“You can’t prove it.”
Have you ever heard that about faith? Or, perhaps you’ve said it. The thing is, I can’t disagree with the statement. The Christian faith is not something you can prove. There is no single fact I can give you or picture I can paint or story I could tell that would forever prove the truthfulness of the gospel story.
This unproven quality is so real that Christianity would actually claim doubt is part of the story. Without some element of doubt, faith may not be possible. The story that God saves sinners is such good news that grace almost creates doubt because it simply doesn’t seem real.
Many people I know are close to becoming followers of Jesus, but they are waiting for one more piece of information which will finally prove faith. Sadly, they will wait forever because the final piece of proof will not be given.
“You can’t prove it,” is right. But it’s also wrong.
Many have come to the conclusion that since Christianity cannot be fully proven, it can be ignored. Why waste time considering the possibility of God if His existence can’t be proven? This makes it easy to brush away Jesus, the Bible and the church, especially the church, assuming it is all a waste of time.
While Christians have to admit Christianity cannot be fully proven, others must admit it is undeniable that Jesus was born, that he lived, he died and then something happened. You don’t have to believe: the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, His miracles, His perfection or His resurrection. But you can’t deny: His birth, His life, His death and that something happened. What that something was defines everything.
Clearly something happened. After the death of Jesus, his doubting disciples became bold proclaimers of his message. A famous persecutor of Christians, Saul, became the Apostle Paul, playing a vital role in the founding of the church. Christianity became a massive movement which has transformed much of human history.
Something happened. But what?
Historians have long offered three primary explanations for what happened after the death of Jesus.
His followers concocted a lie in order to save face after the death of their leader.
This sounds good, but I have a difficult time believing that many people would individually give their lives without a single one of them backtracking the story in order to live.
His followers had a mass psychosis because of their grief, making them think Jesus actually rose from the dead even though he didn’t. This option is more difficult for me. While I understand the trauma of grief, it’s hard to imagine several hundred people suffering from the same psychosis.
Jesus rose from the dead. This is the hardest to believe because it’s outside of our experience, but it does make the most sense of the evidence we have. This, however, is what I believe. You don’t have to believe it, but you will make a decision about it.
Here is the problem with proof: We are all trying to answer the big questions of life – Who am I? Why am I here? Does my life matter? Is there life after death? Is there a God? What must I do to be right with God? But we don’t have the ability to prove our answers.
I say there is a God. You say prove it. I admit I can’t. You say there isn’t a God. I say prove it. You must admit you can’t.
I sat with some students one day, talking about faith. When I’d finished, one student asked, “How can you have faith in something you can’t see?” So I asked him, “Can you see electricity?” He said, “Yes ... well ... no. But I can see what electricity does.”
I said, “The same applies to God. I can’t ‘see’ God, but I can see what He does. You go to a light switch day after day, and without thinking about it, you flip that switch expecting a light to come on. Yet, you can’t see the electricity that actually makes that happen. I can go to God day after day and trust Him to lead me, help me and strengthen me for whatever lies ahead. And like the electricity, He shows up.”
Nope, I can’t prove Him, but maybe, just maybe, that’s what faith is for.