9/18/25

This week I've been a part of a number of conversations with people on the verge of accepting Christianity, but it seems that they all came to the same point of tension which caused serious hesitation - that is, the demand for action. A place of noncommittal is very convenient for those who want to feel intellectually integrous but simultaneously don't want to appear socially abnormal or don't want to obey ALL of Jesus' commands. By considering evidence for the legitimacy of Christianity, they feel that they have been faithful to investigate it objectively; however, the issue arises when they admit that Christianity is more compellingly true than false and yet they refuse to accept it and follow Jesus. This simply reveals that we do not operate on a purely "intellectual" basis, but that we have competing biases and prejudices which hinder us from honest actions. It is far too easy to deceive ourselves into not following Jesus on His terms because we are "holding out for more evidence". If it is more compelling that Christianity is true rather than false, then we should walk in it until proven wrong - not the other way around. 

At CSUF, we've also been getting times with larger groups engaging around our whiteboard. Either through student evangelists or other evangelism ministries that we partner with, we've experienced, on multiple occasions, multiple conversations breaking out in groups at one time. It's great to see students get more involved in evangelizing their peers, and it's awesome to see that the whiteboard is successfully cultivating an environment where people can freely express their thoughts and objections. Please join us in praying for the people that we engage with, that those ministering would be guided by the Spirit and filled with compassion for those they minister to, and that God would take Christians who aren't involved in evangelism and throw them into His harvest field!  

Today our question on the whiteboard was suggested by a nonbeliever that we've been talking with, and it said, "Is There a God?" Below that question there were places for people to elaborate on their answers and why they have come to that conclusion. Despite some of our uncertainty of how this question would fare, it actually worked very well and drew many great conversations our way! Of the conversations that I was engaged in, there was a recurring theme of theodicy - that is, how do you reconcile an all-good and all-powerful God with the presence of evil in the world? This is almost inherently a sensitive question to address as it seems that the questioner falls into one of two general categories: skeptics seeking to poke intellectual holes in the internal consistency of Christianity or genuine people who have encountered personal suffering in their lives. I think, with this issue in particular, it is very crucial to understand where they are coming from to best meet their need. I engaged with both of these types today, but the way I engaged was completely different. 

With the skeptic who was merely grasping at straws to justify their rejection of God, I provided, to the best of my ability, thoughtful responses to their intellectual arguments. Of course, this didn't make any real progress because they are not willing to be persuaded otherwise. This person was clearly uninterested in honest consideration, and they ended up just making extremely wild claims which truly led nowhere. For example, they tried to argue that it would be extremely righteous to murder infants before they are old enough to know right from wrong so that they won't have the opportunity to reject God. Certainly odd coming from someone who rejects God themself, but even more odd to claim you would be a righteous martyr for killing babies and going to hell for doing it. The real issue with this argument is that it doesn't actually change anything for anyone. This is just forced justification for someone who has already decided they want to reject God. This leads to levels of insanity that anyone can spot and identify as such without too much effort. This, however, is not the case with the other person that I engaged with.

The other young lady that I spoke with shared that she wished that there was a God to comfort her, but she wrestled with the idea of a good and powerful God who allows evil and suffering. She shared that she grew up in a strictly religious household, but she has grown uncertain of its legitimacy over time. She shared the pain that she's experienced in life as a result of unanswered prayers and the death of her devoted Christian father. She expressed that she's heard of other people encountering God in a personal way, but she has never received that herself. She seemed well aware of the "Christian responses" to pain and suffering, and understandably so, they were not comforting to her emotionally. I've appreciated the approach that John Lennox takes to this issue in his many debates and responses. He remains very compassionate and tender in his response by not disregarding the genuine evil at work in our world or giving a sterile response that merely answers the question in a theologically accurate way, but he instead addresses the true question the heart longs for: Is there a solution to my pain and suffering? All religions acknowledge that suffering is an issue, but merely understanding why there is suffering does not provide good news. However, God's response to evil and suffering is Gospel.

