Opinionated - Differences in Opinions continued...
I'm starting to think that the best approach to living is to avoid making statements of faith.
(And this includes making statements about having faith in avoiding statements of faith, which is a statement that I have hypocritically just made in the previous paragraph.)
I am also starting to believe that declaring doubt is not a good approach to living. To claim, "I am not convinced that [such] is true!" the words are honest, but there's always more to words than just words. The most important part of words are why they are being said, and I'm starting to believe that the best approach on speaking of doubt is to only speak of it when another's faith is pushed onto you. For instance, if someone ran up to you and said, "Ask Jesus for forgiveness and you will go to heaven!" you can simply reply, "I'm not sure if that is true," and in doing so, you will have naturally shined light onto your natural doubt, the same doubt that exists in the other person. But if you go around boasting of your doubt in asking Jesus for forgiveness, you will come across as unnatural and unconvincing and not be heard.
(The art of being heard is what I am speaking of, and many people try many different attempts - such as talking - at being heard, and they fail at much of these attempts.)
I am starting to believe that the only good approach for sharing faith is through actions. (I am starting to believe that the only way to be heard is through actions.) I believe people tend to listen more to those who are more silent. When a silent person eventually does speak, most people want to hear what they have to say. I have faith that honest actions are mostly silent as well.
Don't get me wrong; to live silently and honestly is not righteous or good. It is more. Confused? What I speak of is the opposite of righteousness. It is more living by faith. I am just emphasizing living by faith minus the talking about faith. To truly live humbly and by faith is honest, but goes against a lot of dangerous human/worldly urges. yet, at the same time, it goes along with many worldly urges. The righteous man denies his faith in worldly urges, and pretends to have faith in nonworldly urges. The man who lives by faith gives in to any faith that he has in worldly urges. But is any man truly righteous? To give in to a few worldly urges that one has faith in is better than giving in to the urge of appearing righteous (which of the two bothered Jesus more? The righteous Pharisees, not the sinners).
All of the above is me boasting about my current attempts at being humble or silent, when, in fact, I am hypocritically not doing so.
If much of what I have said here comes across as hypocritical, we can all take that as evidence to the difficulty of being what I speak of (the difficulty of being honest). Plus, if I have failed at an attempt at being heard (e.g. what I am trying to say is not being heard right now), I have only given more evidence for what I am trying to say.
The truth is in silence. Think about this. Everyone who goes out of their way to speak (such as those who post on message boards) all have one thing in common and one thing that they all promote/influence: speaking of faith. Despite what my words appear to be trying to be saying, ultimately I am merely speaking of faith right now as well. Nobody ever hears what those who remain silent believe in. What if they are closer to the answer. What if being closer to the answer is simply being humble enough to not have claims to an answer. Or, if being closer to the answer is simply being humble enough to know that everything they trust did not come from hearing statements of faith but came from witnessing actions of faith and silence.
Think about this: It is impossible to tell the world about the truth being in silence. That can be an entirely frustrating thought, but it doesn't have to be. Because it's not completely true. Telling the world about silence is as easy as being silent and as difficult as not being silent.