I wanted to end my interaction with the objections to the faith today by dealing with a challenge that Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything, throws out in his book and in most talks I have seen him give.  His challenge is meant to communicate the fundamental unnecessariness of religion, and goes something like this:

“It is argued that some religious people have done great things that have been motivated by their faith… Here is my challenge:  name me an ethical statement that was made or a moral action performed by a religious person in the name of faith that could not have been uttered or done by a person not of faith.  So far, none have succeeded in finding one.  Now, think of a wicked thing said or evil thing done by a person of faith in the name of faith.  No one should have a second of hesitation thinking of one.”

Hitchens’ point is that we have no problem seeing the harm that religious people have done in the world – as he puts it, suicide bombers are all men of great faith.  However, there is no benefit that religion provides that we could not get from someone without faith.  The most common response he receives, he says, is Martin Luther King Jr., but Hitchens always finds a way to explain the answers away (usually by downplaying religion as their primary motivator or highlighting those who have done similar things without faith as a motivator).  His conclusion is that since religion provides no benefit that a person of faith could not provide, the world would be a better place if there were no religion.

I obviously disagree with Hitchens.  Let me answer him by saying three things:

1) I am not sure the lack of a convincing answer to Hitchens’ challenge accomplishes what he thinks it does.  The Christian teaching is that every human being is created in the image of God.  One of the implications of this is that every human is capable of doing incredible acts of love, goodness, and creativity.  This means that we are not surprised when people of other religions or of no religion at all act in ways that are moral; in fact, we should expect that there will be people who do not follow Christ who are more moral than we are.  Therefore, to prove that there is no ethical statement made or moral action performed by a religious person that could not have been performed by a person of no faith, in the end proves nothing.

2) Hitchens is right to point out all the horrible things people have done in the name of religion, and in fact is in good company when he does that.  After all, Jesus himself spent plenty of time railing against the religious leaders of his day for how they had perverted the beauty of faith in God.  For example: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” (Matthew 23:15).  Ironically, Jesus sounds almost like Hitchens in his anger against how religion can cause great destruction!  However, it should be fairly obvious that people have used just about everything to cause harm, and religion is no exception.  The flip side of the nature of man, Biblically-speaking, is of course that while we are all created in God’s image, we are all fallen as well, capable of incredible acts of wickedness and self-centeredness at the expense of the rest of the world.  In my opinion, a more accurate title for the book would have been We are not Great:  How People Poison Everything.

For example, look at this list of the worst genocides of the last 100 years, according to National Geographic:

China (1960s, 1970s), 30 million dead
USSR (1920s, 1930s, 1940s), 20 million dead
Germany (1930s, 1940s), 11.4 million dead
Japan (1930s, 1940s), 10 million dead
Pakistan (1970s), 3.1 million dead
Sudan (1960s, present day), 2.8 million dead
Nigeria (1960s), 2 million dead
Afghanistan (1980s), 1.8 million dead
Cambodia (1970s), 1.7 million dead
Turkey (1910s, 1920s), 1.5 million dead
Indonesia (1970s, 1980s), 1.2 million dead
Rwanda (1990s), 1 million dead
India (1940s), 1 million dead
(Source: Barbara Harff, National Geographic, Jan 2006, p. 30)

 As much as atheists love to point out all the wars fought in the name of religion, this list shows that by far the greatest injustices have been done in countries that have tried to either suppress religion or exploit it for political gain.  Hitchens argues his way out of lists like this by linking the leaders of these genocides to religion however he can (like claiming that Stalin could not have wielded so much power without an Orthodox Church that taught the head of the state was the head of the church), and by claiming his answer is a society founded on the ideals of humanists like Voltaire, Spinoza, Jefferson, Paine, etc., not a society like the ones listed above.  I think a fairer conclusion from the evidence is that people have used anything and everything in their quest for power, and that suppression of religious freedom is usually the grounds for the worst kinds of evil.

 3) Finally, the only answer to his challenge, from a Christian perspective, has to be Jesus.  Certainly the Christian faith is not about the great things man has done, but the great thing God has done for us in the midst of the world we have broken.  The only true “moral action performed by a person of faith that could not have been done by a person without faith” would have to be Jesus living a sinless life, taking on the full weight of sin and evil on the cross, experiencing Hell, rising from the dead, and conquering death.  Really, people can bluster all they want about the horrible things that have been done in the name of religion, and all the things they don’t like about the Biblical God, but in the end (and this has been the point of my whole series) it comes down to this:  either Jesus lived a sinless life, died for the sins of the world, and rose again to conquer sin and death, or he did not.  If that is all a myth, then none of the other arguments or side issues really matter. 

