A couple of years ago a 69-years-old Dutchman lost his case in court. He had wanted to change his birth date by 20 years to become legally younger. His bid had been based on his belief that he had the body of someone in their 40s – according to his doctors. The court said that the man in question ‘was at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly but changing his legal documents would have undesirable legal and societal implications.’ (BBC News) The case made some headlines around the world but it seemed to be a harmless example of self-belief.
Self-belief can be a delusional destructive force, robbing those holding to it real chances of development and achievement. In extreme cases, delusional self-belief can be harmful. Stalkers are the most obvious example of harmful, delusional self-belief. But, equally, self-belief can be a powerful force for good, for positive change, to overcome difficulties and challenges and to reach genuine greatness. We’ve heard many stories of people who achieved their ambitions against the odds and set an example for others. Self-belief in its own right is neither good nor bad; the use of it can be positive or negative. The same principle applies to religious faith. It can be a force for good, shown by most religious people; or it can be harmful, as extremist religious views demonstrate through acts of cruelty. How to solve this puzzle, then?
Over the last three Sundays, in a mini-series of sermons, I have presented the most foundational aspects of the Christian faith; that God loves you unconditionally for what you are (His child) not for what you do. Consequently, your inherent inclination towards evil – called sinfulness – didn’t stop God from loving you. On the contrary, your sorry state prompted God to devise the plan of your liberation from sin. He did that by sending His only Son, Jesus, who became one of us; by His death, He paid the ransom for your freedom. Jesus came back to life and lives forever, so He can offer the gift of freedom from sin to everyone across generations, including you and me. This great gift is accepted by faith in Jesus. But what does it mean in practical terms?
Today’s gospel gives us an insight into what it means to believe. There is a girl who effectively is a nobody in the grand scheme of things. She lives in an insignificant town, in an insignificant district of a far-flung, God-forsaken corner of the then greatest empire. She is presented with a plan that can concisely be described as ‘bonkers’: ‘You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ The plan’s seeming absurdity aside, there’s one significant obstacle: ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ Good question! That’s the clue! Mary questions the presented vision – not in a negative, rejective way – because she wants to understand ‘how can this come about.’ She gets the answer and as a result, she declares her faith: ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said be done to me.’
God gave us inquisitive, critical thinking for a reason. We must use it to question our reality in all its aspects, including religious faith, to understand what is good and what is not, and consequently to choose the former and avoid the latter. Blind, unquestioning acceptance of whatever we are told can only lead to awful outcomes, often creating so-called ‘useful idiots’ – sadly useful only to those who exploit or abuse them. Asking questions and looking for answers is the only way to develop a mature faith that manifests itself by acts of selfless love. Such selfless love is the main indicator of whether self-belief is admirable or delusional.