We’re Not Selling, We’re Telling

When we share our faith, *“we are not selling, we’re telling.” For the last two weeks, I blogged on why people don’t believe in God. After all, God crafted the created world with enough certainty to believe in Him if one wants to. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they reveal knowledge.” Furthering that idea, Romans 1:20 says, “Since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, and his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” God intended for us to look up into the sky at night and say in our hearts, “There must be a God!” He made it clear that if we do not come to that conclusion, we are without excuse. But if that’s the case, why do not all people believe in Him? What holds them back? Here is a summary of the eight points I made in those two blog posts:

1. Lack of information

Some people have only ever been taught evolution and have never heard the compelling evidence for the existence of God. When they finally do hear it, they believe the truth.

2. Lack of conviction about truth

However, many people today believe that they can choose who God is. That is, they believe that both your idea about God and my different idea about God can both be true. This is rationally impossible, but many people believe it nevertheless.

3. Lack of desire

Many people simply do not want to believe in God because they don’t want to be accountable to Him for how they live their lives, and therefore they disbelieve in Him in spite of the evidence.

4. Willful blindness in the sciences

Scientists admit to sometimes having their minds already made up, and not wanting to consider anything outside their secular presuppositions.

5. Problem of pride

Some people refuse to believe in God because they fear what other people will think about them if they do.

6. Defective Father Theory

In his book, Reflections on the existence of God, Richard Simmons details a host of renowned atheists whose father was either absent or was a powerfully negative influence in their lives.

7. Misplaced belief in the true sources of happiness

Some people honestly believe their chance of happiness is better without God.

8. Incomplete assumptions

Some people fail to consider that, by rejecting God, they will spend eternity separated from Him, and that they would be better off to choose God for the long term pleasure rather than reject Him because of any short term pain. I concluded those posts with the suggestion that, as we share our faith with others, we can be sensitive to these reasons for unbelief and try to help guide people to the truth. Additional help in sharing our faith: Yesterday, a friend, John King, preached a sermon at our church (on-line service) titled, “Let Your Light Shine,” in which he encouraged and guided us on sharing our faith. John is a “gentle motivator” when it comes to encouraging others to share their faith, and gave some easy going insight on how to do it. I thought his message would be a very helpful follow-up to my last two blog posts on “unbelief”. *Full disclosure: I borrowed the title for this post from his message! Click here to listen to John King’s “Let Your Light Shine”. John has a Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. He is active in sharing the truth and his faith in a teaching ministry as well as on several social media platforms. You can connect with John on Facebook.

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