But if Jesus really did rise from the dead… then despite all the horrible things that have been done in His name, despite all the things we may not understand about God and life from our perspective, and despite all the vehement protests of those who dislike religion… Jesus really is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).  That is the central answer to all the objections – investigate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for yourself, and then evaluate everything else in the light of that reality.

“Advance warning of Katrina’s path was wrested from mute Nature by meteorological calculations and satellite imagery. God told no one of His plans. Had the residents of New Orleans been content to rely on the beneficence of God, they wouldn’t have known that a killer hurricane was bearing down upon them until they felt the first gusts of wind on their faces. And yet, as will come as no surprise to you, a poll conducted by The Washington Post found that 80 percent of Katrina’s survivors claim that the event only strengthened their faith in God… Only the atheist realizes how morally objectionable it is for survivors of a catastrophe to believe themselves spared by a loving God, while this same God drowned infants in their cribs.”

So writes Sam Harris on page 53 of Letter to a Christian Nation.  This past Sunday, I preached on the Problem of Evil – the attempt to reconcile the obvious and seemingly pointless evil and suffering in the world with the Christian claim that there is a loving, beneficent, omniscient and omnipotent God watching over us all.  It was certainly ambitious to try to tackle in forty minutes a topic which has seen volumes of books written about it, and I undoubtedly left out many important aspects of the issue.  My approach was to tell the Biblical story, with the hopes of helping us see how our experiences with evil and suffering are not isolated, meaningless tragedies but are part of a grander narrative, from creation to fall to redemption to new creation, with a suffering God on the cross as the centerpiece. 

One of those important aspects that I did not get into (which was brought out by the above quote from Harris) was this:

For some people, suffering and evil cause them to reject God as either cruel or as an obvious myth.  For others, suffering and evil drives them to a deeper dependence on God.  What are we to make of this???

I remember reading the aforementioned quote from Harris’ book and being stunned by the elitist arrogance of that statement (if I may be so blunt).  This is what I hear as I listen to the part I’ve highlighted:  “Sure, 80% of Katrina’s survivors claim that the event only strengthened their faith in God, but that is only because they refuse to face the obvious reality (which I see), that no loving God would allow a baby to die without warning people Himself.  It is immoral for someone to believe that a loving God has spared them but would not do the same for everyone.”

The reason I call that elitist arrogance is that Harris obviously does not think much of the 80% whose experience with suffering and evil has strengthened their faith in God.  In his understanding, there can not be any justifiable reason why such a tragedy should bring someone closer to God; it must be out of naiveté, stupidity, or an immoral self-centeredness.  I disagree, and don’t think that 80% of the survivors felt that their faith was strengthened solely because they survived and others drowned (as in “I survived!  God must love me!”).  Perhaps some are that self-centered, but I think most people who have been through this sort of tragedy – war, natural disaster, etc. – experience some survival guilt at knowing that others perished while their lives were spared, and find that reality sobering instead of uplifting.  I think it is more likely that the following were the sort of reasons why the survivors’ faith was strengthened:

 They were reminded that there is nothing safe and secure in this world
 They were reminded that living to accumulate possessions, which may not be here tomorrow, is pointless
 They realized how valuable life is, how easily it can be taken away, and how important it is to make the most of the time you have
 They were reminded of the importance of loving those who have been put in your life, for they may not be there tomorrow
 They were reminded that death spares no one, and it is crucial to consider the question of eternity

All of the above reactions are typical for those who have stared death in the face and lived to see another day.  And all are part of the Biblical message, and cause for strengthening one’s faith in God instead of the alternatives.  Consider the following passages:

Matthew 7:24-27 – [Jesus said] “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.   The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Matthew 6:19-21 -  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

James 4:14-15 – Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Luke 12:22-23,25,31 – Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes… Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?… But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Hebrews 9:27-28 – Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.

As Christians, we believe that this world was created as a good world by God, but has been broken by human rebellion against God and its effects on every aspect of God’s good creation.  We believe that Hurricane Katrina, like every tragedy, is a brutal reminder of how badly we need God, how much we long for God to destroy evil and renew creation, and how pointless it is to put our hope and trust in anything this world has to offer.  As C.S. Lewis put it, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  Tragedies like Katrina cause us to weep over the brokenness of this world, to follow Jesus’ example by working and suffering to bring good and justice out of the evil, and, yes, to strengthen our faith in the God who proved His love for us and opposition to evil on the cross 2000 years ago.  We know that we worship a God who weeps over evil (John 11:35), who put Himself on the hook for the suffering of this world on the cross (Isaiah 53), who destroyed the power of evil and death by rising from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:55-57), and who will one day destroy evil forever and renew this world (Revelation 21-22).  Death, while cruel and pointless to the atheist, has already been defeated by Jesus. 

