My morning routine is the same each day. I get a get a cup of coffee, sit in my recliner with my lap top open and go straight to Face book. I spend about 10 minutes there and then go into my quiet time with the Lord. The other day I saw a post on Face book that said this:
"Oh friend, do you know Jesus? My heart is burdened this am for those who have no relationship with him. I pray that if you are one of those, you will investigate His claim, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
This plea was written by my dear friend Beverly. I have to say I share her sentiment completely. I venture to guess that fewer things are harder for a believer in Jesus than to witness family and friends unbelief, lack of concern and in some cases complete rejection of Jesus and the Christian faith. For someone like myself, someone who spent years painstakingly researching and considering all the major religions of the world in search of truth...it is difficult for me to see loved ones not take the same time to investigate the claim of Christianity and instead reject it's truth.
So why is it then that Jesus can be so warmly received by some, yet totally rejected by others?
The Bible makes it clear that it is not lack of evidence that keeps people from believing in God. The evidence is available for all to see but most people do not bother to investigate the evidence. The reasons people do not believe in God are many, but they can be broken down into two basic categories: pride and ignorance.
1. Pride keeps people from believing in God
Humanity does not want to admit that there is something greater than human beings in the universe. People want to be the master of their own fate, captain of their own salvation. The Bible says this about the pride of man:
These six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes,
Proverbs 6:16,17
Pride is the first sin mentioned in a list of things that God hates. It was the sin of pride that caused Lucifer to rebel against God and be cast out of heaven. It was pride that caused Cain to bring an offering of his own works to the Lord instead of the one God had commanded. From the beginning of time, pride has kept people from coming to God.
James warned about the foolishness of pride:
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
Jame 4:13-15
Many people boast that they do not need God, but the fact is that they cannot exist without Him. People make plans as though they will live forever, but as James reminds us...no one is guaranteed that he will be alive tomorrow. In losing a very close loved one six years ago this fact was never more clear. As I sat holding the purse of this beloved person and looked through the contents; the lipstick that she put on just the day or two before, the movie ticket stub long forgotten at the bottom or the keys to her car and house it hit me so clearly.....when we die, nothing material we leave behind matters. ALL that matters is what eternity holds in store for us when our body has died and all we have left is our soul and what we did while we were in our bodies, here on earth to prepare for the eternal resting place of our souls. We can not afford not to live each day without giving a lot of thought and preparation for this time that we will all surely face someday.
Some unbelievers may feel this way..."I made up my mind about all of that a long time ago...I can't admit I was wrong now" or this way "My parents raised me to believe in XYZ and it's been my whole life...I wouldn't dare question that now"...or say this, "I already know God through my XYZ religion/faith....I don't need salvation in Jesus" or even this way..."When I met her/him...I believed one way, he/she may not accept me or join me in examining or believing another way now". The pride of admitting that quite possibly...you are wrong, is not something a lot of people are willing to face, examine or admit.
2. Ignorance keeps people from believing in God
Another reason the Bible gives for lack of trust in God is ignorance. Jesus pointed out that "not knowing" is a source of error when it comes to believing in God.
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God"
Matthew 22:29
The two things that characterize unbelief are ignorance of both the Scripture and the power of God. People do not know what the Bible says because they have not taken the time to carefully study it.
Furthermore, they do not understand the nature and greatness of God's power. The Bible says that humanity is deliberately ignorant of God.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
Romans 1:18-19
Paul wrote:
There is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God (Romans 3:10,11)
These verses teach that people are not seeking after God but are actually running away from Him. They are suppressing, or "holding down," God's truth in unrighteousness. They are ignorant of God because they want to be ignorant. In a recent discussion with an unbeliever, this person told me that even if God were to show him self in the flesh and prove He existed to this person "right now" they would still reject Him. Now if this doesn't explain the heart of men, nothing does. This is a prime example that there may be many reasons people do not believe in God but it is not because of lack of evidence.
Many people claim they have intellectual problems with the Christian faith, when usually what they have are prideful or emotional excuses like my friend above. A lot of times it is not a problem of the mind, but of the will. Those that are ignorant of the credentials of Jesus, by and large, because they want to be.
People do not believe because of pride or an ignorance of God's Word and His Power. Those who are ignorant of God want to be ignorant. They do not want to know Him.
