This is the final episode in the Evidence For Belief series. It explains the necessity to move beyond mere belief, and turn to Jesus in true faith and repentance.
VIDEO & AUDIO LINKS
YOUTUBE VIDEO: Taking The Plunge
AUDIO PODCAST: Taking The Plunge
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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to Episode 24 of Evidence For Belief, the final episode in this series which examines the evidence for the existence of God. I am about to start another series, called “ANSWERS”, which addresses the most common questions and objections raised against Christianity. So watch out for that as it rolls out week by week.
The focus of this current series, “Evidence For Belief”, has been to help people come to a belief in God; hence the title. Perhaps you have been helped in this way. Perhaps you have reached the conclusion that God exists, and you can now say “I believe in God.” That’s a momentous first step, but it’s important that you don’t stop there. The Bible tells us that God is not merely looking for ‘belief’, he is looking for ‘faith’. There’s a big difference. Belief is passive, but faith is active. Belief is mere intellectual assent, whereas faith involves an active commitment to something or someone.
An illustration might help.
I believe that having a cold shower every day is beneficial for my health (I really do!). Research suggests that immersing your body briefly in cold water energises your metabolism, stimulates your immune system and does a whole lot of other helpful stuff (am I being too technical?). I really do believe in the practice of having a cold shower every morning.
But here’s the thing: I don’t actually do it. That’s right, you heard me. I don’t have cold showers. They’re too cold! You see, I believe in the value of cold showers, I acknowledge it intellectually, but I’m just not willing to commit myself to doing it. I have a belief in something, but because that belief hasn’t translated into action – into commitment – my belief does me no good. I derive absolutely no benefit from my belief in cold showers; it is mere intellectual assent.
A lot of people are like that in regard to God. They believe in God. They may even believe in Jesus. They may believe in the Christmas story of God becoming flesh. They may believe in the Easter story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising again to bring us new life. But that belief is mere intellectual assent. It does them no good, because they are not willing to commit themselves to that belief and to the God who is the object of that belief. Such a person believes in God and Jesus in the same way I believe in cold showers: neither of us is actually willing to change our lives for that belief.
Significantly, Jesus never said to anyone, “Believe in me.” Instead, the Gospel writers record 22 instances of Jesus saying, “Follow me.” A Christian is a follower of Jesus, rather than a mere believer.
Unfortunately, the concept of following someone has been undermined by social media in recent times. It’s relatively easy to follow someone on Facebook or Instagram. You simply tick a box and you are now one of that person’s followers. But you don’t have to agree with everything they say, and you certainly don’t have to do everything they propose. You can follow someone on social media without it changing your life in any way.
Not so with Jesus. The kind of ‘followership’ that Jesus is talking about is the kind that demands total commitment. It is a commitment to live the way he commands you to; abiding by his standards and implementing his teaching. In following Jesus, you are seeking to be like him and to live as he would live. You can’t follow Jesus like you follow someone on social media; he doesn’t give us that option. In Mark’s Gospel, chapter 8 verse 34, we read:
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
Here we see the full extent of the kind of ‘followership’ that Jesus requires. It is a followership of self-denial and sacrifice. This doesn’t mean adherence to some sort of stringent, ascetic lifestyle of physical deprivation.
The denial and ‘death’ that Jesus is referring to when he said to “take up your cross” is the death of your self-rule, the demise of your autonomy. Instead of you being King in your life – Jesus becomes your ruler. Following Jesus means making him the King of your life. He gets to call the shots now: he gets to determine your values and guide your actions. Following Jesus means handing the steering wheel of your life over to him. This is what the Bible means by calling Jesus, ‘Lord’. It was the first century term for ‘master’ or ‘boss’.
Of course, this doesn’t imply perfection. The followers of Jesus don’t get it right all the time. We don’t follow Jesus perfectly. We occasionally stumble and fall. We don’t always perfectly reflect his standards. We don’t always perfectly obey his commands. We still sin from time to time.
But there is forgiveness when that happens. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross – to pay for our sins so that we could be forgiven; so that he could lift us up when we stumble, put us on our feet again and say, “Let’s try that again, shall we?” Following Jesus will never mean obeying him perfectly, but it does mean being fully committed to trying and to the process of growing in obedience.
All this talk of commitment and obedience and self-denial might lead some to believe that following Jesus is a life of austerity and bleak conformity to a harsh set of rules. But this is not so at all. Those who follow Jesus soon find that they experience a degree of joy that was never there before.
