I got a real eye-opening experience today. Most of the people that I know and associate with are Christians. I rarely come in contact with non-believers, at least the kind that are vocal about their belief that Christianity is absurd. But after reading some websites today, I see that not only are there non-believers out there, but that some of them think we as Christians are morons. The subject I was reading about was the existence of Jesus Christ. Many people wrote their opinions that He is just folklore, and even went so far as to say that Christians are as brain-washed as Radical Islamists. Ouch! My response to some of their opinions was that I can no more "prove" that Christ existed than they can "prove" that He didn't. I pointed out that there are some reliable non-secular sources that document that Jesus was real. But I was shot down by some replies that those sources are not reliable at all. I am reminded of the old saying "arguing with a fool is like beating the air with a stick".
I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that He came to earth and died for my sins. I don't have to "prove" it; All I have to do is "believe" it. As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches us that without faith, we can not please God. These lost folks need our prayers. We can not argue with them. All we can do is tell them the Good News about Christ and then let God do the rest. After all, we were once as lost as they are now. Why do you think Jesus has not come back yet? It is because of those lost souls. There are still those who He wants to save. Even if I am wrong and there is no Jesus, what have I lost by following the teachings of Christ? If we all lived by the teachings of Christ, this world would be so much more peaceful. If they are right and I am wrong, I have lost nothing. But if I am right and they are wrong, they have lost everything! If they truly believe there is no Jesus, then they better "be sure as Hell" that they are right!
Acts 10:43 says, "All the prophets testify about Jesus that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name."
Father, forgive us for not telling more people about Your precious Son Jesus. Teach us that we still have a lot of work to do. In Jesus name, Amen.
Hi Al,
ReplyDeleteI think your second paragraph is key. Some refer to this as "Pascal's Theorem". Pascal (a scientist and mathematician) was in a similar situation to you. With people arguing for and against, he proposed that we assume a 50-50 chance.
Then (from a probablility perspective) he argued that not believing in God was a poor gamble. "Believe in God though he does not exist, Pascal argued, and you lose nothing in the end. Fail to believe when he does in fact exist, and you lose everything."
Meanwhile, in the film An Inconvenient Truth (by Al Gore) he has a great quote "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on not understanding it". Ultimately, it's not about the concept, it's about having a choice between the truth and the salary.
With accepting Jesus, i think it's a choice between the truth and one's pride. To re-work the quote, "It's difficult to get a person to accept Jesus as the ultimate, when the person's pride depends on their belief that they themselves are the ultimate".
If the consequences are too difficult for them to handle, denial will continue. You could quote a thousand sources, and all of them would be dismissed as unreliable. Whatever it takes to retain a sense of self-importance (this is our selfish human nature).
I guess it's nothing new. King Herod killed all the babies in Bethelem in a (futile) effort to ensure he remained the king of his world :)
david
more of this theory of accepting God - and the consequences at http://godscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/climate-change-and-god.html
Amen to the scecond paragraph!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! The best part is that we need not argue, but pray for these lost souls. We all have a choice just as Adam and Eve...and in our choices we will have consequence or GLORY! I choose GLORY!
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