Lately it seems I have been reading and hearing reports of people trying to "prove" the existence of God. For some reason that frustrates me. There’s a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that it presupposes that our highest form of knowledge is that which we can experience with our five senses – a conversation for another time. Instead I want to bring up another reason that may help in your own doubts, and in conversations with friends who have doubts.
The problem is that God is not a "theory" to be proved or disproved. Rather God is an entity, a person, and you can’t prove the existence of a person. Try this: try to prove that I exist. Where would you go for evidence? Well, you could point to this very newsletter and say, "Certainly Joe must exist, he writes Tuesday Thoughts." But someone could object saying, "Oh, anyone could have written that." Or maybe you could go back into the archives and find my birth certificate, or social security number – certainly documentation like that would prove my existence. Well, maybe, but a skeptic could accuse you or the authorities of faking those documents, or at least saying they "could have" been faked so they are far from "proof." OK, this is getting harder. Maybe you could talk to my parents, and they could tell you stories and show you pictures. Then again, what if they are just actors hired to further this conspiracy of the existence of Joe? I could go on, but I think you probably get the point by now. We can bring up the beauty of creation, the Bible, other historical documents, witnesses to the inexplicable, and other things, but for the one who is looking for "proof" of God’s existence there is usually a problem with the evidence – just like the problems for the evidence of my existence.
In my mind, there is only one piece of "evidence" that will actually prove my existence. Keeping this silly scenario going, suppose you came to me one day and told me you had this friend who didn’t believe I existed and you wanted my help getting evidence that I do exist. My answer would be simply this – bring your friend by and introduce me to him or her. My guess is that when I say, "Hey, I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Joe," that would do more convincing than a mountain of so-called evidence. So too it is with God. I think all too often when we talk about sharing our faith we feel like we need to be able to "prove" God’s existence. Good luck with that.
The early church, and Jesus himself, didn’t talk about proof, about convincing others of who Jesus is. The Bible uses a different word. Jesus didn’t send his followers out to be provers, but rather to be "witnesses" (see Acts 1:8). A witness is not a scientist, an expert, a teacher, or the answerer of all questions. Rather a witness is one who can tell us what they have seen and/or experienced. Our job isn’t to "prove" God, but introduce others to Jesus, and tell them about what He has done and is doing for us. I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves trying to be more than we are called to be when in fact what we are is much better and more effective than what we would like to be. You don’t need to be an expert, just a witness.
In fact, when you read about the most compelling evidence for Jesus being who we Christians claim him to be, historians will always point to one fact as the primary "proof." That fact is the change in the disciples’ lives. Between the crucifixion and the resurrection they were 11 guys, and others, locked away in a room fearing for their lives. After the resurrection, they were willing to boldly talk about Jesus, to encourage others to follow, and to endure persecution and death for their testimony. The most compelling evidence is them, their changed lives.
In a lot of ways, little has changed. The most compelling evidence to the existence of God and the power of Jesus, isn’t really in what you say – it’s in who you are! Living a life of faith and simply introducing people the source of your differentness, Jesus, is the best evidence there is. Do you wish others knew about Jesus? The best evidence is to simply live it!