Jesus promised, “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This is not an empty promise. Anyone who has become a follower of Jesus will testify that their life is fuller and richer as a result, and there is a very good reason for this. We were created to know God, and when we enter into relationship with him, through his Son Jesus, something that was missing is finally restored.
As Augustine, Bishop of Hippo wrote, in the 4th century:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” [1]
There is a moving incident in the life of Jesus that demonstrates the point that Augustine is making. In Chapter 4 of John’s Gospel, we read of an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman who has come to draw water from a well on the outskirts of a small town called Sychar, in Samaria. There is a fascinating backstory to this incident, regarding the racial tension that existed between Jews and Samaritans, that makes Jesus’ interaction with the woman surprising and counter-cultural. But what is much more relevant to our present discussion is the woman’s dysfunctional life and her thirst for something more meaningful, which becomes clear as her interaction with Jesus unfolds.
Jesus begins the encounter by asking the woman if she would share with him some of the water that she has drawn from the well, as he is thirsty after a long walk. Very quickly, however, Jesus moves their conversation into ‘deeper waters’. He tells the woman that he can give her “living water” and says to her:
“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
The woman is initially confused by this statement, thinking that Jesus is referring to some kind of physical water. But, of course, Jesus is speaking of something much more profound. He is offering to fill up the emptiness inside her and satisfy her thirst for meaning and fulfilment. Sensing the woman’s confusion, Jesus decides to highlight the woman’s unhappiness and restlessness. The following intriguing exchange takes place:
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:16-18)
In this casual but remarkable display of divine insight, Jesus strips away the façade that the woman is presenting to him and lays bare her desperate search for happiness and meaning – a search that has led her through a succession of failed relationships.
The encounter ends with the woman running back to her town, excitedly proclaiming that she believes she has found the Messiah (a Jewish term for Saviour).
She is right. Jesus is, indeed, the Saviour. He offers to wipe away our sin, forgive our past and give us a fresh start in life – a life connected to the God we were created to know. And for those who accept Jesus’ offer, they discover a level of profound joy and fulfilment that they didn’t know they were missing. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “I have come that you may have life – life in all its fullness” – or“abundant life”as some translations put it. And this is precisely what Augustine meant when he stated, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” [2]
AN INVITATION TO ENCOUNTER GOD
You see, ultimately, God calls us to not merely believe in him, but to open our hearts to encounter him. And, as I have already explained, this necessarily involves submitting our lives to him and becoming a true follower.
In my first book, “Finding God When He Seems To Be Hiding”, I described an encounter I once had with a man who had previously belonged to a criminal motorcycle gang. It is worth repeating here, because it beautifully illustrates what God requires from all of us.
One Sunday night in 2017, I had a speaking engagement at a local church outreach dinner where a large number of non-church people were in attendance. I began by dealing with some of the common objections to Christianity and then presented a basic explanation of the Christian message, including Jesus’ wonderful offer of forgiveness and a new start in life.
After my talk we all went outside and stood around a bonfire, toasting marshmallows and drinking hot chocolate. It was a beautiful cold starry night in the middle of winter. I was approached by a bloke in his late 50’s. He was clearly a biker. Long grey hair. Grey beard. Leather jacket with patches all over it. Tattoos. And a big Harley Davidson motorcycle parked nearby. He told me his name was Ron and he shared the story of how he had sought and found God when he was in his 20’s.
He had been a member of an outlaw biker gang and had been living a wild criminal life. He briefly mentioned some of the terrible things he had done, and how dark and violent his heart had been. On one of his many drunken bike rides he had a horrendous crash and was in a coma for three days, yet even such a serious incident did not cause him to stop and evaluate the path he was on.
Eventually his life of crime and violence caught up with him. He was arrested, charged and convicted for armed robbery and attempted murder. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and was sent to the maximum-security section of one of Australia’s largest prisons.
At this point in the story he simply said to me, “And that’s where I met the Lord”. I asked him, “How did that happen?”. In my mind’s eye, I pictured him being befriended by the prison chaplain, starting to attend church services, asking lots of questions, beginning to read the Bible and gradually developing a faith that ultimately blossomed into a genuine commitment to Jesus as Lord and Saviour. But I was wrong! I’ll let Ron tell you how it really happened in his own words. This is the transcript of his words to me on that night as we stood around the bonfire and Ron has allowed me to publish them in my book:
“It was my second night in prison. I was alone in my cell and I was absolutely terrified. I was facing seven years in a maximum-security prison and I knew I couldn’t do it. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not gonna make it.’ I was in a really bad way. I realised what a mess I’d made of my life and I felt like I was at the bottom of a deep black hole with no way out. I fell to my knees on the concrete floor and I raised my arms to heaven and I cried out to God with all my heart.
