But I Don’t Have a Belief System!

My memory isn’t what it should be, but I do not remember anyone saying that he/she did not have a belief system until about 2 years ago. Almost daily now I seem to hear someone say that.
Anyone who claims that they do not have a belief system is either uneducated or dishonest. There is nothing wrong with being uneducated. God confronted Job out of the storm and asked Job, “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” (Job:38:2,3) God then asks Job a series of difficult questions that I certainly could not answer. I seriously doubt that I would do as well as Job did.
One of the greatest benefits of a true education is to realize how little we really know. And that realization of our limited understanding extends to our lack of understanding of our belief system. But a lack of understanding is not the same as denial of reality.
“A belief system is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs of any such system can be classified as religious, philosophical, ideological, or a combination of these.” Wikipedia (I quote Wikipedia because this should be common knowledge. You can find the same information in many, many other places.) You get up in the morning. Or you don’t. Whatever you do, the “why” is a belief. The combination of all the “whys” in your life is your belief system.
Everyone has a belief system. This is not a matter of opinion or a question of a point of view. This is a simple definition of terms. It is what the English words “belief system” mean. It does not require that we live our lives consistent with our belief system. We are all inconsistent, sinners, hypocrites, failing to live up to our own personal standards. But we all live our lives according to some belief system.
To deny that you have a belief system is to deny that you understand the basic meaning of English words. When we hear the words “green fence,” we all understand the basic meaning of the words. We might all have a different shade of green in mind. Perhaps we all have a different type of material in mind for the fence; wood, stone or metal. But the basic meaning of the words is required or people can not communicate.
What people mean when they say, “I don’t have a belief system” is that they are above morality. They believe that they can manufacture their own standards of right and wrong, that they are, in modern terms, above the law. Of course, that is not how they view themselves. They justify their actions and beliefs with phrases such as, “who are you to judge me?”
The frightening aspect is that people who really think that they do not have a belief system are the most easily manipulated by the unscrupulous tyrant. That tyrant might be a simple gang leader or he might be a Hitler or a Stalin recruiting brownshirts, SS, or KGB thugs.
Every single person I have met who claims that they do not have a belief system has the same belief system. They are either atheists or agnostics. They think of themselves as good because they help other people. But they are easily manipulated because they have never thought through their beliefs. They also get angry too easily when this is pointed out to them. While they insist that no one judge either their actions or motives, they are the first to judge other people.
I could write about these people for pages. But the real issue is not other people. How honest am I? Do I understand, and have I thought through, what I believe? Are my beliefs and convictions rooted and grounded in my sinful self and all the misery that will cause? Or are they rooted grounded in the eternal Word of God, with my sins washed in the blood of the Lamb?