8 Signs Your Christianity Is Too Comfortable:

In many parts of the world today, it can be easy to live a comfortable life as a Christian. Certainly where I live—in Winston Salem, North Carolina—this is the case. But is that a good thing?

I’d like to suggest that the Christian faith is inherently uncomfortable. To be a disciple of Jesus is to deny oneself (Matt. 16:24), to take up a cross (Luke 14:27), to be subject to persecution (John 15:20; 2 Tim. 3:12), to give up the creature comforts of home (Luke 9:58), to forsake the priority of family (Luke 9:59–62; 14:26), to be willing to give up all material possessions (Matt. 19:21; Luke 14:33), to be crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). And this is just the beginning.

C. S. Lewis once said, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

But comfort-seeking is our default mode in a consumerist society, so we often find ourselves in “comfortable Christianity” without even knowing it. What are some indicators that our Christianity has become too cozy, more like a pleasant bottle of port than the uncomfortable, sharpening faith the New Testament envisions?

Here are eight signs that your Christianity might be too comfortable:

1. There’s absolutely no friction between your Christianity and your partisan politics.

If you’re all-in with one political party and never feel any tension whatsoever with your Christian faith, it probably means your faith is too comfortable. Whether you’re a lifelong Democrat or a diehard Republican, a robust Christian faith should create dissonance with politics at various points.

A faith that aligns perfectly with one political party is suspiciously convenient and lacks prophetic witness.

A faith that aligns perfectly with one political party is suspiciously convenient and lacks prophetic witness.

2. There are no paradoxes, tensions, or unresolved questions.

If you never ponder or wrestle with the mind-boggling tenets of Christian theology (e.g., the Trinity, the incarnation, God’s sovereignty coexisting with human action, the Holy Spirit’s presence, to name just a few), your faith is probably too comfortable.

A healthy, uncomfortable faith constantly rocks you, prods you, and blows your mind. It’s a faith that leaves you restless to want to know more, not satisfied you’ve grasped all there is to grasp about God.

3. Your friends and coworkers are surprised to learn you’re a churchgoing Christian.

A sure sign your faith is too comfortable is if nothing in your life sets you apart as a Jesus follower, to the point that even those who know you well can’t tell you’re a Christian.

A comfortable Christian is one who easily blends in, looking and talking and acting just like his or her lost neighbors.

4. You never think about or even remember the Sunday sermon on Monday.

If Sunday sermons at your church are so forgettable (or you’re so disengaged) that you rarely recall them after you leave church, your Christianity is probably too comfortable.

Biblical preaching shouldn’t leave us apathetic or unchallenged. The Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

5. No one at your church ever annoys you.

If you go to church with people who are always easy to talk to, always fun to be around, and always closely aligned with your opinions, tastes, and preferences, your Christianity is too comfortable.

One of the glorious things about the gospel is that it creates a new community out of disparate types of people who, in many cases, wouldn’t otherwise choose to spend time together.

6. You never feel challenged, only affirmed.

If your Christian faith never confronts your idols and challenges your sinful habits—but only ever affirms you as you are—this is a sure sign of a too-comfortable faith.

Healthy faith doesn’t just celebrate you as you are, but relentlessly molds and refines you into the likeness of Christ.

7. You’ve never had to have a ‘truth-in-love’ conversation with a fellow Christian.

It’s always more comfortable to just “live and let live” when there’s an offense or sin that needs to be called out. It’s more comfortable to just shrug when we see others in our community making unhealthy decisions.

But this isn’t true Christian love.

Love isn’t opposed to truth, and if your faith doesn’t include the capacity to speak hard truths in love, it’s too comfortable.

8. No one in your church could comment on any area of growth they’ve seen in you.

To believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ is to believe in change. Though not always linear, the Christian life should be marked by growth, forward momentum, and change for the better.

If you’re a Christian who’s grown so little that no one in your church could identify any area of improvement, your faith is too comfortable.

—

Why is it important that we avoid falling into comfortable Christianity? Because comfortable Christianity is far from the costly, inconvenient, idol-crushing, cross-shaped path for disciples of Jesus. Comfortable Christianity has little prophetic to say to a comfortable, consumerist world. Comfortable Christianity has little urgency in mission and little aptitude for growth.

Uncomfortable Christianity, however, leads to life and transformation. It leads us to rely on God and not on ourselves; to serve rather than be served; to live lives marked by sacrifice. It leads us to do hard things, to embrace hard truths, to do life with hard people for the sake and glory of the One who did the hardest thing. It may be uncomfortable, but it will be worth it. On the other side of discomfort is delight in Christ.

