How do we Christians know that we are right?
I would have to say we cannot know in any ultimate sense until we die. That might sound strange to hear from a preacher! However, only one person has come back from the dead to tell the world the final truth. He did not march up to the Roman governor’s palace and show himself to Pontius Pilate to remove all doubt, but only visited his own disciples. On that occasion in response to Thomas, Jesus replied, “Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe.”
Ever since, following Jesus has been a matter of faith, not certain, provable knowledge. And ultimately, faith can never be fully or finally proved…it can only be shared. When someone asks, “How do you know you are right?” the best thing we can do is share our own faith story.
Let me sum things up. If you believe that ultimate spiritual truth does exist in the universe—that real truth for everyone is “out there”—then either Jesus was right and correct when he said “I am the way, the truth, the life…” or he was not. It can’t be both.
And notice carefully that you or I do not claim this about Jesus—he claims it for himself. What we cannot say is “well, this is true for me…but it may not be true for you.” It’s either true or it’s not.
Think of it this way. Many laws are humanly determined and can be debated or changed. If I get a speeding ticket and think a $100 fine is too much to pay, I can contest it and try to get the law changed. But other laws are not open to human debate—they are fixed in the universe.
If instead of getting a speeding ticket, I drive my car over a cliff, the law of gravity will apply to me whether I think it unfair or not… or even whether I was aware of gravity even existing or not.
Christians believe that just like the law of gravity, there are other ultimate truths about reality that apply to every person who has ever lived—including “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Honestly, our dilemma today is this. A good many church-going people have been browbeaten and brainwashed by our society into accepting its premise that, because there is no ultimate truth, any personal faith sharing is “intolerant.” No matter how sensitive or gracious, sharing my faith because I believe it is true is intolerant and judgmental, or at very least, bad manners.
If there is no ultimate universal truth—if everyone gets to choose whether gravity exists for them or not—then I guess it makes little difference.
But if there is ultimate truth, then we have a responsibility. It is not our job to “convert” people to the truth—God alone does the converting…God alone works this miracle of faith in human hearts. However, it is our job to share what we believe…what we have experienced in our own lives and why we believe as we do.
Let me leave you today with this question—IF gravity exists…and you see your son…your daughter…your parent… your good friend…your work colleague…driving toward the edge of a cliff blithely assuming their car will sail off into mid-air with no consequences to them…is it wrong to stand at the edge of the cliff waving your arms to warn them to stop before its too late?
Most people would not call your effort to tell them what you believe about gravity intolerant. Most would call it love.
