What is your answer?

The other day, I was listening to a podcast between two Christian scholars/theologians. They were discussing various reasons why people were walking away from the Christian faith. Many reasons were given, some of which you may have experienced yourself:

·      If God is a loving God, why does suffering exist?!

·      Why does the Bible contradict itself?!

·      Science and the Bible don’t play well together.

·      Christians are some of the harshest people I have ever encountered.

·      God is a made-up crutch for people who need an excuse.

What I found interesting was, according to the theologians, all of these (and the other reasons given) basically boiled down to one thing: the dumbing down of the Christian faith. Their argument was, in our effort to make Jesus as accessible as possible, we sidestepped the issues, gave pithy answers and guilted and shamed people who struggled. Instead of engaging and challenging people, we made excuses and lowered the bar to the point that the Christian faith looked no different from anything else.

As I listened, I felt myself getting defensive, frustrated and dismissive. And then I realized there was a reason for how I felt. There was a lot of truth in what they were saying!

Think about it. How many people do we know (ourselves included) whose lives don’t look much different from the world around us?

When others look at us, would they say that our lives are defined by Jesus, or would they say our lives are defined by something else?

How do we respond when people ask us about the Bible, suffering, contradictions, science and the existence of God?

The more I thought about this, the more I was reminded of Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man. Here is the passage:

 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 

“Which ones?” he inquired. 

Jesus replied, “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

– Matthew 19:16-22 NIV

 Here was a guy who was devoted to following God’s law, yet Jesus challenged him to more. Would we have done the same?

The truth is, as we follow Jesus, there will always be a cost, room for growth and an adventure to be had! If we settle, those around us will settle as well or walk away because there is nothing to be gained!

However, if we don’t settle, if we sacrifice, if we forgive and seek forgiveness (especially when we absolutely do not want to), if we are generous to a fault, if we risk for the sake of others AND do so in a way that disrupts the monotony around us – all in the name of Jesus… We need to be ready, as 1 Peter 3:15 reminds us, “to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” An answer that engages and challenges those who ask to think and act on a higher level, instead of one that placates, makes excuses or dumbs down our relationship with Jesus.

You see, if we strive to live the way that Jesus has called us to live and treat others as if they were Jesus himself, I am not so sure people would be walking away from the Christian faith.

It starts with us…

As we begin another trip around the sun, let’s make 2022 the year that we move deeper into the adventure, engage the difficulties and challenge ourselves to live like Jesus in a way that raises the bar and causes others around us to ask about the hope we have!

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Justin