Suffering and evil will befall everyone in this world, but how you respond to it can make all the difference in the world.  Will it cause you to curse God and reject Him?  Or will it wake you up to the instability of this world and the desperate need we have to place our complete trust in the only safe Rock, the Lord Jesus?

 

Kinnaman and Lyons also listed the percentage of people who answered “a lot” or “some” to some more favorable descriptions.  The top answers were “teaches same basic idea as other religions” at 82%, “has good values and principles” at 76%, “friendly” at 71%, “a faith you respect” and “consistently shows love for other people” at 55%.  Further down the list were answers such as “offers hope for the future” (54%), “seems genuine and real” (41%), and “relevant to your life” at 30%.

After discussing some of the findings of the survey, Kinnaman and Lyons ask an intriguing question that I think is worth discussing:  Should we care what people think?  If this is the reality, that the majority of 18-29 year-olds see Christians as anti-homosexual, hypocritical, judgmental, old-fashioned people who are too political, how should we respond?  If they see Christians as people who inconsistently show love to other people and Christianity as a faith that is largely irrelevant to life, what should we do in response?  Here are a few options, as I see it:

1) “Who cares what people think?”  After all, our goal should never be popularity in the eyes of the world.  Don’t forget that Jesus told his disciples in John 17:18 that “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,” and in Matthew 10:22 that “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”.  Jesus was crucified for living the way he did and saying the things he said, and his followers can expect to be hated and persecuted as well.

2) Smooth out the rough edges in order to gain popularity.  People don’t like to hear all that talk about sin and hell and judgment and accountability and morality?  Then talk more about love, peace, and understanding and skip over the difficult parts.  Pretend that the Christian message is essentially the same as other world religions, focus on doing good works, and don’t say or do anything that would make people uncomfortable.

3) Somewhere in the middle – listen for any perceptions that are genuinely convicting and for people’s real hurts, and disregard the rest.   

Too many churches, in my opinion, opt for response #2.  In the face of declining membership or increasing irrelevance, they listen to what the culture wants or believes and adapt their theology or methodology to appeal to the masses.  They downplay parts of the faith that people don’t like, and focus on the parts people do want to hear about, preaching self-help sermons and trying hard not to criticize or exclude.  In the short run, this may seem like a smart marketing move, but in the long run it is likely to lead to bland religion that dies a slow death.  This approach reminds me of Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:14, where he wrote: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”  Paul was writing to a people who were immature in their faith, and as a result ran after every latest teaching and popular belief until they didn’t know what was true any more. 

As for response #1, there is a lot of truth in it, as cold as it sounds.  In the end, our eyes should not be on the world but on God, for the gospel will in some ways always be antagonistic to the culture.  The gospel is good news, that in Jesus Christ there is offered salvation from sin, freedom from slavery to that which threatens to master us, and a release from all guilt.  But part of truly experiencing the goodness of that news is recognizing the depth of our sinfulness, giving up the right to decide what we feel is right or wrong, and living with Jesus as our leader and Lord.  And for a person who craves freedom and individuality, this is not an easy thing.  So, for example, even though Christians are seen as judgmental, part of that perception may be due to the fact that  Christians believe there is truth and error, morality and immorality, and don’t believe in just letting everyone do whatever they want to do. 

However, I think there are valid reasons to listen to what the culture is telling us about Christianity – response #3.  Let me share two of mine, and then I’d be curious to hear what your opinion is.

1) Behind most perceptions are real experiences – while some people may form their opinions based on media portrayal of Christians, most perceptions have real experiences behind them.  Someone sees Christians as hypocritical because of an experience with a church that preached love but treated them as outcasts.  Another person sees Christians as judgmental because when they were honest about their sin, they experienced condemnation from the church instead of an embracing, supportive family.  A study like this one should break our hearts for those who have rejected Jesus because of His church, bring us to repentance for how we have dishonored the glorious name of Jesus Christ, and cause us to listen with compassion to the stories of those outside the church, so that we might minister the true gospel to them.

