I would have said that I believed in Jesus long before I actually did. I believed in Him like I believed in Napoleon. In other words, I didn’t completely reject His existence. But surely there’s more to it than that.
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Have you ever heard people arguing about whether “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie or not? Both sides dig in with their positions and disagree passionately, even though they usually agree that it’s a great movie. The debate never seems productive. We wish they’d just stop. I think it’s tempting to see various religions that way. They all seem to agree on things like kindness, honesty, and self-control. Do the other things really matter?
Many people have made up their minds about Christianity without ever having actually read any of the Bible. Other people have been exposed to bits and pieces but made their own assumptions about how it all fits together. While no one verse can adequately explain all the intricacies of a book that numbers more than a thousand pages, most Christians agree that John 3:16 summarizes the heart of its message.
“If there is a God, surely, He’ll just forgive everyone. The idea of judgment is just religion trying to scare people.” Ever heard that? Ever thought it yourself? It seems reasonable, right? Or does it?
I’ve had people express to me the feeling that they could never be forgiven. As a result, they can’t forgive themselves, and their past continues to haunt them. There’s hope in the Bible but it comes as we confront an even greater sin that most people aren’t even conscious of.
When people say that they think they’ll go to heaven because they’re a good person, not only do they think they can define what good is, but they assume they know how good is good enough.
There’s a lot about Christmas that you can skip, but what if Jesus skipped Christmas? How would it have been any different if Jesus hadn’t come into this world and been born as a child? Asking that “what if” helps us to see what we need to keep central about our celebration of Christmas.
Maisie Williams has accomplished more in the first 25 years of her life than most of us could hope to in a lifetime. Knowing that, it’s surprising, perhaps, to hear her admit that she often lies “in bed at night telling myself all the things I hate about myself.” How do you deal with feelings of shame that seem to punish and condemn you?
The Fyre Festival, the Tinder Swindler, and Anna Delvey, the Sinfluencer of Soho, have all put the spotlight on people’s capacity to perpetrate fraud and lie if it’s to their advantage. Could that be how Christianity’s claims of miracles and a Messiah were first spread? Did Jesus and His disciples set up a Ponzi scheme and lie their way to religious prominence? There was a time when I would have thought so, but Watergate convinced me otherwise.
It’s amazing how many things we accept on faith. In science class, we’re taught about the existence of molecules and dark matter, and we all nod our heads in acceptance. In history class, we learn about the lives of Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte, and no one questions their reality. But when it comes to the existence of God or the life and message of a person like Jesus, the standard changes. We need evidence and confirmation. And rightly so. We recognize that there’s more at stake. The challenge is to figure out what that evidence might look like. What could God, if He exists, do to convince us that He’s real?