Articles
“Reaching the Skeptic”
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
How does the gospel reach the skeptic? Skepticism can be helpful when it encourages us to test claims before trusting them. Truth rewards honest inquiry. That is why Paul said “test everything,” including his teaching (Acts 17:11). Wherever he was, he “reasoned” with people about the truth of the gospel (Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19; 24:25). G. K. Chesterton famously said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” The gospel reaches the skeptic like it reaches anyone else, through Christians presenting it persuasively and reasonably.
First, consider the faith it takes to doubt it — Honest skeptics embrace the gospel when it gets harder and harder to justify not believing in it. When presented persuasively, reasons for rejecting the gospel become weaker and the case for Christ grows stronger.
Unlike other worldviews, Christianity answers all the fundamental questions about our identity, our origin, our problem, our purpose and our destiny. Strong philosophical arguments can be made for God’s existence, the origin and design of the universe, humanity’s uniqueness and moral awareness. Arguments from history support the historical reliability of the Bible, the claims and credentials of Jesus, the prophecies he fulfilled and the vast constellation of evidence for his bodily resurrection. When the gospel is taken seriously, the faith it takes to doubt it is simply too great.
Second, consider the problems we have without it — If we live with the conviction that there is no God or that the gospel is untrue, the implications are staggering. We boil them down to just four.
If Christianity is untrue, then (1) there is no hope. There is nothing beyond death but nonexistence. If there is no God, then (2) there is no meaning. Any purpose we construct for ourselves will be taken away through suffering, old age and death. If there is no God, then (3) there is no justice. In the end, there is no difference between the one who lived a life of evil and selfishness and the one who loved and served others. Finally, if there is no God, then (4) there is no morality. There is no ultimate standard for morality, no fixed reference point beyond ourselves or our culture to determine right from wrong. If all morality is relative, then society falls into depravity and ruin (Jdg. 21:25; Rom. 1:18-35). However, a life with God and his Son Jesus Christ is a life filled with abundant hope, clarity of purpose, the expectation of a just judgement and a fixed, discernible morality revealed in God’s word.
Third, consider the beauty we see within it — There is a unique and compelling beauty to the story told in Scripture. God created humans in his image to rule his creation on his behalf but we rebelled against his loving authority. In response, God pursued us in love: he became one of us to suffer for us, die as a sacrifice to take away sin and was raised to eternal life to defeat death and open up the way back to him so that we can be with him forever.
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” (Jn. 14:6) providing us with the three essential aspects of our existence to which secular thinking has no answer: he is the “way” to live, the basis for our thinking and decision making (“truth”) and the hope for a future beyond death (eternal “life”). In Jesus, God has answered the deepest longing of every heart, to love and be loved. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
May God help us persuade others to repent and believe the gospel. May God open their eyes to see the truth: the faith it takes to doubt it is too great; the problems we have without it are too many; and the beauty we see within it is too captivating.