2) In some cases, they are pointing out ways we are not like Jesus – The bottom line is this:  the church is the body of Christ, which means that when the world sees us, they should see Jesus.  What this study is saying loud and clear is that when the world looks at the church, they do not see Jesus.  That is why the book was named UnChristian – because when the majority of people look at Christians, they see something very unlike Jesus.  Now, again, sometimes this is based on erroneous notions of who Jesus was or what he taught (notice how 82% of those surveyed thought Christianity taught essentially the same basics as other religions), but other times they are right on in their observations:  we are saying one thing, but doing another, saying that we are followers of Jesus, but not acting like Him.  And again, this should cause us to repent of dishonoring the name of Christ, and lead us into a deeper relationship with Him, so that we might become more like Him.

What are your thoughts?  Is there anything to be gained from paying attention to a study like this?  If so, why, and what do you learn?  If you have anything to share, please post your comments.

And In This Corner:  Sam Harris, author of Letter to a Christian Nation, which I have been reading this week.  If Harris were to write a Psalm 14 of his own, it would likely read “The fool says in his heart, “There is a God, and I know what He/She/It is like.”  According to Harris’ book, those who believe in God are blinded by their narrow view of the world, have missed the obvious signs that there is no God, and are ultimately living with a false (and dangerous) view of reality.

And here comes the Referee:  The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a study this Monday that detailed the religious affiliations of Americans today, based on a 2007 study of over 35,000 Americans (shown below).  As you can see, 78% of Americans consider themselves some sort of Christian, while 4% consider themselves atheist or agnostic, and another 12% consider themselves unaffiliated with any particular religion. 

So what does this mean?  Well, if Sam Harris is correct, we’ve got a nation full of idiots.

Certainly the fact that 78% of Americans consider themselves Christians doesn’t prove the existence of God (especially since the staggering number of denominations shows how much disagreement there is on how to best worship Him).  But it does prove that the notion of faith in God is worthy of some serious consideration.  I know that religious affiliation is not the same as belief in God, but assuming the number of people who believe in God is somewhere near that 78%, is it really likely that that many million people are emotionally stunted, truth-repressing, simple-minded people with serious wish-fulfillment issues?  Is it more likely that the 4% who have looked at the evidence and concluded that there is no God have realized the obvious while the other 78% have chosen to repress it out of fear for their mortality or their inability to think for themselves?

Now, as I said, the fact that 78% of Americans consider themselves Christians does not prove the existence of God.  Nor does it prove that the Christian version of God is the correct one, since a similar poll taken in Afghanistan or India would surely reveal a high number of religious people, but adhering to religions other than Christianity.  But I find it interesting that no matter how many times people have predicted that our increasing understanding of science and technology would eliminate our need for religion, here we are in 2008 with an overwhelming percentage of these scientific and technological minds still convinced that there is a God.  Apparently we didn’t get the memo…

Beginning on Easter Sunday, I will be preaching a series that will entertain some of the most common objections to faith in the God of the Bible.  I will be dealing with questions about the problem of evil, the legitimacy of the Bible, the issue of Hell, and the exclusivity of Jesus.  I will also be spending some time blogging about some of the more personal and relational reasons people reject Christianity, such as the hypocrisy and judgmentalism of believers and the atrocities found in church history.  And hopefully, along the way, I’ll convince some people that not all of the 78% are idiots, but that there is good reason to believe in God.
 
Let me share just a few other quick observations from the Pew Forum’s study:

 25% of young adults 18-29 say they are not affiliated with any particular religion.  This could mean that younger generations are more skeptical about religion, or that that stage of life is marked by less religious affiliation regardless of the generation.  It’s probably a little of both; many people drop out of church only to return once they have children out of a desire to give their children some “moral guidance.”  But it is probably also a sign that younger generations in America, who are more aware of different cultures, faiths, and ways of life, as well as more aware of the failings of religious leaders and people, have grown more skeptical of organized religion.  Either way, I’m thankful that our church has found a way to reach a disproportionate number of people in this age group.

 Nearly 20% of men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13% of women.  No surprise there.  Churches often do a poor job capturing the mind and spirit of the active, adventure-seeking American male.

 The Northeast has the greatest concentration of Catholics.  I’m pretty sure you’ve all noticed that.  Probably half of our church grew up Catholic.  It’s also interesting to see how 26% of Americans consider themselves evangelical Christians, seeing as how the percentage of people in Glastonbury who would say that is probably closer to 1% (and even that number might be too high).

 Jehovah’s Witnesses have the lowest retention rate of any religious tradition. Only 37% of all those who say they were raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses still identify themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Very interesting – they are out witnessing so much that their faith is growing, yet almost two-thirds of those raised as JW’s drop out.

