Why I Believe . . .

Here are several "Towne Crossings"
grabbing a bite to eat before the game. 

On Sunday Lisa and I, along with several young adults from Towne Crossings, went to Great American Ball Park for a Reds game followed by a Mercy Me concert.

It was "Faith Day" @GABP. Some might take offense at such a label, but no one can deny the marketing power behind the Reds promo team's decision. After all, I love baseball. I love the Reds. I think Mercy Me is great. I have faith. Therefore, I'm in. That's how it works.

But why do I have "faith"? Didn't Ben Franklin say, "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason"? I think I'm pretty reasonable. Hmm.

I didn't always believe. Actually, one of the most awkward moments of my life was when a lady named Suzie Lovelace leaned over the table during a pre-marital counseling session and said, "Steve, why don't you believe in God"? Oddly enough, I replied something like, "I'm studying accounting if that tells you anything. I like facts, figures, reason. I ask Christians why they believe what they believe and they tell me, 'You just gotta have faith.' Well, I don't just have faith. Faith doesn't make sense to me." She asked me if I would consider reading a book by C.S. Lewis titled "Mere Christianity." Little did I know my life would be changed forever as a result of that conversation.

The Bible says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"
(Hebrews 11:1). I think some people think "the conviction of things not seen" = unreasonable. This leads to the belief that faith is not compatible with reason. On the contrary, I think that perhaps the only way you can have "assurance of things hoped for," is by reasoning that way based on what you know from the past. In 5th grade they call this, "making an educated guess."

But doesn't the word "guess" implicate an absence of assurance? Well...that's where faith steps in. And conviction.

Here are 5 reasons I have faith (We'll develop these more. Consider this part 1 of a series on each):

1. Origin of the universe/life: I was always taught that "matter cannot be created or destroyed" (laws of thermodynamics). Yet, matter exists. And science has confirmed it has a beginning (therefore not eternal). And btw - how does evolution get from non-living matter to living matter?

2. A finely-tuned universe: Not only does matter exist, but it is organized in a very specific way. Some might reason that it is "fine-tuned" for life. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

3. The existence of information (i.e, DNA): The Human Genome project was incredible in many ways. Not the least of which was the revelation of how incredibly hard-wired with information we are as human beings. It has been said that there is enough information in one strand of human DNA to fill 400 volumes of a standard sized Encyclopedia. And it's not just information. Scientists speak of it as a "language." Information & language reasonably have a "mind" as their origin. The Director of the project (Francis Collins) has written a book about his findings. The title of the book is "The Language of God."

4. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Christianity is unique in that its entire message hangs on whether or not the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is a historical truth. The Bible even says, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). Bottom line here: I believe it happened. I'll tell you why later.

5. He changed my life: I realize that this is much more subjective. Nevertheless, I'm different now. And so are countless others that have given their "whole" selves to Christ. "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it" (Luke 9:24).

Radical Chicken

"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'" - Jesus (Luke 9:23). 

As the smoke clears from the chick-fil-a controversy, I wonder if it will leave any sort of permanent effect in its wake? In some ways, I feel as if "Pandora's Box" was opened and am waiting for what comes next. I'm unsure of what that will be, but I know the potential for both reconciliation or further division abound. All the while, I continue dreaming of the Church realizing and actualizing its purpose on earth. That is, to be the hands of feet of the resurrected and ascended Christ as the expression of God's Kingdom on earth.

There are several ways we can look at all of this. And believe me, they have ALL been expressed on Twitter, Facebook, and every other media outlet known to man. It was truly monumental. Some viewed it as somewhat radical as they proudly "stood up" for what they believed. That is, of course, the way people came out to support Mr. Cathy and his business. But . . . and I can't help but think. Do you know what else it was? Easy.

Now, this is not a post marked with the intentions of one believer "hating" on others. I was there. I ate my "radical chicken." In fact, I was overwhelmed by the support all over the country as pictures and stories flooded the Internet. It was insane. Stores closed early because they ran out of food. People came out in droves.

Then I came across a disturbing comment. It went something like this: "I've never seen Christians lined up like that to support a food pantry or a homeless shelter." Now, while that comment was ill-conceived and naive (most pantries, shelters, and hospitals for that matter were started by Christians), it still rings loudly in my ears. Imagine what the world would be like if Christians actually lived like Jesus every day. It's "easy" to eat some chicken and feel good. But what if we lived daily with hearts abandoned to His ways? What if we actually became disciples that made disciples? (Yes, we would have to actually share Christ with others). What if we centered all of our lives on his teachings? (This would actually require familiarizing ourselves with His teachings). What if we "turned the other cheek", loved and prayed for our enemies, fed the poor, clothed the naked, visited the sick and those in prison, and sought to right injustices? What if we practiced the forgiveness we have received and extended the mercy that has been extended to us? What if we gave generously, denying ourselves and walking humbly before our God? What if we treasured and pursued Him more than anything else? Now, that wouldn't be easy. He never said it would. In fact, He said it would require a cross.

“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us. . . . My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus' words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to Him. ” - David Platt

Haters Gonna Hate

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. (John 15:18)

Where do we see Jesus' words being fulfilled today if not in the culture created by social media? One doesn't need to look too deeply into Twitter or Facebook in order to find conversations filled with hatred for God's people. Social media has given us a better view of what was there all along. It gave the world a platform upon which to display the hatred they have for God's people. But when we see people hating Christians, or when they attack us personally, this should not come as a surprise to us. Jesus himself assured us that this was bound to happen. That the world will hate the church is a norm. There's no reason to feel remorse for this. However, what we should feel remorse for is when God's people are acting like the world in these ways. And when the Church has failed to love, it has failed to be God's chosen people. When we fail to love, we have failed Christ. 

In the past month we have witnessed the world reach its boiling point. We are hated. But this fact should not govern the way that we treat others. I firmly believe that we must be exceptionally careful about this. That the world hates us is no justification for us to be hateful people. We are not given the option of responding to the world in kind. So, despite that the world hates us, this does not give us a license to be the kind of people that ought to be hated.

In Romans 12 we find Paul's words:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I think that the church is failing to love its enemies in many more ways than I can really explain at this point. I feel it in my heart. I'm convicted of it. We seek vengeance in our words and actions. We don't seek to live in peace. We assume God's right to wrath. But most of all, we let the world's hatred for us prevent us from loving them. So let me repeat this: When the Church has failed to love, it has failed to be God's chosen people. When we fail to love, we have failed Jesus. And for having done this, we have lost our ability to be Jesus' witnesses in this world. 

We need to love people. It should permeate everything that we do and say. So when a Christian seeks to fight with the world, to justify his or herself with their own hateful words, this Christian has failed drastically and lost the witness of Jesus' love. And the simple truth is this. Once a person's words have become devoid of integrity there is almost nothing that can be done to reverse the mistrustful disdain of those who know this. Additional words do nothing more than labor the angst of the victims of broken promises. Truth becomes a weapon. And nothing less than silent action can rebuild a person's trust. And this is where we are, I believe. We must find ways to serve our enemies… I believe that we've got a lot of work to do and we need to be quiet in doing it.

The world hates. God's people love. One of these two is doing their job splendidly. The other is not.