Proof, please!

I am known as someone who has ‘faith’ – I am a Christian, have been since 1979, and I implicitly believe that what the Bible says is true and accurate. I have read it from cover to cover three times, and probably a lot more in the disordered fashion of my daily readings. I find it as fascinating today as I did that memorable day back in 1979, when lost and frightened, depressed beyond reason, I looked for the book someone had given me a couple of years previously, urging me to read it, inscribing it as the “map of life”. In those pages, the words brought healing to my soul, I recognised the God I had wanted to believe in all my life, but of whom I had completely the wrong idea!

In the early days of my walk, I had many questions, at times I argued furiously with God, usually because I wanted things my way, but the further along the road I progressed the less inclined I became to question my Father, the way He operates, the way He deals with us. “He is God, and He can do what He likes”, a friend once said to me. So for me, if it’s in the Word, God said it, that’s it. No brainer. For me. Now. I didn’t get to this place overnight. It’s been a journey – quite a ride if I am to be honest – and one that I thank Him for every day.

I have the privilege of leading three bible studies a week. There are those who attend who are not yet convinced of the truth of Christ, who have deep and pertinent questions about God, Jesus, the veracity of the Bible, and I find these the most interesting people to have around because they make me dig deeper into my faith, into the word. The discussions can at times be robust and entertaining, at others they are sad and moving as people reveal their vulnerability in longing to be loved and accepted.

There are others who skate along the surface of religion, with wonderful whacky ideas that they are happy to share. These are the ones who always demand evidence: how do you know? What proof do you have? You can’t believe the Bible – its just a collection of fables! Really?

“Have you read the Bible?”

“No, but…” But you want me to believe I evolved from a lizard? No longer a fish, or a primate. Or that I am the result of some inexplicable cosmic explosion for which scientists and astrologers are still seeking concrete evidence. Maybe I’m a Martian clone?

The most recent theory presented to me is that the world is built in layers, and I can just fall off, for what reason, or when or how, you are unable to tell me.

“Can I climb back up?” I ask.

“Yes, if you are good enough.” What does good enough mean? Who decides if I am good enough? What are the criteria?

“What proof do you have?” I ask.

“None, it’s what I think.”

“Ah! And you want me to believe this?”

Silence.

And therein lies the rub. Mysticism and Spiritualism have become hypotheses that are preached as fact with zero evidence. Just a personal conviction that believers propound as fact. Which is their prerogative if that is what makes them happy, and I will listen to them.

I love the fact that I serve a living, breathing, divine, powerful God, who has provided much evidence of His reality through the ages:  A loving Father who does not leave it to me to ‘climb back up’ when I have worked out my atonement in guilt and shame, which could lead me to slip further, who says “Bring your sin and failings to Me, I love you enough to forgive you and make you whole again. Me, I do it, My yoke is light.”There is no longer much doubt that Jesus existed, that He was crucified, that He reappeared three days later as He promised He would, and spent the next six weeks continuing to train His disciples. There is documentary evidence, witness testimony from even the most sceptical of scholars and citizens of that time.

Archeologically there is indisputable evidence to support many of the “fables” in the Bible. Some of them, such as the sun standing still for a period, are recorded in other ancient cultures, such as the Incas. There is more, but I am not writing this to convince you – you can look for your own evidence.

What I do want to say, however, is that Christianity is the only religion where God reaches out to His people, promising to walk with them through the trials and hardships of life on earth, who excuses our faults because He understands our fallibility, and makes allowance for our bad behaviour. He does not expect us to struggle unaided to perfection – that’s His job.

When we look to our own strength, our own will, develop our own passageways through life, we are equating ourselves with God, assuming we have enough divinity within us to overcome all odds and end up in a better place. Or for some, no place, which I find really depressing. What is this life for if simply to be snuffed out when we reach the end of our days.

I am currently working my way through Isaiah. Again. Ah, how I love that prophet! Best book in the Bible as far as I’m concerned. What blows me away, apart from the extravagant promises of blessing and help, the poetry of His words, is the story woven throughout of a rebellious, uncaring people, constantly turning their back on a loving Father, building themselves idols of wood and gold and whatever, determined to have their own way – actions that are so insulting.

If your children behaved like in similar fashion you would be mortified. Yet God, over and over and over again begs His people to turn back to Him, the One who has persistently proved His faithfulness to them, but they refuse. We refuse his invitation. And you wonder why at times He turns His back and lets us go our own way? All He asks is for us to say sorry to be given a second chance. And a third, a fourth, however many it takes to get us to the end of ourselves.

I would love all those standing afar to draw close, to give God a chance, to accept Jesus as the Saviour He is, meet the Holy Spirit, and to experience the peace that I and other believers have, regardless of the challenges we face.

Is today the day that maybe you will? Ask Him. Ask Him to prove that He exists. Invite Him to tea with you – see what happens!