December 13, 2014

How can we know God is real? This question afflicts our church and sows the seeds of doubt in our lives.

In English class, two of my buddies (one of them a Catholic, and one of them a Protestant) write down on notecards back-and-forth debates about all sorts of subjects. Sometimes I'll grab a spent card and read about what they are talking about, and oftentimes I am astounded at the unsurity of both parties. My Protestant friend asks questions and twists words in ways that play a devil's advocate, but he almost never states his own position. On the other hand, the Catholic doesn't know how to defend his faith. And it makes me sad to see them both argue, especially when the topic is religion, about things they know little about but puff themselves up to make it look like lots. To win an arguement. On index cards.

The smug grin of a clever answer, or the frustrated look of someone who cannot seem to make it clear enough to the other party... for what purpose? I see my Protestant friend, first of all, defending NOTHING. He isn't sharing his beliefs, and he isn't talking about Jesus. He is just shooting down the beliefs of the Catholic through clever wording and witty remarks. Its not uncommon to see him write "WHY?" really big and hand back the card. Sometimes I think he should share what he himself believes.

And my Catholic friend - and this makes my heart the most sad - he doesn't even know what he believes. He'll talk of his faith, and my Protestant friend will ask why something, and the Catholic just says that he can't know for sure, but that it sounds good to him so he'll decide to believe it. This is NOT assurity, its bandwagon behavior. If you are going to argue about your faith, PLEASE believe wholeheartedly, with certainty, that what you are saying is true. At least believe it. To debate without certainty is like pulling a sled with cooked spaghetti... it's useless. 

Now, there is nothing wrong with being Catholic or Protestant! I am not trying to put one group over the other. Salvation comes from Jesus, the RISEN Son of God, and its by grace. The split in the church should have never happened, but just like Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15, because of the slight difference in doctrine, it was better for the faith to split ways and share the gospel in different areas of our world, rather than argue over silly nuances. But how can we be certain of our faith? How can we be assured of the grace offered to us? Many would say we can't; that's where faith comes in. And they are right about faith, because faith is the critical point of having a relationship with Jesus. However, as your faith grows and your relationship with Him also grows, you will discover that assurity. You will know that what you believe is true.

As we grow in Jesus, we start to see His hand in all we do, and all around us. He is not a distant, passive God but rather an intimate, personal one! He guides our lives in ways we often can't see, but when we do see it, all we can do is glorify Him! And we know it was Him because of His character; and we are assured of His purpose for us, and therefore, assured of our faith. Also, He speaks to us! Be it through the Bible, through experiences, through strangers or friends or direct revelation, God shows us that He is always around to hear us and respond.

Also, just look at creation. Especially the stars. I could go on and on about scientific facts and such, but beauty is much more eloquent than I am. Gazing at the calm, clear sky, and seeing the majesty Jesus drew into His canvas, the sky... its amazing. Breathtaking. So is the human body. Every piece working together in perfect harmony to help us move and operate. The more intricate the machine, the more probability the machine will break. But God made us perfect, and its only our imperfection, because of sin, that causes our bodies to deteriorate and decay. I'm surprised we don't have more problems with our human condition!

You see, God's hand is all around us. Why debate a silly issue such as the certainty of faith when we can see it displayed everywhere we look? And thats just the problem: most people DON'T look. Humans tend to see what they want to see, they don't look at the world unfiltered. I know I put my filter on all the time. But with Jesus's help, He can reveal to us all His majesty and wonder and how He works in our lives daily! I truly believe that when we recognize just how much God interacted with our lives, we will be dumbfounded. But until then, we can be assured of our faith because of the love God exemplifies by interacting with us, speaking to us, and showing us wonderous things of science that He orchestrated!