What The Bible Says About Itself:

What God says about his word is a deep, complex, and staggering thing. And each book of the written word testifies to the wonder of his revelation. I decided to take a look, book by book, selecting a representative passage from each to highlight many of the things God's word says about God's words.

The word of God is . . .

Effectual

Genesis 1:3 - And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Personal

Exodus 6:2 - God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.”

Authoritative

Leviticus 20:22 - You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.

Exclusive

Numbers 15:31 - Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.

Necessary

Deuteronomy 8:3 - And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Rewarding

Joshua 1:8 - This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Singable(!)

Judges 5:11 - To the sound of musicians at the watering places,
    there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,
    the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

Redemptive

Ruth 4:14-15 - Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”

Decisive

1 Samuel 15:23 - Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
    he has also rejected you from being king.

Infallible

2 Samuel 22:31 - This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

Reliable

1 Kings 17:24 - And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Convicting

2 Kings 22:11 - When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.

Enduring

1 Chronicles 16:12,15 - Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered . . . Remember his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations.

Preeminent

2 Chronicles 18:4 - And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.”

Practical

Ezra 7:10 - For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

Proclamational

Nehemiah 8:2-3 - So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Peculiar

Esther 3:8 - Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them.”

Miraculous

Job 37:5 - God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

Illuminating
Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

True

Proverbs 30:5 - Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Wise

Ecclesiastes 12:11 - The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.

Loving

Song of Solomon 2:10 - My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”

Eternal

Isaiah 40:8 - The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

Powerful

Jeremiah 23:29 - Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Sure

Lamentations 2:17 - The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago.

Reviving

Ezekiel 37:4 - Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”

Prophetic

Daniel 9:9-10 - . . . For we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Disruptive

Hosea 4:1 - Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land

Empowering

Joel 2:11 - The Lord utters his voice
    before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    he who executes his word is powerful . . .

Nourishing

Amos 8:11 - “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

Stirring

Obadiah 1 - We have heard a report from the Lord,
    and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

Commissioning

Jonah 3:3a - So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.

Universal

Micah 4:2 - And many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Timely

Nahum 1:15 - Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
    who brings good news,
    who publishes peace!

Glorifying

Habakkuk 2:14 - For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Just

Zephaniah 2:5 - Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no inhabitant is left.

Relational

Haggai 1:13 - Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”

Chastening

Zechariah 7:12 - They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.

Fearful

Malachi 2:4-5 - So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

Perpetual

Matthew 5:18 - For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Clarifying

Mark 12:24 - Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?”

Blessed

Luke 11:28 - “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Christocentric

John 5:39 - You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me

Living

Acts 12:24 - But the word of God increased and multiplied.

Encouraging

Romans 15:4 - For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Consistent

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 - For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

Perfect

2 Corinthians 4:2 - But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word . . .

Promising

Galatians 3:8 - And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

Penetrating

Ephesians 6:17 - [A]nd take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God . . .

Secure

Philippians 2:16 - [Hold] fast to the word of life . . .

Enriching

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God

Inspired

1 Thessalonians 2:13 - And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Honorable

2 Thessalonians 3:1 - Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you . . .

Sanctifying

1 Timothy 4:4-5 - For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Sufficient

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Trustworthy

Titus 1:9 - He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Liberating

Philemon 23-25 - Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Discerning

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Doable

James 1:22 - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Gracious

1 Peter 1:25 - “But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Spiritual

2 Peter 1:20-21 - No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Joyful

1 John 1:4 - And we are writing these things so that [y]our joy may be complete.

Uniting

2 John 5 - And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.

Verified

3 John 12b - We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.

Marshaling

Jude 3 - Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Complete

Revelation 22:18-19 - I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

The Person God Uses:

When you realize that God has declared his great I AM name to you in the midst of your insecurities, it should make you read the third commandment in a different light.

The third commandment is, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7 ESV). I was always taught this meant, “Don’t use God’s name as a cuss word: Do not say, ‘Oh my God’ or ‘Jesus Christ’” or something like that. And that is certainly true.

But this is not just a command on how to use God’s name. Look at the specific language: This is a command about how to take God’s name. Think of it like this: In time past, there was a beautiful girl named Julia Christine Bledsoe, and on the greatest day of her life, she dropped the Bledsoe and became a Welch. When she took my name, she became part of me, one with me. All that was mine became hers (it wasn’t that much).

In the same way, when you became a Christian, you took the name of God to yourself, the name, I AM. That means that what he is, you now have.

