Why I Believe What I Believe

My Muslim friend once told me, “Ferdy you know you are a Christian because you were born into a Christian home. I am a Muslim because I was born into a Muslim home. So, really, we believe what we believe because we were born into it…”

Have you ever had this kind of conversation? I get it a lot. The thing is, I know I have experienced some things in my Christian walk that I cannot easily explain to my friend. Times like this, I try to stay philosophical with my answers and not necessarily experiential.

I told him why I decided to stick with the truth as presented in the gospel.

Here are my thoughts:

I think the argument of whether Christianity is a religion is not the point. In a sense, all people are religious in some way. In a sense, all people are religious in some way. Atheists are often as religious about their unbelief as we are about our beliefs. Sports fanatics are religious about their clubs and others about their health or hobbies. Religion is simply a group of people adhering to a set of beliefs and practices. But the question is, what’s unique about the Christian story?

One thing stands out for in relation with other religions I have studied and that is the very structure of the Christian story.

In other religions, men attempt to find and know God, but the Christian story is actually the reverse, God took the first initiative to find man and to reveal Himself to man.

In other religions, faith is a response and a statement of belief, but in the Christian story, faith is simply the acceptance of a gift, a declaration of the God’s faithfulness from the beginning fully revealed in Christ.

In other religions, we see a God who is distant and impersonal, removed from the realities of His creation, but in the Christian story, we see a God that banished the distance, yearns to not just be intimate and personal, but incarnates His life within his creation in oneness.

In other religions, it is first about what man believes about God, but the Christian story begins with what God believes about man and how he views Humanity — As worthy of His love and affection, deserving of His redemption irrespective of their action.

Other religions are based on what man needs to do to qualify, but the gospel is what God has done to qualify man, it is not about what man can do for God, but what God has done on man’s behalf in Christ.

With other religions, your efforts and performances are what guarantees your acceptance and participation, in the Christian story we are not walking towards acceptance, we are walking because we already have acceptance.

In other religions, we see a Lord and his subjects, held by rules, in the Christian story, we see a Father and his children held by relationship and love.

His grace, not our effort, should be our focus. On some level, this is why I am Christian. We can never exaggerate the gospel, for the most part, we are underselling this love story.

Written by Ferdy Adimefe

Ferdy Adimefe is a serial entrepreneur passionate about culture and creative industrialization. He curates expressions centered on faith, innovation and technology. He is a Father, Husband, Author and conference speaker; He is also a Pastor at The Tribe Lagos.