My prayer went something like this; ‘God I don’t know whether you’re there or not, but if you are, please help me! I can’t do this on my own! Please help me! Please come into my life! Please rescue me! I need you! I’m sorry for what I’ve done. Please help me!’
Immediately God turned up in a big way. I physically felt Him wrap His arms around me and I was completely overwhelmed by a feeling of warmth and love and joy – like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life. The feeling of God’s presence coursed through my body from head to foot. I started thanking and praising Him, and I was so overwhelmed by His presence that I was sobbing uncontrollably from sheer joy.”
Wow! Ron has been a Christian now for over 40 years. After prison he married a wonderful Christian lady and worked as a youth minister, then as a counsellor in a drug rehabilitation facility. He is now retired and if you were to meet him you would have a strong impression of someone who has walked closely with the Lord for many years. In fact, as I spoke with him, I couldn’t help wondering why the church hadn’t asked him to do the talk that night instead of me!
Ron’s story illustrates an important truth. God invites us to enter into a personal relationship with him, so that we might be transformed. He calls us to turn back to him, confess our sins and call out for his help. Which is exactly what Ron did in that dark prison cell all those years ago.
It’s a stunning fact: the God of creation, the One who made this whole amazing universe, invites us to enter into a life-changing relationship with him. We are invited to not merely believe in God, but to know him and be transformed by him.
AND THE NEXT STEP IS UP TO YOU
So, you see, believing in God and Jesus is not the end of the journey. It merely brings you to the point where you are ready to consider God’s claim on your life. He made you and he now calls you into relationship with himself. He calls you to be a “follower”, not a mere “believer”. The Bible says:
“To all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
More than merely believing in Jesus, we are called to “receive him”, to submit our hearts and lives to him as our new King or master, in order that we might experience the fullness of life that we were created to find.
And, as Pascal’s Wager argues, what have you got to lose?
I sincerely hope and pray that this series has helped to strengthen your belief in God. More importantly, I hope it has motivated you to do something about it. The God who created you and loves you enough to send his Son to die on a cross for you, now calls you back into relationship with himself. The next step is up to you.
Go on.
Take that step.
You’ve really got nothing to lose.
If you are ready to do that, here is a prayer that you might like to pray. If you’re watching this video, I’ll put the words up on the screen. If you’re listening to the podcast, I’m going to pray the prayer, one sentence at a time, and if you want to make this your own prayer, just repeat it after me in the quietness of your own heart. And remember, this is you reaching out and connecting with God for the first time. Let me lead you in prayer:
A HELPFUL PRAYER
“Dear God, I acknowledge you now as my God and my Creator. I ask you to forgive me for ignoring you. Please forgive me for the many times I have disobeyed your commands. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross and rising again to pay for my sins and purchase my forgiveness. I open my heart to receive you as my Master. Please come into my life, fill me with your presence, and strengthen me to follow you all the days of my life. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me on my website, smartfaith.net, where you can also subscribe to my weekly blog and you will find a whole lot of helpful resources to help you in your journey of faith.
Keep an eye out for my next series of videos and podcasts, simply called “ANSWERS” which tackles the most common questions and objections raised against Christianity. It deals with a whole range of tricky questions such as:
- How can there be a loving, all-powerful God when there is so much suffering in the world?
- Doesn’t Christian hypocrisy disprove the truth of Christianity?
- Does religious violence nullify the existence of God and the truth of Christianity?
- How can Christians claim that Christianity is true when there are so many different religions?
- If God made the universe, who made God?
- If God exists, why isn’t He more obvious?
- How can a loving God send people to hell?
- Isn’t belief in God just a gap filler for people’s ignorance?
- Is belief in God unscientific?
- Hasn’t evolution disproved God?
- Are the biblical documents reliable?
- Did Jesus exist as a real person of history?
- Did Jesus work miracles?
- Did Jesus actually rise from the dead?
The “Answers” series will provide reasonable, intelligent answers to these and other issues that people often raise in regard to Christianity. So keep an eye out for this new series as new episodes start to go online each week.
Thanks for watching or listening to this episode and to this whole series if you’ve managed to do that. God bless, I hope to see you in the new series, and in the meantime, have a great day!
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Augustine of Hippo, “Confessions”, written between 397-400 AD.
[2] Augustine of Hippo, “Confessions”, written between 397-400 AD.