“In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.” - Blaise Pascal
When I committed my life to Jesus as a 19-year-old, I had to take a big step. This step, called faith, was a difficult one. I did not come from an atheistic background. I never really placed much into the question of whether God existed before I chose to follow Christ. However, the most difficult intellectual step that I had to take was to reconcile the fact that I saw swaths of self-proclaimed Christians who could not articulate why they believed what they believed.
When I walked into a church building, my teenage cynicism and institutional skepticism bubbled over the brim. “These people walk unapologetically by blind faith,” I thought to myself. Questions that could be perceived as critical or difficult felt too contrarian for Christians to answer. Someone seeking answers about how, when, and why felt out of place. In hindsight, perhaps it was my faulty perception, but the issues that I heard parroted in my non-Christian friend groups were not being addressed around those in my lives with crosses and Bible verses on their tee shirts.
It felt a whole lot like being a Christian meant you had to check your brain and your nonconforming questions at the front door.
To be honest with you, my heart posture has changed and I have a significantly greater level of compassion for all people, but this issue still pokes at my conscience. I cannot help but wonder how many people claiming to be Christian can logically defend their faith? How many of us can point to objective, real-life facts that explain the truthfulness of the Biblical account of Jesus?
I recently sat at lunch with a man who is contemplating Christianity, its authoritatively dogmatic claims, and the trustworthiness of these monumental convictions that many of us have flippantly agreed to. Expressing his reticence to simply jump (as many define the act of faith), he described himself as a logical person. It was almost like he was sharing something that would become an issue if he chose to follow Jesus closely. His logic felt at odds with the God of the Bible.
How have we gotten to this point? What has led the world outside our Christian walls to wonder if they can hold onto their intellectual honesty while choosing to follow Jesus?
The first thing that I began consuming after I began following Jesus was apologetics (from the Greek apologia meaning defense of the faith). I refused to be caught with my head in the clouds when a nonbelieving friend leveled an accusation at my King. What I learned was undeniable: Jesus lived a real and historical life, died on a Roman cross, and rose from the dead three days later. People saw it and died for what they believed. The Old Testament predicted it, but everyone missed it. There was no other plan and there was no other way. God had only one way to redeem us and He chose to send His Son and place His judgment on Him. The early church flipped the world on its head without authority, power, or social status. God changed the trajectory of human history through the pen of obscure men from the Middle East and billions of lives have been completely transformed in their wake.
The second thing that I learned is that my friends that did not want to know the truth of this information willingly shut down the reality of what I was learning. What I assumed is that I could cajole my agnostic buddies into an intellectual headlock and they would have no choice but to tap out and concede. Reality exposed something entirely different. The logical, empirically driven friends that I was trying to convince began throwing out emotional arguments when their intellectual issues were met with logic. When philosophy gave reasonable answers to their emotional and relational objections, they began throwing accusations. When their accusations turned more and more irrational they stopped replying.
Here is what I have learned: Faith is not blind. Faith, however, does leave enough of a gap that each of us has to make a decision. As the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and theologian, Blaise Pascal noted: In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.
Following Jesus and having innumerable conversations about Him with people who claim to know Him and those who have significant objections to His claims has taught me several things…
First, do not assume because you have signed on the dotted line it means that you have crossed the finish line. Following Jesus begins with a proclamation of faith; this is the starting line. It is now your job to seek answers, grow in maturity (spiritual, emotional, and intellectual), and further submit every nook and cranny of your life to the Lord.
Second, do not stand with your nose to the clouds on your high horse because you can poke holes in someone else’s worldview. There is a widespread belief that being able to deconstruct another’s worldview means that you stand on higher ground. Jesus wrecked the Pharisees’ belief system but did not leave them there. Paul debated the Gentiles into the dirt but did not walk away with a smug strut. In a world where everyone is a keyboard warrior and an internet expert, do not think that your objections to an undereducated and inarticulate person’s faith make you right. Seek the real answers that might make you have to change your life, not the low-hanging fruit that gives you a bigger head.
Third, ask your questions. There is no shame in asking a dumb question. There is, however, eternal despair for failing to seek the truth. No matter how unpopular or embarrassing your question is, seek the answer. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6) and the Truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).
If you have questions that you truly want answers to, or resources to help you find answers please reach out. Feel free to send me any questions at matt@thedistrictchurchwichita.com and let’s begin a discussion!