topics. On top of that, it is important to write out how you will do those things. Putting legs to the table. It raises it up and makes it useful. It turns the head knowledge into faith, giving you eyes to navigate the world. 

I provided just a brief example of subjects you can write out for your statement of faith. There are dozens of other subjects you can do as well. Things such as God, Man, Sin, the Holy Spirit, and salvation are all equally important topics that you can think about, work on, and write down. And believe me, they really are relevant. If you have a family, I would encourage you to develop a statement with your family.

A family mission statement gives a lens on how to see the world and a filter for making family decisions. The couple that did my wife and I's pre-marital counseling encouraged us to consider making one. Theirs was brief and easy to memorize. Their statement of faith provided the parents and the children with a cohesive perspective in which to live and make decisions together. It was their foundation in which they rested as a family. 

When my wife and I got married we spent some time in our first few weeks working on our family statement of faith. This process created a lot of conversations and encouraged us to get on the same page. Our pursuit of clarity in making our family mission statement allowed us to start off our marriage with a singular, strong vision for how we will do life together.

I would encourage you to create a mission statement (if you haven't). And if you have, that's awesome! One day, I would like to frame ours on the wall. Do you have a written statement of faith? If you have any questions or comments, write it out in the comment section. Better yet, ask your mentor or pastor at church! Now, let's get to work!