I’ve spent most of my life working on aligning what the Bible says with what I believe with how I behave with what I preach and teach. I would hope that all followers of Christ would seek for this alignment. The Latin word for “I believe” is “credo,” from which we get the English word “creed.” A creed, therefore, is a statement of belief.

A song that greatly impacted me earlier in my walk with God was simply titled “Creed.” While there are many songs with this title, this song was by Rich Mullins and David Strasser. (You can find this song easily on YouTube if you would like to listen to it.) It’s taken from the Apostles’ Creed, which was developed in the early church as a baptismal confession.

I memorized the Apostles’ Creed during my teen years. There is a solidness to these early church confessions. There is also a depth to them that is often missed when it is simply seen that way. I am not equating faith statements with the Bible. The derivative cannot equal the source. However, I am concerned with both the solidness and depth of Christians today.

The chorus of the Rich Mullins song has always gripped me:

And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it
No it is making me
It is the very truth of God
And not the invention of any man

What I truly believe, not only informs my thinking but affects my life. And, if the source of that truth is truly God, then that truth is making me instead of my making truth. I become more of a reflection of a holy God instead of God reflecting fallen man. Information without actualization is trivialization. We should not trivialize the truth of God.

I trust that as our church journeys through the Apostles’ Creed that it will be transformational and not trivial.

Journeying with you,

Pastor Merril