The Contest

Men of Fuel

I used to have a co-worker that had a very odd way of settling disputes regarding some things she held to be true. Now I don’t mean important things, I mean very trivial things like what she believed to be the best TV show, or the best pizza in the area. Every time someone would question what she believed (again, about trivial things) or suggest another “best”, she would simply indicate that there had been a “contest” and what she held to be the best had actually won.

It sounds a bit odd, because it was, however the brilliance behind it was that to continue the conversation meant that you had to either ignore her comment about the contest or mention that there was never really a contest to begin with. The issue, and the brilliance of this was that if you ignored her comment, she would again just point to this contest, and if you actually mentioned that there wasn’t a contest, you looked like an idiot because, of course there was never a contest.

Fast forward a few years, and I am sitting at my in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner. At this point we are well past the 5,000 calories of the main course and headed straight for the pumpkin, Apple and Pecan pie. As people were sitting around making small talk, my mother in law puts Whip Cream (Canister), and Cool Whip (Tub) on the table.

As my father-in-law begins to bury his Apple pie under a CO2 induced spray of Whip Cream, he motions to the Cool Whip and says “Not sure if you even need to bring that out” Being a Cool Whip guy, I say “Are you kidding, Thanksgiving just isn’t Thanksgiving without Cool Whip”

Whip Cream vs. Cool Whip was ON.

The first few rounds were as you can imagine, until of course I brought out “The Contest”. After stating again how he thought Whip Cream was the best I just shrugged my shoulders and said “Really, because they had a contest between the two and Cool Whip trounced Whip Cream”

It was over.

I mention that because I think we seldom know why we believe things, or why we hold things to be true. So seldom in fact that when a person can point to a reason for something they believe, even if it’s a fake contest, we don’t know how to respond.

Why do we believe the things we believe? Do we know them to be true? Have we experienced them to be true? I am sure that we could say yes to the previous questions when it comes to some of the things we believe………but all of them?

Ever been asked why we believe something, and responded with “I’ve just always believed that”? I have. The crazy thing is, that doesn’t even answer the question.

Where do we get our beliefs? If I am being honest I have to admit, that some of them I have made up. I have created a set of beliefs that fit comfortable into my life. In other words I have backed into them.

Tomorrow morning we begin our seven week series “The Greatest Story ever (mis)Told”, where we will look at the most important thing we will ever believe or not believe. And if it is the most important thing, let us at least make sure we are believing or not believing what God says is true, not something we made up.

I realize that seven weeks of Fuel will be up against many other things in your life competing for your time, but they once had this contest……………

See you in the AM

D.R. Carlson