Last night I was reading on another site about how people were lamenting their lack of free time as adults, and the sense of hopelessness I got from them was incredible. Now, I'm not one to be moved emotionally but the picture that they painted with their words hit me at the core. It reminded me of what my mission here as a Christian on this Earth is, and how I am called to do it.
For those of you who are unaware, I am an avid fan of apologetics. Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith using reason. It's becoming more popular but most of the Christian body still hasn't heard about it, nor are they concerned with it. During a severe crisis of faith in 2011 where I teetered on agnosticism I was introduced to apologetics, and found it to be a powerful tool for not only strengthening my own faith, but also building up and challenging others to consider their own faith (or lack thereof). Last night was a strong reminder of why I even bother with apologetics. Here are my three main reasons.
Because I want to learn about my faith. I am a born-again Christian. I became one in 2007, at the age of 16, despite growing up in an essentially atheist household. Almost six years later I am still serving God, or trying anyway, and at this point I don't see myself going back. Even so I continue to have questions. How can I know God exists? What evidence is there for Jesus? What about things like free will, predestination, age of the universe, etc.? There is an insatiable desire in me to understand my faith, because it's the most central thing in my life. And while I will never learn everything, there is much to be gained from knowing exactly what I believe, and why I can feel confident believing it.
To show unbelievers meaningful life. The things I was reading last night showed lives that were devoid of meaning and hope. These people expected themselves to simply work for 40+ years working jobs they had no passion for, and having no energy to do anything else. It was implied these people did not have a strong relationship with God (the site itself is primarily atheist) which meant they had nothing beyond themselves to live for. Such a life they showed me was of perpetual boredom, fatigue, and lack of direction. That kind of life would be my Hell.
One of the most powerful changes that happened when I became Christian was that I was shown my life was not intrinsically meaningless or hopeless. I do have a purpose - to live for God. I do have a hope for a better future, the reassurance that I am provided for, that my life does not boil down to twenty years bored in school, forty years miserable at work, then my final twenty years too old and out of energy to pursue any desires. Then I die and everything I did becomes null and void anyway. Solomon described this life as meaningless in the first chapter of my favorite book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. And I read about these people talking about how empty their lives are, and I want to show them that there is something better than what they know of.
To save the lost from Hell. I know it's probably not nice to talk about Hell, but I'm going to do so anyway. Hell exists. It's a very real place, and it's where the spirits of the unsaved go after death. It may not be fire and brimstone as many think, but it is a place of eternal shame and separation from God. It is the worst thing that could happen to a person.
A lot of people think you can't use reason to bring a person to Christ. To a degree, that is almost correct. The only person that can provide conviction and open one's eyes to God is the Holy Spirit. But God still expects us to evangelize. Think of the Great Commission. And yes, even reason can be used to draw a person to God. That's how C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity. My own conversion did not happen in a pit of despair - I was happy with life. But I saw it was logical to serve God, and I felt it was the right thing to do.
Many, many skeptics out there think Christianity is foolish because all they have ever seen is the "feel good" stuff. But they don't ever hear us reasoning! Skeptics have questions, too. Why does God allow evil? How do we know Jesus was real? What about the statement that Jesus was a copycat of previous "Messiahs"? How do we know the Bible is true? There are answers to these questions. By answering these questions we can bring a person one step closer to salvation. And while I am no good at addressing matters of the heart, I can work with matters of the mind. And the mind needs to be convinced as well as the heart, if we are going to lead someone away from Hell.
For those of you who are unaware, I am an avid fan of apologetics. Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith using reason. It's becoming more popular but most of the Christian body still hasn't heard about it, nor are they concerned with it. During a severe crisis of faith in 2011 where I teetered on agnosticism I was introduced to apologetics, and found it to be a powerful tool for not only strengthening my own faith, but also building up and challenging others to consider their own faith (or lack thereof). Last night was a strong reminder of why I even bother with apologetics. Here are my three main reasons.
Because I want to learn about my faith. I am a born-again Christian. I became one in 2007, at the age of 16, despite growing up in an essentially atheist household. Almost six years later I am still serving God, or trying anyway, and at this point I don't see myself going back. Even so I continue to have questions. How can I know God exists? What evidence is there for Jesus? What about things like free will, predestination, age of the universe, etc.? There is an insatiable desire in me to understand my faith, because it's the most central thing in my life. And while I will never learn everything, there is much to be gained from knowing exactly what I believe, and why I can feel confident believing it.
To show unbelievers meaningful life. The things I was reading last night showed lives that were devoid of meaning and hope. These people expected themselves to simply work for 40+ years working jobs they had no passion for, and having no energy to do anything else. It was implied these people did not have a strong relationship with God (the site itself is primarily atheist) which meant they had nothing beyond themselves to live for. Such a life they showed me was of perpetual boredom, fatigue, and lack of direction. That kind of life would be my Hell.
One of the most powerful changes that happened when I became Christian was that I was shown my life was not intrinsically meaningless or hopeless. I do have a purpose - to live for God. I do have a hope for a better future, the reassurance that I am provided for, that my life does not boil down to twenty years bored in school, forty years miserable at work, then my final twenty years too old and out of energy to pursue any desires. Then I die and everything I did becomes null and void anyway. Solomon described this life as meaningless in the first chapter of my favorite book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. And I read about these people talking about how empty their lives are, and I want to show them that there is something better than what they know of.
To save the lost from Hell. I know it's probably not nice to talk about Hell, but I'm going to do so anyway. Hell exists. It's a very real place, and it's where the spirits of the unsaved go after death. It may not be fire and brimstone as many think, but it is a place of eternal shame and separation from God. It is the worst thing that could happen to a person.
A lot of people think you can't use reason to bring a person to Christ. To a degree, that is almost correct. The only person that can provide conviction and open one's eyes to God is the Holy Spirit. But God still expects us to evangelize. Think of the Great Commission. And yes, even reason can be used to draw a person to God. That's how C.S. Lewis converted to Christianity. My own conversion did not happen in a pit of despair - I was happy with life. But I saw it was logical to serve God, and I felt it was the right thing to do.
Many, many skeptics out there think Christianity is foolish because all they have ever seen is the "feel good" stuff. But they don't ever hear us reasoning! Skeptics have questions, too. Why does God allow evil? How do we know Jesus was real? What about the statement that Jesus was a copycat of previous "Messiahs"? How do we know the Bible is true? There are answers to these questions. By answering these questions we can bring a person one step closer to salvation. And while I am no good at addressing matters of the heart, I can work with matters of the mind. And the mind needs to be convinced as well as the heart, if we are going to lead someone away from Hell.