Logical, Rational, and Intellectually Honest?

Nearly every day I hear or read someone deriding, belittling, or in some way angrily mocking Christianity and its audacity to merely exist. It is treated as a pariah on the face of the earth. The Bible is heralded as a joke, a work of fiction, and something to be dismissed as crazy folklore.  One would think with such animosity and guttural hatred, their rationality must have grounds in reality. So let’s spend a minute reading a few of the many qualities the Bible calls its adherents to do on this earth.

1.      Pay your taxes regardless of whether you agree or not (Governments should love this one)

2.      Obey your boss no matter how rude, cruel, or self-serving (all business should love this one)

3.      Treat women as Jesus treated the church, you know, the one He died for and in place of (women’s rights groups, all wives, girlfriends, and women in general should love this one)

4.      Obey the laws of the land no matter what your personal feelings unless they go contrary to God’s laws (police officers, military, and again the governments should love this one)

5.      When a neighbor is in need, put yourself second and give liberally, do not ask for anything in return (equal rights groups, community activists, and neighbors everywhere should love this one)

6.      Love everyone, in particular, love those who hate you (anyone who has ever hated or been hated should love this one)

Man has always wondered if there was a God and who that God is. God, therefore, knowing that man cannot fully comprehend God had God come to earth in the form of that which we could relate to, a man.

Man has always marveled how we got here, so he told us by helping men write historical books and then protecting said books from the masses who have tried to destroy it more than any other book in history.  I mean, it would be pretty weird for someone to hand me a book and say that God sat down with a pen and paper and wrote this for me. So, in a preemptive strike (almost as if He knows that we are skeptical beings…which is needed to keep us from following anything that comes along), God used men, that is, someone we can relate with, to write down the events of history using human words so that we would not be lost by the unknown language He speaks.

Man then wondered if this God loved him, so God said, “I do, but to show you how much I love you I will step into history, lie on a cross, be nailed to that cross, and pay the penalty for all the wrongs you and every human has every committed.” The cross just so happened to be the element of justice the government was using at the time (keep in mind rule #4 above). Man has always thought that things were too difficult or cost too much, so God said, “Oh, and by the way, this is My gift to you. That whoever wants to accept it, I will freely, even though no one deserves it, give the gift of My real payment at Calvary for your real sin…Did you hear that?” God asks. “Free gift. Nope, you don’t owe Me anything, just accept it, believe it, and live like I told you. Not because I hate you, but because I love you and I know what is best for you, because I am God.”

God did all of this and so much more because we asked for it, and now, we don’t like the answers. It’s almost as if we would prefer a long, convoluted lie that is difficult to believe over the simple yet profound truth of our incredible history. Creation of everything from nothing is apparently too simple for some…I mean, who can’t create things from nothing? It happens every day, go ahead, just Google the words, “How many things has man created ex-nihilo” and watch the thousands of pages pop-up…I’m still waiting for page #1.

Continuing, He gave us instructions on how to live a long and inner-peace filled life and we shrug it off as something that is easily obtainable. Anti-depressants are the number one prescribed medication in this country and that strikes me as a signal that we are seeking peace in the wrong place. If one takes a minute to consider the wealthy and famous people; are they the role models for us on happiness, peace, and wellbeing? Do we do well finding comfort with things that rust, rot, and ruin?

Man has always begged for deliverance from the bondage of this world and a better life. God, therefore, steps into our time, offers Himself for us, pays the price in full, and all we have to do is accept it, yet we think that’s crazy. We want to go to Heaven, but we argue over the method. “Do I have to believe what God did for me to be saved? Can’t I just—oh, I don’t know, be a good person? Belief is…well, it’s just hard to do, and it offends me that God would pick the way for me to get there! I want my way or no way, and He is just an arrogant, egotistical, giant who for some reason thinks He knows better than me.”

Now that I have written this out I can so easily see why governments, military, police, and people around the globe would have so much trouble with such an evil and preposterous book. “I got this, I don’t need God. Have you seen my grades, my job, my good deeds, my bank account, my pool, my boats, my family…I am awesome and certainly don’t need to be told by God how it works.”

Is your stance logical, rational, and intellectually honest? Or is it possible you simply missed reality and thus the Truth?