Finally, before any believers in God walk away thinking that they can boast of the fact that they believe, let them be reminded that if it were not for the Lord’s intervention, they would still be in their ignorance.  Even David understood this, as he wrote in the next two verses of the Psalm I quoted in the beginning:  “The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:2-3).  Let us thank God from the depths of our heart for the grace He has given us that has allowed us to not only believe in Him but to know Him and to have experienced His salvation.

Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC,
and his book, The Reason for God

Now, I’m guessing at least 90% of you have never even heard of Tim Keller or Redeemer Church, unless you read this week’s article in Newsweek about him.  This ignorance is largely because even though Keller is 57, this is his first attempt at writing a popular book; previously, he seems to have been very content to fly under the radar and work with Redeemer as they seek to renew New York City socially, spiritually, and culturally.  As a pastor serving a church of roughly 5000 transient, intellectually and culturally sophisticated New Yorkers, as well as helping plant and assist countless other churches ministering in cities around the world, he has certainly had his hands full.  But I have a feeling that many Christians will be grateful that he took the time to write The Reason for God.

The timing of this book is great for me, as I have been preparing to preach a series that will begin on Easter dealing with some of the biggest reasons people reject the God of the Bible and Christianity.  I am planning to address questions such as “why does God allow suffering and evil?”, “How can Christians claim that theirs is the only right religion?” and “isn’t Christianity incompatible with science?”, as well as more relational objections such as “I would be happy to follow God if it weren’t for all those hypocritical, judgmental Christians.”  (I encourage you once again to visit our Why Believe? webpage and tell your story of why you do or do not believe).  I am sure this book will be of great value to me as I prepare.

The timing of this book is also great for our society, given the recent influx of “New Atheist” books that have been best-sellers, such as Christopher Hitchens’ God is not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything, Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and Sam Harris’ Letters to a Christian Nation.  These authors have gone on the offensive to argue that not only is belief in God irrational, but that it is downright evil, that the world would be better off without religion.  And many are buying what they are selling.  Their criticisms are pretty harsh, and I have been waiting for someone from the Christian community to step up and engage those who have attacked the concept of faith in God.  Thankfully, Tim Keller was up to the challenge. 

Now, in the midst of all of this intellectualizing and arguing, it is important to keep things in the proper perspective.  I am not sure anyone can be argued into the kingdom of God.  Many people enter by being attracted to the incomparable love and beauty of Jesus; for others, it is coming to a realization of their need for a Savior in the light of their sin and brokenness.  Becoming a Christian is not like buying a car which you can be argued into purchasing (“all right, you’ve convinced me – I’ll take Jesus.  Does he come with a warranty?”).  So, I’m not expecting The Reason for God to argue many people into becoming Christians.  However, I do think that books like this one that defend the rationality of belief in God are invaluable in correcting false assumptions and beliefs about God and showing clearly that believing in God does not mean throwing your brain out the window.  As someone who always graduated near the top of his class and considers himself an intelligent person, I find it frustrating how many atheists think all believers are simple-minded people who have faith because they wish to have someone else tell them what to do and what to believe.  As Keller shows, being a Christian often means thinking harder and deeper about the reality in which we live and how the Biblical story of creation, sin, and redemption make sense of it.         

The two things I have appreciated most about Tim Keller are how central the Gospel is to his message and how well he gives intellectual reason for faith.  No matter what text he is preaching from, whether it is Genesis, the Psalms, or Romans, he somehow always ends up back at the cross of Christ and the need for his listeners to allow the fact that Jesus “lived the life they should have lived and died the death they should have died” to transform their very being.  And his intellectual ability is incredible.  In a typical sermon, he’ll somehow manage to weave in Hebrew scholars, writers for New Yorker magazine, existential philosophers, and modern musicians into his sermons as testimonies to how true the Biblical metanarrative of creation, sin and redemption is to the world in which we live.  

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he answered “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).  I have found other preachers, teachers, worship leaders, and servants who have been better at encouraging me to love God with all of my heart, but none who have compared to Keller’s ability to help me love God with all of my mind.  I am hopeful that God will use this book to help others do the same.

Now that I’ve told you about someone who has impacted my faith and ministry, I am curious about which teachers, preachers, or writers have had the greatest impact on your faith.  If you would, post a comment on someone you’ve found particularly inspiring, so that we all might be encouraged or exposed to someone of which we may have never heard.  And one more note – if you are interested in The Reason For God, you can visit www.amazon.com, search for the book, and read excerpts from it.

Why don’t you believe?  If you do not consider yourself a follower of Jesus, why do you not believe?  What is it that holds you back from believing all that Jesus said about God and what it means to know Him?  What doubts do you have, what experiences have damaged your faith, or what else has led you to declare that you do not believe? 

