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When
James Ross Clemens fell seriously ill in London, some newspaper
accounts confused him with his cousin Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better
known as Mark Twain. The writer reportedly responded, "Reports of my
death have been greatly exaggerated."
God can say the same in America today.
In 1965, a Harris poll announced that ninety-seven percent of Americans
believed in God. In a 2014 Gallup poll, the number had fallen to
eighty-six percent. Twelve percent of Americans claimed they had no
belief, while two percent had no opinion. Such surveys fuel the
persistent claim that faith is in serious decline in the U.S.
However, these numbers don't tell the whole story.
Frank Newport, Gallup's editor-in-chief, tells Time magazine
that responses to faith surveys reflect changes in our culture. There
was a time when "Americans felt obliged to say they were religious, but
nowadays a lot of those same people feel more comfortable telling the
interviewer, 'No, I don't believe in God', or 'I have no religious
affiliation.'" In other words, the data may not reflect a decline in
faith but rather a culture in which it is easier to be honest about
doubt.
Frank Newport's father, Dr. John Newport, was my intellectual mentor in
seminary. Dr. Newport earned two Ph.D. degrees and was the most
brilliant scholar I have ever known. He taught me that no question is
off limits to the Christian worldview. In fact, his magnum opus was titled Life's Ultimate Questions.
As Dr. Newport would note, it is difficult to find someone in Scripture
who doesn't have questions for God. From Moses' confusion at the burning
bush (Exodus 3–4) to Jesus' cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), our greatest heroes of faith
were honest about their struggles with faith.
So should we be.
The G7 foreign ministers are meeting today in Hiroshima, where Secretary
of State John Kerry laid flowers at the site of the 1945 atomic
bombing. Like many who fought in World War II, my father's horrific
experiences scarred him spiritually for the rest of his life.
If God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful, why is the world he
created so wracked with conflict and bloodshed? We can blame evil and
suffering on misused human freedom, but what about natural disasters?
And why does God sometimes intervene miraculously, but other times he
does not?
These are just some of my faith questions. What are yours? Doubts are
evidence not of a lack of faith, but of its relevance. As Dr. Newport
would say, the only wrong question is the one you won't ask.
Your Father agrees: "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD"
(Isaiah 1:18). "Reason together" translates a Hebrew word meaning,
"argue it out." But as you argue with God, know this: faith in God, like
any relationship, requires a commitment that transcends evidence and
becomes self-validating. So examine the evidence, then step beyond it
into relationship with your Father.
We will have questions about God until we stand before him one day (1
Corinthians 13:12). In the meantime, know that while you may have doubts
about God, he knows all about you. And he loves no one in the world
more than he loves you, right now. |
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