The Preacher’s Page . . .

 

     Recently our two younger children plunked down some of their hard-earned cash to buy a magic set.  (In an earlier day they would have counted out nickels, dimes and pennies to the kindly old owner of the novelty store downtown.  As it was, they reimbursed Mom and Dad, who paid for the purchase on the Internet with the family MasterCard.  Welcome to the twenty-first century…)  Their interest in this particular item was twofold.  Both seem to be genetically predisposed to be performers.  They love to stand in front of an audience and do their thing, even if the audience is only the rest of the family gathered around the dining room table for an impromptu magic show.

     But the two siblings were also eager to buy the starter set of tricks and sleight-of-hand devices because they’re drawn to something that tends to interest all of us, at least to some extent.  They’re intrigued by magic – or at least by the appearance of magic.  Their childhood flights of fancy (playing the “What if…” game) often run out to things that transcend the bounds of what we hardheaded, practical adults know to be possible: “What if you had a time machine?  What if you could just wish, and turn into any animal you wanted to be?  What if…”

     Few if any of us leave such fantastic speculations and longings completely behind when we graduate up to adulthood.  And that general bent spills over into the area of our faith as well.  In fact, critics of Christianity have long sneered at our religion, dismissing it as a mere childish yearning for ‘magical’ solutions to the besetting problems of life.  The supreme example, so the argument goes, is our hope in life after death.

     (A connection between real Christianity and magic goes back at least to medieval times.  The term Hocus-Pocus is almost certainly a corruption of the Latin Hoc est corpus meum [“This is My body”], spoken by the priest as he turns his back to the congregation and holds up the consecrated Host in the celebration of the Mass.)

     What about all that?  Is our faith in Christ no more than an unwillingness to face the harsh realities of life, an immature hope in a magical Jesus? 

     Far from it!  Christianity is a reasonable faith.  God never asks you to check your brains at the door when you come into His church.  It is true that historic Christianity has affirmed a number of supernatural occurrences: the Incarnation of Christ; His virgin birth and miracles (as well as those performed by others in both Old and New Testaments); and, supremely, Christ’s resurrection.  Against many well-meaning believers of the last century, who have sought naturalistic explanations for most or all of the miraculous in the Bible, I fully believe in the church’s traditional understanding of these events, and encourage you to do so as well.  But why should any of that strain the limits of our credibility?  Is not the God who created the whole cosmos out of nothing (Genesis 1:1) perfectly able to do with it as He pleases?  Is He who established the rules of nature not free to suspend them from time to time?  To affirm a belief in miracles is a far cry from equating Christianity with ‘magic.’

     As Christ’s ambassadors to an often-skeptical world, we each need to stand ready to offer a defense for our faith.  “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15-16 NIV).

     Christian apologetics (the discipline of making a reasoned defense for the faith) has a long and noble history.  Many believers (including this one) have been greatly encouraged and strengthened in our faith through the works of faithful and gifted Christian apologists.  Several I can recommend are Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter, The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, and Dinesh D’Souza’s What’s So Great about Christianity, a copy of which Gregg Ney recently gave me (thanks, Gregg!).  If your faith is such that it might be bolstered by solid, logical arguments in its support, or if you know someone wavering on the edge of accepting Christ, you might find these resources helpful.  And of course many others are available as well.

     The resurrection of Jesus Christ which we celebrate – and affirm! – each Easter is not just the culmination of the season of Lent.  It’s the very linchpin of all that we profess as Christians.  And belief in Christ’s bodily resurrection is absolutely central to saving faith.  “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NLT).  I encourage you to do all you can to be growing in that faith, and proclaiming it to all the world!

 

                                                                In our risen Lord Jesus,