It’s a simple question, really, but one that you may not often take the time to reflect on and articulate.  If you believe in Jesus, if you follow the God of the Bible and are trying to live out the purpose of life as He revealed it, why have you made that decision?  And if you do not believe – if you reject that portrait of God or the Bible’s description of brokenness and salvation and what it means to really live – why not?  I’d really like to hear your story.

This past Sunday, we launched a new page on our church website called “Why Believe?” in anticipation of an upcoming sermon series I’ll be giving beginning on Easter Sunday, March 23rd.  I will be taking five Sundays to deal with some of the biggest reasons that people reject faith in Jesus – questions like “how can God allow THAT to happen in my life or in the world?” and “how can Christians claim that theirs is the only right religion?”  Statements such as “I can accept Jesus as a good teacher, but I can’t believe all the miracles of the Bible” or “I would be more likely to follow Jesus if it weren’t for all those hypocritical, intolerant Christians.”

The purpose of the “Why Believe?” site is to give people a chance to share their stories of why they do or do not believe.  The beauty about stories and personal experiences is that they are true to us – we have experienced them and no one can really argue with what we’ve experienced.  If you follow Jesus, sharing your story is a chance to put a face to the name “Christian,” a chance to let spiritual seekers or atheists know that there are real people with genuine reasons to believe.  And if you have rejected faith in Jesus or are still trying to figure it out, this is an opportunity to let Christians know that there are real people with genuine reasons to reject the God of the Bible or the Christian church.  Personal stories can be an excellent bridge-builder between people with different views, as well as an opportunity to interact with real people with real stories instead of just general “issues” and “theories.”  

So, as I prepare for this upcoming sermon series, I want you to do me two favors.  First, I would ask you to visit the website at www.newlife-glastonbury.org/whybelieve and share your story of why you do or do not believe.  Once you’re there, click on “How to Share” near the top of the page, and that will guide you through how to add your story.  Keep in mind that, as the moderator, I reserve the right to block stories or edit anything that does not contribute in a positive manner to the discussion.  Secondly, I want you to invite others you know to share their story, especially anyone you know who does not believe.  My hope is that this site will become a forum for honest conversation about the question of belief in Jesus.

At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey everything he has commanded.  I believe that the salvation and new life that Jesus offers is for everyone in this world, and it is in this spirit that we have created this opportunity to both share what we believe and listen to the stories of those who don’t believe.  May God use this website and sermon series to reveal to our world who He truly is, in all of His majesty, holiness and beauty, so that all might believe.

 “I have no Faith — I dare not utter the words & thoughts that   crowd in my heart & make me suffer untold agony,”(undated)

“Such deep longing for God and … repulsed empty no faith no love no zeal. … Heaven means nothing pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything.” (1956)

“What do I labour for? If there be no God — there can be no soul — if there is no Soul then Jesus You also are not true.” (1959)

Wow.  THAT’S Mother Teresa???  It certainly sounds like the book will be an incredible window into the mind and soul of one of the most well-known servants of God the world has ever known.  I’m also sure that it will open both Catholicism and faith in God to passionate arguments from all sides.  I’m expecting to hear three interpretations offered regarding Mother Teresa’s words:

) “This is confirmation that God is a myth and faith in God is a farce.”

The reasoning goes like this:  “There seems to be no correlation between devotion to God and tangible experience and assurance of God’s existence.  Surely the one who is most devoted to God would know better than most whether or not God truly exists.  Teresa’s deep struggles to even believe in God confirm that not only does God not exist, but that spiritual devotion does not necessarily improve one’s life.”  For example, one well-known atheist, Christopher Hitchens (author of the recent best-seller God is Not Great and the Mother Teresa-bashing The Missionary Position) is quoted by Time as saying “She was no more exempt from the realization that religion is a human fabrication than any other person, and that her attempted cure was more and more professions of faith could only have deepened the pit that she had dug for herself.”  Ouch.   

Teresa’s words of struggle and doubt will certainly cause people to recognize that the most devoted to God do not necessarily have the most tangible experience of His presence.  But the fact is that Teresa probably has a lot of company in that she had more tangible experiences of God in her younger days as a Christian, but as time went on was required to walk more and more by faith and not by sight.  Remember what Jesus said to Thomas after the resurrection in John 20:28-29, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  And as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith, not by sight.”  Atheists will argue that this sort of faith is blind belief in an unprovable myth, but faith – being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1) is at the core of what it means to follow God.  Heroic faith is a faith that continues to serve God even when there is no visual or tangible proof of His existence.