I understand this first hand. As I mentioned in my testimony of faith, I did not become a believer in Jesus until I was 35 years old. I had a lot of pre-conceived notions of what the Christian faith was all about and to be honest...nothing about it looked appealing to me. Mostly because of my lifestyle at the time. I enjoyed life by my own set of rules and by my own moral compass. I, like most people...didn't want to become a Christian because of the mistaken idea of what a Christian really is. I thought of it as a religion with a set of negative commandments saying, "Don't do this and don't do that" Some, like myself at the time; may get the idea that when you believe in Jesus you resign yourself to a life of unhappiness, restrictions and boredom. Since no one wants to live their life that way, they write off Christianity as something to which thy don't want to commit their lives. It is a sad fact that some Christians give the impression to the world that their faith consists only of a group of negative commandments. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When a person trusts Jesus as Savior, he becomes truly free. Jesus said,
If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed
John 8:36
Jesus Christ is in the business of setting men and women free from things that have them in bondage so that they can be the type of people they were meant to be.
As a believer you can be free to do what you want to do and not do what you don't want to do. The Christian life is anything but boring because there is the daily joy and excitement of knowing the living God and experiencing all the good things He has in store for you.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4
Another reason some refuse to accept Jesus is because of some specific sin in their life. Some unbelievers fear that if they accept Jesus they will have to stop committing that certain sin, and they do not want to stop. This fear can be daunting if not a deal breaker from some.
Jesus said this about the love of sin in the unbeliever,
This is the verdict: Light has come into this world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil
John 3:19
Many people love their sin to the point that they will miss getting into heaven. To become a Christian, a person must repent (change his heart and mind) of his sins, and this many people are not willing to do even though Jesus said,
I tell you no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish
Luke 13:3
I can assure you that once you have accepted Jesus and you invite the Holy Spirit into your heart, you will naturally find yourself changing....for the better. It won't be something you feel forced to do because of a set of rules set down by the Christian faith. As you begin to study God's word and trusting in Jesus,...you will begin to want to take on His character. Sinful desires, attitudes and actions that you once found normal and even enjoyable will not longer be.
Some will not come to Christ because they are not convinced of his uniqueness. It used to be, in years past, when many people revered the name of Jesus. But that day is rapidly vanishing. We are living in an increasingly unbelieving world. Many people no longer even believe in the existence of God. They have been taught from elementary school onward and via the modern media outlets that the universe is eternal and self sustaining. We are taught that man evolved from animalistic ancestry. Many say the Bible is not the Word of God, but merely a collection of ancient fables. Also widely believed by many is the notion that Jesus Christ, though he may have been a remarkable teacher... is not the unique Son of God and Savior of the world.
My friend, without an accurate knowledge of who Christ is, you most likely are not going to be drawn to Him. The study of "Christian evidences" is one of the crying needs of our time. It is up to you to seek out the information for yourself.
"Is the Bible true? Is Jesus the Son of God" These are questions which are being asked and the answer the world is prepared to give is NO. This is one of the reasons I chose to write this blog and I've already addressed both these questions in past posts and plan on continuing to tackle these questions in the future. If you are new to my blog I urge you to go back and read my previous posts on these topics.
Of all the reasons I have already addressed, perhaps the most saddening to me is that some do not come to Jesus because of what they see in professed Christians. Listen, no one will be excused for his own disobedience in the day of judgment because he was influenced by someone else's sorry example. Each person is responsible for his own activity. (2 Cor. 5:10)
Be that as it may, it is a fact that cannot be denied-some of the Lord's own people are His worst enemies. By their coarse and wretched lives, they drive away many from the truth even before they have opportunity to know the gospel. Just remember however, someone else's actions do not invalidate what Jesus did on the cross for all humanity. I've been a Christian now for 12 years and yes I have encountered some "so-called" Christians that do not act very Christ like. However, they have by far been the exception and not the rule.
In summary, there are many factors that contribute to people rejecting Jesus and the Christian life. In general, human nature desires that we dictate our own terms in life and we want to work out our own salvation. However God will accept us only on His terms, and this fact keeps many people out of the kingdom. I challenge you today that if you are not 100% sure of what would happen to you today if you died...if you have never examined the life of Jesus Christ and the truths of the Bible that you let 2014 be the year that you take the time and do it. I give many references in my blog about books to read and video series to watch. As I explain in my testimony of faith I took many months and countless hours of studying all of the worlds major religions and philosophies before finding the truth which is only found through Jesus and The Bible. Do you reject Jesus? If you do, I pray that you will at least consider asking yourself why and be sure that your reasons are based with facts and not due to pride or ignorance. Christians are now and have always been in the minority. Most of the people presently living have not trusted Christ as their Savior. This however is exactly as Jesus said it would be:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
Will you join me in being one of the few who takes the time, the effort, and the faith required to find it?
