Articles
Hesitations and Reservations
Many people today, especially in the Western countries, have a healthy skepticism of what they see as ‘organized religion’ [what we might identify as the church, or religious denominations]. There are, of course, various reasons behind this skepticism but, for some, it is outright distrust; they do not believe anything that comes from religious organizations or institutions. In many cases, the skepticism and distrust is warranted, but in other cases, it is unfair and maybe even foolish.
It appears to me, from conversations and observations made over a few decades, that the skeptic usually falls into one of the following categories: (1) those who are skeptics simply because they want to be known as skeptical about everything; (2) those who are skeptical because they have seen hypocrisy and inconsistency in religious organizations or individuals; (3) those who are skeptics because they have heard or read of someone else’s skepticism and, without any personal attempt at further investigation or consideration, accept the skepticism of these individuals as reasonable; and (4) those who are skeptics because they have never actually opened a Bible to read for themselves what Christianity is really all about, and what they do know seems to be beyond their ability to believe and/or accept.
There are many others who would not be identified as skeptics, but who do not believe. They, too, usually fall into a few categories: (1) those who do not believe and will never believe, even if Jesus stood in front of them face-to-face; (2) those who do not believe because they are simply uninterested in anything religious; (3) those who do not believe because they have never opened a Bible to read it or try and understand it; and (4) those who have an interest in the faith, but have reservations because they are not quite sure what it demands of them and whether they will be able to accept all God’s word teaches.
[I understand fully that there are many other situations and reasons why some may be skeptical or disbelieve, but these are just the most common ones, according to my personal experience.]
So, what are we to do if we find that one with whom we are trying to teach about God and Christ and sin and salvation is one of these skeptics or disbelievers? The answer is the same for them as it is for anyone: Start where they are, and eliminate the hindrances to belief. Just know that some will not believe, no matter what evidence you may present to them. Even while Jesus walked this earth and performed many miracles that could not be denied, some still stubbornly disbelieved, and you will not fare any differently with those who have hardened hearts. If some could see and know without a doubt that Jesus worked miracles and even raised some from the dead, but still chose to eliminate Him, rather than believe Him (John 11:44-53), our appeal to the Scriptures that record those same miracles will be just as adamantly denied by those who have no desire for, or love of, the truth.
Eliminating the Doubt. For those who have honest skepticism, the only path to belief is by presenting to them the evidence that would cause an honest heart to change. John’s record of the life, teaching, and works of Jesus is enough, by itself, to cause belief; John said as much as he concluded the record: “and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30, 31). An honest heart who reads the record will either have to deny the credibility of the record, or accept it as true and believe. One cannot honestly say, though, “There is no evidence” or “There is not enough evidence.” There is!
Far too many today are swallowing the lies of the perpetual and dishonest skeptics who make loud and persistent claims of “no evidence,” and many don’t bother to question their claims or investigate them, so they continue in disbelief, self-assured in their disbelief — falsely so. If your soul was one the line [and it is] why would we not verify or investigate the claims? Why do so many simply take the word of men [who do lie], thereby rejecting the testimony of the God who does not lie (Titus 1:2)? Be skeptical of the skeptics!
Getting Past the Failures of Religious Men and Organizations. One of the most common excuses for disbelief today is the hypocrisy or the outright evil practiced by religious men and organizations. Much of the evil done “in the name of God” is nothing more than evil men who cloak themselves in religion to further their evil deeds, and we shouldn’t hesitate to call it what it is or was: evil. Much of the perceived ‘hypocrisy’ that is used as an excuse for disbelief today comes from observing those who claim to be followers of Christ, but who are not living godly, holy, or righteous lives, and the world does not have to have a deep knowledge of the Scriptures to know that is inconsistent with what the faith purports to be about. Most often, this ‘hypocrisy’ is simply seeing people not living up to what they claim to be, but the fault is not with the faith; it is with the people who are not living up to what it does teach and demand of all disciples. The failure is in those who don’t really understand what it means to be a Christian and who have never really converted, but they claim to be Christians.
Let me ask you a question: If someone came to your house and sold you what you believed to be an insurance policy from a well-known insurance company, but later you found out the policy was a sham and not worth the paper it was printed on, would you be upset? Of course, you would! You may have even written a check to the ‘salesman’ and had it already cashed; of course, you would be upset!
But if, when you investigated and called this well-known insurance company, you found out this man had never worked for them and did not represent the company in any official capacity, would you still be mad at the insurance company? Well, honesty would demand your displeasure should be aimed at the one who misrepresented himself, because the insurance company would be just as bothered and damaged by this man’s misdeeds.
Isn’t that the proper response to one who falsely represents the faith? Instead of being upset and turning away from Christ and Christianity, we should direct our displeasure and maybe even anger at the ones who have misled us and given us the wrong impression about the true faith and true disciples! I can guarantee you Christ is displeased with those who misrepresent Him and His teaching, and they will one day have to answer to Him for it!
Peter warned the disciples of the first century, “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies…they will exploit you with deceptive words” (2 Pet. 2:1-3). John also warned the early disciples, “many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Knowing this, we should be vigilant to discern between true Christians who err and false teachers and false prophets whose aim is to deceive and cause us to lose our souls.
Whatever or whoever stands in the way of your belief should be identified and overcome. Your eternal destiny is at stake, so don’t take it lightly. — Steven Harper