And seriously – you try living among the poorest of the poor for over forty years and not doubting God’s existence.

2) “This is confirmation that Catholics do not really know God, since they preach a salvation based on works and not faith.”

The reasoning for this view goes like this:  “Although the Bible teaches that we are acceptable to God only by repenting from our sins and trusting in Jesus’ death for our sins and resurrection from the dead, Catholics have taught that salvation comes through not only faith but by observing the sacraments.  Even though Mother Teresa did lots of good works, this is not evidence that she was truly saved, just like Jesus taught in Matthew 7:22-23: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

There are many evangelicals who have been taught that Catholicism is a false religion because of its emphasis on works and sacraments.  There are some who have even used Mother Teresa in the past as an example of someone who could still deserve Hell despite her good deeds, because her good deeds alone will never make her acceptable to God.  And now, I expect them to triumphantly declare that Teresa’s words have proved their point, that Catholics do not know God.

However, I would be very careful to dismiss millions of people who consider themselves Christians with such a sweeping statement.  The truth is that there are true believers within the Catholic Church and there are those who are Christian in name only but do not know God.  I just finished reading an incredibly challenging book by two evangelicals-turned-Catholics named Scott and Kimberly Hahn called Rome Sweet Home that is another reminder how some believers find God more present in Catholicism than in any other approach to God.  While this essay is not meant to be a thorough treatment of Catholicism, I do wish it to be a quick reminder to be careful not to dismiss an entire denomination but to instead treat people as individuals. 

3) “This is confirmation that not only do we all struggle with doubt in the face of an invisible God, but that often the most saintly have the deepest struggles”

Many Catholic leaders have been quick to not only defend Teresa but to hail these revelations as even deeper evidence of her sainthood.  They have declared that this book will eventually belong up there with other great confessionals, such as Augustine’s Confessions and St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul, and that Teresa’s honesty may eventually be a greater inspiration to people than her service to the poor.  Perhaps they are right, or perhaps they are being a little too defensive in the face of the attacks on one of their most treasured Catholics.

I believe that if nothing else, this book will serve as a simple but much-needed reminder to people that everyone struggles with faith in God and feels at times His absence in the midst of their situation.  It can be easy to put spiritual leaders on a pedestal, thinking that they must not deal with the same struggles and doubts that the average Christian deals with.  The truth is often the reverse; often the most saintly experience the deepest struggles and strongest attacks.  Consider Peter’s words:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire– may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

What a passage!  Nothing reveals whether or not someone’s faith is genuine more than intense suffering.  When God is seemingly absent, when holding on to Him means facing spiritual opposition and physical suffering, your faith is revealed for what it truly is.  Do you continue to serve Him, or do you give up and declare God dead and move on?  If there were ever a Biblical example (other than Jesus) of a righteous man suffering and experiencing the absence of God, it was Job.  In one of his more memorable lines, he said “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15).  Let me say it once again – heroic faith is a faith that continues to serve God even when there is no visual or tangible proof of His existence.

Only God knows the truth about Mother Teresa’s soul and how genuine her faith really was.  But if genuine faith is demonstrated by good works, and heroic faith by good works despite spiritual and physical opposition, then Mother Teresa possessed heroic faith.  She used to tell those who served under her “Give God permission to use you without consulting you” and evidently she lived that out, continuing to serve God without demanding that He first show her His presence.  If you experience God tangibly, praise God for it; but if not, continue to walk by faith and not by sight.

“The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable” – Brennan Manning

I am sure there are plenty of people in this world who look to philosophical and theological arguments to account for their rejection of God, but I believe that the biggest cause for people giving up on God, Jesus, or the church can be summed up in one word:  hypocrisy (with unjust suffering a close second).  There is no greater opponent to God than hypocritical Christians, no bigger turn-off to the world than a church who claims to follow Jesus but shows no love for their neighbor. 

Perhaps this is why Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for the religious leaders of his day.  I’ve been looking over the past few weeks at some of Jesus’ slams of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, and it is especially noteworthy that he begins each diss this way – “woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.”  Remember that Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Greek, so it can be instructive to check out what certain words meant in their original context.  The word “hypocrite” referred to an actor on a stage, one who is playing a part, pretending to be someone he is not.  Jesus takes this word and brings it into the religious arena, forever labeling religious types who pretend to be holy, loving people when the reality is far from it as hypocrites.  For an example of what Jesus meant, check out Matthew 23:25-28:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.  “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Both criticisms highlight the same offense – the religious leaders of Jesus day were far more concerned with appearing holy, clean, and righteous than actually being that way on the inside.  In Jesus’ excellent analogy, they were like “whitewashed tombs,” beautiful on the outside but full of dead man’s bones on the inside.  They appeared righteous and saintly, but in reality were full of greed and self-indulgence, hypocrisy and wickedness.  They claimed to be speaking for God, but their actions were driving many people away from Him.