I could detail my conversation with this young lady more for you, but I think that the greatest takeaway was the immense impact it had on her to merely listen and understand her wrestle and pain. She grew up in a church environment but said that she never felt a safe place where she could honestly express her heart without bringing shame and fear on her family and church. My primary role was to listen, but that is such a necessary thing for so many people who have genuinely experienced cold and sterile church communities. Instead of trying to immediately "defend" the Church and Christianity at the sight of every challenge, I was able to demonstrate love and compassion by listening. She rightly sees corruption and evil present in certain churches through sexual, financial, and emotional exploitation of those in need or vulnerable. In the most ironic sense, I think that she understands Jesus better than many institutionalized Christians today as she expressed the departure from Jesus' example and teaching in the way we manage money and often overlook basic and practical needs to meet manufactured expenses. I know that this is not every church, and it seems that she did too at some level, but she had never experienced Christians willing to acknowledge the evil of these things - a true tragedy. Was this not the reason Jesus stormed the temple courts?

At the end of our conversation, she asked me what I thought about gay people - another emotionally charged question that is often answered theologically correct, but not always in an emotionally thoughtful way. There is an unhelpful level of baggage that comes with this question due to the inconsiderate or outright hateful ways that many Jesus-divergent Christians have used in the past and present, so I had to be very thoughtful in my approach. In this response, I have to be mindful not only of the denotative elements, but also the connotative ones. From our conversation thus far, I know that she comes from a strict and extremely devoted religious background which has likely put homosexual sin on its own level of evil while overlooking many other more abundant sins which run through the members of our congregations. So, I began by explaining how I understand the term "sin". At this point I presented to her a brief presentation of the Gospel spanning from Genesis to Revelation: 

That God made a good world and set mankind as the manager who was to help it flourish according to its intended purpose and design; however, we decided to depart from managing God's creation as He intended, and this caused, not only the world to experience chaos and destruction, but also for man himself to experience it. However, God saw the death and destruction that devoured His good creation, and He made a promise to one day set all things right and restore His creation to peace in its intended order and design. This would come through a Messiah who would defeat the power of death and give us God's Spirit to make us new creations - not controlled by the ways of evil. Even more, God promised to come again and subject all of creation to this new kingdom and rulership of God which we can now begin living in by trusting and obeying Jesus as our King and Savior.

By establishing this understanding of the Gospel, it provides a fuller image of what sin is and how the Gospel relates to it. Many people, though good in intention, unequally emphasize homosexual sin as evil while ignoring equally destructive sins among heterosexuals. This unfortunately communicates many things to those outside the church (or within) that is not always intended or meant to be communicated as it can simply turn into plank-eyed Christians accusing others while ignoring their own grievous sins. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying, as I'm sure it could be easy to do so on this issue. I most certainly affirm that homosexuality is a sin and that those claiming to follow Jesus cannot resolve to live in this manner, but I desire to be cautious against unequal application of accusation which is clear to those looking in from the outside. By explaining sin as the departure from God's design, we can equally recognize heterosexual fornication, adultery, and lust as equally condemnable sins as that of a homosexual sin. The issue is, at root, the same for both: an untransformed heart with desires contrary to the design and will of God. The reason that I labor this point so much is that too many Christians point out the sexual sins of gay people while ignoring the extremely tragic plague of sexual sin in the Church. This can easily make gay people feel like a special target that Christians all seek to destroy while all the while ignoring the glaring issue of adultery, fornication, pornography use, and more happening within the church. I have the same glaring problem that a homosexual has: a heart needing the salvation and transformation only granted by the blood of Jesus and power of the Spirit which gives me a new nature and new desires which align with the perfect design and will of God, our Creator.

This response to her question shows that we both stand in need of saving from our own desires and that heterosexually tempted people suffer the same root issue that homosexually tempted people do. I certainly made it clear to her that homosexuality is against God's design and therefore sin, but I sought to do it in a way that also corrected the hypocritical and harmful approaches taken by many religious people today. So many people just need a Christian who can listen with compassion and empathy. Then, after demonstrating your love and value for that person, they will be open to hearing your understanding of the Truth. But let our methods not mutilate our message.