The Big Game-Week 4

Reverse Engineering the Faith

When I was freshly saved, newly bowled over by the peace of the Gospel, I immediately began to explore why “it worked”!  The question plaguing me was something like this:  did it work (to bring me peace with God, to fill me with an overwhelming sense of being reconciled, sins forgiven and a hope for heaven) because it was true, or was it merely “true” only because it “worked”?

In this way you could say I was suddenly interested in reverse engineering the Gospel. 

Which reminds me of the B-29 Super Fortress Bomber the US developed in WWII.  That plane was a game changer for world powers because it was the only weapon in the world that could deliver atomic bombs anywhere in the world.  Seeing its powers at the end of WWII, the Russians were worried and jealous.  They had no such tech and didn’t seem close to developing it.

Then, they received what they called (ironically in an atheist country) a “gift from God.”  In 1945, 3 B-29’s that were in trouble in the South China sea had to land in (then fellow Allied power) Russia.  International law gave Russia the right to seize the military equipment but return the combatants – which they did.  America considered the planes a loss.

2 years later, an American delegation showed up in Russia for one of their gaudy public displays of military hardware.  At the end, they were stunned to look up and see not one, not two, but three B-29’s fly overhead!!  At first they assumed these were the three confiscated planes, but then a 4th flew.  And eventually 300 Tu-4’s would fly!!  The Russians had reversed engineered the B-29 down to the last rivet, making a perfect copy of the superweapon.

With that kind of zeal, I wanted to know HOW the Gospel worked, WHY the Gospel worked, and so I needed to investigate (after I had accepted it) all its inner workings.

Sometimes the questions people ask about Christianity, come BEFORE they accept Jesus, and they can’t accept Him until those questions get answered, until the plausibly of Christianity is established.  That’s why apologetics and Ask Anything series matter. 

Other times, the questions people ask come AFTER.  And this doesn’t make them any less important.  For if we ever want to reproduce faith in Jesus in others, we need to understand, not just THAT it works, but WHY it works.

And finally the careful investigator finds that it works, because it’s true!  And truth can always handles the hardest questions.

-Written by Rick Thiessen

The Big Game-Week 3

The Big Game—Week 3
Ask Anything:  You’re only a Christian Because Your Parents Are

As a teenager I received this very accusation from some of my atheist friends.  During this season of my life my parents were going through a divorce which meant an otherwise stable environment I had always relied upon was uprooted.  The Enemy used this temporary lapse in life stability to introduce an argument against my faith which at the time carried with it an element of truth that I was unable to explain away.  I really hadn’t investigated Christianity’s truth claims for myself.  The appropriate response should have been to do just that.  Unfortunately, the angry and hurt teenager that I was back then threw in the towel on God and I turned my back completely on God and everything I believed had to do with Him.

Much later in life (January 2009) I finally did embark on that journey and it only seemed natural to first tackle the problem that led to my doubts in the first place.  A variation on the argument can sometimes go like this if we break it down into a logical syllogism:

1) You were born in a Western culture that is predominantly Christian.
2) If you had been born in Mumbai, India you would be Hindu.
3) Therefore, Christianity is false.

If you’re scratching your head wondering what the first and second premises have to do with the conclusion, then you’ve landed squarely on the problem of recognizing that this formula has an error in it, formally known as Genetic Fallacy or fallacy of origins.  It is the idea that you can invalidate someone’s belief/position by showing how a person came to hold that position or belief.  How a person came to believe something (even if they have inadequate reasons for doing so) has nothing to do with whether the belief or position is true or not.

Coming to this realization, I then applied the same formula to my own situation and realized I now had 1)  permission to investigate the truth claims for myself with no commitment to a particular outcome, 2) resolve any doubts encountered to the best of my intellectual powers of reason and known data at that time, and that 3) given a thorough investigation, putting truth and evidence above all other factors, I could have confidence I would arrive at the truth and have peace in it knowing I had done proper due diligence.

If you’re investigating Christianity for yourself, and if you happen to be attending AC3 for the next couple of weeks during that process I hope you’ve found an environment where you’re encouraged to ask questions and do your own digging without fear of condemnation.  We’re glad you’re here!

-Written by James Boerner

The Big Game--Week 1

Ask Anything: Cattle, Hills, and the All Powerful

If God has the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), then why do I need to tithe (give a tenth of my earnings)?  What about all this stuff about trying to break free from the bondage of our creditors (Proverbs 22:26-27), shouldn’t I use my money there instead?  If God is all powerful and created all things, why does HE need my money?  Questions like this are among some of the hardest I have had to deal with while I was exploring my faith; and even today, especially when money is tight.

Many of us have heard the most direct answer is, God doesn’t ask for our money, time, or harvest specifically, and it’s not because He needs it.  God asks for us to tithe, or more specifically give to Him from the best of our first fruits (Leviticus 27:30).  What He is really asking for is the thing we are most likely to replace Him with in our hearts.  In our time and culture, it is not fruit or cattle that is important to us, but our finances which are the gateway to the things we want (stuff) and physically need (such as food).  So God asks us to trust Him and He will provide, therefore through our trust we can tithe willingly.
So, God does not need my (or your) money and He asks for the purpose of winning my heart for him…OK.  Now, we come to the stuff about getting our house in order and not being a slave to the lender (Proverbs 27:7)?  Wouldn’t it be easier to overcome those debts with that tithe (or tenth) applied to pay them off, getting me free so I can do good for others?  In the extreme short term, the answer is most likely “Yes”, however, our hardened and stubborn hearts would not really do it the right way, would we?  Most people who pay off debt or consolidate debt don’t end up giving more, they just harness it to go back or further into debt.  Therein is part of the lie the devil tells us to help us justify not following God’s command.

Now, here is where it gets even stickier.  If we justify taking our tithe away from God to pay our debts, which He has told us not to get into in the first place (Proverbs 22:26), are we sinning to pay for our sin?  Put another way: If I take God’s requirement of a tithe and disobey so I can pay my debt which I got myself into by not following His command, am I committing a new sin to cover an old one? Yes, I would be.  It is true we should let no debt remain outstanding (Romans 13:8), but we should never venture down the path where we disobey a command of God to try and pay for our previous sin.

Tithing is necessary for my heart to be right with God.  We should not therefore use our tithe for anything other than a tithe.  However, you might wonder about the debt that still needs to be paid.  Four points to ponder: 1)  Trust in God and His provision, 2) Budget with Discipline, 3) Pray and praise God for the guidance you need and the good He has done, 4) Trust in God and His abundant provision.  Ok I know the first and the last were the same, but it is so vital it needed repeating.

-Written by Christian Love