The temptation to pretend to be righteous has never really gone away.  There is still the temptation to dress up in your Sunday best and do your best to appear perfect and together, while the reality is far from pretty.  The temptation for religious leaders is to appear holy and righteous and to hide any hint of immorality.  It is far too easy for a Christian to act, to pretend, to play a part, to be the hypocrite.  And nothing will turn someone off from God like a church full of hypocrites.

This weekend, I read a phenomenally powerful and disturbing column that illustrates how damaging hypocrisy in the church is to people’s relationship to God.  It was written by William Lobdell and appeared in the Saturday’s Los Angeles Times (thanks to Todd Rhoades at mondaymorninginsight.com – the top religious blog around, in my opinion – for the link).  Lobdell became a Christian in 1989, and was so offended by the mainstream media’s portrayal of Christians as nuts or simpletons that he lobbied his editors at the Times to let him write a weekly religious column about faith in Orange County.  His hope was “to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people’s lives,” and he was finally given the chance in 1997.  Four years later, he found himself investigating and reporting regularly on the Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal, and was deeply disturbed at the level to which the diocese had gone to protect known molesters and hide their crimes.  In one prominent example, a priest who was also a high school principal had confessed to molesting a student to church officials, but was sent to a treatment center and was eventually allowed to continue working as a priest despite a psychological report which revealed that he was attracted to adolescents and had likely molested multiple boys (his case eventually settled in 2001, with the molested student receiving $5.2 million from the church).

Unfortunately, Lobdell found that the hypocrisy was not confined to the Catholic Church.  He saw former Mormons being ostracized by other Mormons, who were being taught to disassociate themselves so as to not contaminate their faith.  He also spent a long time investigating Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network that convinces its viewers that if they send money to the network, then God will repay them with great riches and good health.  Lobdell interviewed countless people who had gone into debt or lost their faith trusting that message, while TBN televangelists like Paul and Jan Crouch and Benny Hinn lived in multi-million dollar mansions, flew $20 million corporate jets, ate lavish meals, and stayed in five-star hotels wherever they went (all paid for with tax-free donor money, of course).  The last straw for Lobdell was watching a court rule against an unemployed mother who was trying to get increased child support for her sickly 12-year old son from the boy’s father, a priest who had impregnated her while in seminary.   The priest, who had never seen or spoken with his son, had an attorney paid for by his religious order who convinced the judge that because of his vow of poverty, child-support laws should not apply to him.  After eight years of seeing firsthand how hypocritical religious leaders can be, William Lobdell decided to give up not only his religious column but his faith in God as well. 

Now, admittedly, all of these examples are stories of human beings who disobeyed God’s commands to love their neighbor and show compassion and mercy on people, so it would be improper to place the blame on God.  But try telling a thirty year-old man who has been molested by a priest to whom he looked up to as God’s representative on earth to put his trust in God.  Or try telling a 20 year-old man in kidney failure who has gone off dialysis in faith that God will heal him at a Benny Hinn conference only to get worse that God is good.  Try telling someone who has seen church leaders treat those under their care like worthless dogs that the church is your family.  There is no doubt that a huge obstacle to faith in God in this world is hypocritical Christians.

At the heart of the Christian message is this truth, as put so eloquently by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners– of whom I am the worst.  I am under no illusion as to who I really am – a person capable of Pharisee-like wickedness and hypocrisy, but in whom the redeeming power of Jesus Christ is working to transform me into a person of love, mercy, and integrity.  I am sure that my actions will contradict my ideals and standards many times before I die, and despite my best intentions, there will be people who will see me as a hypocrite.  But I have learned that the best antidote to hypocrisy is this:  stop pretending to be someone you are not.  Stop playing the part of the righteous, together Christian.  Stop acting and just be who you are before God and the world.  Only then will people recognize how foolish it is to put their trust in us or any other human being, and give their allegiance to the only One who can make something beautiful and good out of such a hypocritical group of people.

The single greatest cause of atheism is hypocritical Christians.  Perhaps the greatest cause of faith would be authentic, flawed Christians through whom the captivating, redeeming, and transformative love of Jesus Christ is displayed.

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us – 2 Corinthians 4:7