In recent months, I've been sad to hear stories of and speak to some friends who have chosen to walk away from their faith for various reasons. Some were "enlightened" by others who they deem intellectually superior and thus decided that they must have been naive to believe in this so called faith in Jesus. Others, simply walked away due to life circumstances that didn't add up to support a theory of believing in a "good God who wouldn't do this or allow this if He loved me." Still others walked away after watching others who claim to be believers live lives that so blatantly do not attest to walking with a Savior.
Regardless of the reasons for which these individuals have chosen to walk away from their faith, my heart breaks over the victory that has been handed to the prince of light. It may be hard to believe, but there are actually intellectual Christians out there who know why we believe what we believe, who can defend the Truth tooth and nail over the lies that society feeds us. There are some of us who, though we continually mess up, cling to forgivness and grace and long to live like Christ, ever-changing, ever-loving more. There are some of us who don't want to argue over facts but who would LOVE to sit down and have a loving, patient conversation with someone struggling about why we have NO doubt that our faith is grounded in the one and only Truth that exists to guide our world.
When I was in college, I became passionate about learning why I believe what I believe. I do not believe what I believe because someone told me to do it. I don't do it to make myself feel better or to improve my view of the world. In fact, how could comparing myself with a holy God possibly make me feel good? When I see my own sinfulness in comparison with His holiness, I certainly don't feel good about it. I feel humbled. I feel loved. I know with certainty that I don't deserve His grace. My faith is not a made-up paradigm of thought which I choose to operate from because of how it makes me feel. My faith is an active pursuit of the God of the universe because I have studied the facts. I have examined the evidence. I know that science supports Creation, not evolution. I know that evolution is in fact a scientic impossibility. I also know that in the darkest of struggles and the deepest of hurts, my God is there. I have not created a sentimental, gushy God who rushes to my every whim or with whom I can be angry every time something doesn't go my way. I long to understand more and more every day about who God really is. I long to study Scripture for what it really says, to understand the Hebrew and the Greek, to not take verses out of context to make them fit my personal agenda. I know that beyond any doubt, the Bible is the most well-documented book in all of history. I know that is has stood the test of time, that we have more original manuscripts of Scripture than we do for some of the very history books that everyone accepts as "fact" in our education system.
I write all of this to encourage believers and non-believers alike: study the facts of why you believe what you believe. It takes a lot more faith to believe in an evolutionary process that randomly put us on this earth than it takes to understand the Creator who lovingly made us and desires to know us. I will never cram my faith down someone's throat, but I will pray that your eyes will be open to truth. I will continually pray that God will give believers the desire to study apologetics, to choose to not be ignorant to the facts of our faith. In the same way, I'll pray for non-believers to not be ignorant to the same facts and to not get lost in fruitless arguments about why they believe Scripture is contradictory (it isn't, by the way. When you've studied the Greek and Hebrew, you'll understand that) or about how a good God could never do whatever it is they've struggled with. God is holy. He is set apart from us. Hell doesn't exist because God is mean; hell exists because our sinfulness cannot exist in the presence of His holiness. That's why He offers us forgiveness through the grace of His Son, Jesus.
My heart breaks over those walking away. I know that life isn't pretty, and I know that sometimes it's easy to feel forgotten. But I also know that God can handle my questions, and He can handle my fears. When I examine everything around me, there's no way that I could ever doubt my faith in Him. He's the only reason my heart continues to beat.
If you read this and have any questions as to what evidence I have for my faith, please ask me and I'll be more than happy to share. :)
