'Caught Off Guard' Concerning Faith

A young couple had asked me to perform their wedding ceremony. She was not a Christian and reluctantly came with her fiancée to meet with me to talk about the wedding.

I emphasized that I believed the Bible and intended to include statements about God and his instruction for marriage. They both agreed. A few minutes later, however, the bride-to-be made a comment that caused me concern. I responded, “When you say, ‘God,’ and I say, ‘God,’ I don’t think we are talking about the same thing. Do you believe the Bible?”

Her final response, before cursing and storming out of my office, was something about how any writing that had been buried for a hundred years could be unearthed and then revered as a sacred text. (I did not wed the two.)

Years earlier, a co-worker of mine described Jesus as someone who was simply ahead of his time. She said that His advanced knowledge allowed him to heal in ways unfamiliar to the people of his day. So, they saw his practices as magical and called the results miracles. In addition, the crucifixion and resurrection of this wonder-worker were simply made up by disciples to account for his sudden disappearance.

Denial. The bride-to-be and my coworker were denying three important foundational truths that undergird Christianity:

• God is the Creator of the universe;
• Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, deity in the flesh; and
• Jesus was crucified, but was raised from the dead, and then ascended to heaven.

In his book, The Genesis Record, Henry Morris compared atheism, humanism, evolutionism, and an assortment of other –isms. He concluded that there are many different ways to deny God, but they are all still a denial of God. (p. 38)

Voices of our day mock the Scriptures, yet without carefully investigating its content. Voices of our day cite scientific research as testimony against events and claims in the Bible, yet often while overlooking their own hidden assumptions. Voices of our day, even many religious voices, often deny straightforward biblical teachings that clash with accepted beliefs.

Denying God, one must ultimately accept with blind faith that something (matter) can emerge from absolute nothingness. (Science does not agree.) Denying the deity of Jesus, one must blindly ignore salvation and morality. Denying the resurrection, one must blindly accept the absence of divine judgment, the afterlife and hope. The denial of these three fundamental truths reduces human beings to little more than animals whose end is nothingness.

Christian faith is rooted in the existence of the God who IS and who created and who recorded His spoken word to mankind. The very first verse of the Bible is a kind of 'You Are Here' pointer that provides mankind its bearings within the framework of the universe and eternity. It provides relevance to mankind’s existence. It gives relevance to the existence of every individual.

Faith is not blind, but rooted in truth. Yet, the Apostle Paul warned that God’s wrath is against those who “suppress the truth”...

Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 

—Romans 1:19 (NASB95)

Christians “walk by faith.” It is not blind faith or the faith of desire (i.e. I want to believe, so I believe). Our faith is grounded in the verifiable revelation of our wise Creator. Do not be caught off guard by the voices of doubt of our day.

Mark Stinnett

August 22, 2021