The Apostle Peter declares that we became actual participants in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4); the Apostle Paul proclaims us as inheritors of all the divine promises (Galatians 3:29). All the promises of God to us, he says, are “yes” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20).

And that means that when we think, “I am not _____ enough,” we are taking God’s name in vain, because even though we are not, he is, and we have become one with him. What he is, he now is for us and through us.

You say, “God, I can’t be a good parent.” He says, “I can.”

You say, “I can’t make it.” He says, “I can.”

You say, “I am full of doubt.” He says, “But I am faithful.”

You say, “God, I am so dysfunctional.” He says, “But I am so complete.”

You say, “I am deficient.” He says, “Yet I am sufficient.”

You say, “I am so sinful.” He says, “And I am so gracious.”

You say, “I am at the end of my rope!” He says, “I’ve got another one, and it’s as long as eternity.”

You see, feeling inadequate is not a hindrance to being used by God. It’s actually a prerequisite to being used by God. When God called the Apostle Paul, for instance, he was a defeated, destroyed, hot mess. To this seeming “failure,” God said, “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you” (Acts 26:16).

God isn’t focusing on Paul’s potential. The focus of that call is on Christ and his work. The same is true of us. Like Paul, we can be confident that he who began a good work in us will complete it (Philippians 1:6).

Relying on God’s power makes the most unpromising among us into potential world-changers. I think of William Wilberforce, whose efforts brought the transatlantic slave trade to an end. But he was one of the most physically unimpressive men you’d ever imagine. He suffered from severe scoliosis (among other maladies), and one history book I read called him an “elfish, misshapen little figure.”

But Wilberforce discovered the purposes of God, stepped out on the runway, felt heaven’s wind at his back, and changed the world. He did it not by discovering his inner potential but the purposes of God to bring salvation to the world. God used a physically broken man to break the back of the slavery industry.

Some people feel like they have nothing to offer. Others, like Paul, are flat on their face! If that’s you, God’s word to you is this: “Get up! Stop looking at your limitations, and look instead at the power and faithfulness of the Christ who is calling you.”

You say, “I can’t!” He says, “I can! Follow me, and watch me do it through you.”

Christ in you, your righteous standing before God.

Christ in you, the power of new life.

Christ in you, your sufficiency in all things.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

You’ll never be satisfied trying to fit God into the corners of your life. You were created for so much more! You were created for total surrender to God, to act as a vessel of the power of God, all for the sake of the mission of God. Stop taking God’s name in vain, and let him work through you!

Over Our Dead Bodies:

On the most somber of occasions, he sought to comfort the mourning. The cold casket adorned a chilled body as the eyes of family and friends, swollen from grief, gazed up at the speaker. He wanted to bring whatever consolation he could. And so, he did what many well-meaning pastors have done in his situation: he abandoned the truth.

Many can sympathize with the impulse to do so. The woman before him lived as worldly as they come, blaspheming God and his word whenever the opportunity presented itself. With all her friends and family gathered, it hardly felt like the appropriate time to tell them what God actually said. And so, the pastor proclaimed that — deep down — she was a good person and was with the Lord in heaven.

It was at that moment, when all sat pleased at the pastor’s words, that a young woman spoke up:

It’s a lie! Do not believe him! We will not all be in a better place! That hope is false! Only those who believe in Christ, the Son of God, the one who died and was raised, will be saved! Only those who repent and believe and follow him until the end will be in a better place. Wrath awaits all who die in sin! Please believe! He stands ready to forgive you!

People stared, aghast. A funeral usher approached to invite her to leave. One person furiously told her to shut the hell up — and so she was trying. Hell’s mouth gaped open. Souls were at stake. God’s truth was being butchered. She tried, alone, to warn her loved ones off the path to perdition.

Sinners in Angry Hands

Ever since the fall, hell’s mouth has gaped open. Many will be swallowed up today. More will the next day. And the next. This reality caused even the apostle Paul profound sorrow and unceasing anguish (Romans 9:2). Does it for the rest of us?

This world is a doorway into eternity — a fact that few today consider and fear. Sinners frolic before the Almighty God, daring to provoke him to his face. Although God hates all evildoers (Psalm 5:5), burns with indignation towards the unrepentant every day (Psalm 7:11), and is even now whetting his sword and bending his bow in judgment (Psalms 7:11–13), the unrepentant go about life unmindful of their predicament. They slumber atop an active volcano.

They mistake the God of delayed wrath for the God of no wrath at all. They hear about the nuclear bomb of eternity, but are self-assured that it will never detonate. They approach the God of the Bible like some do those British royal guards: mocking, poking, and testing him to see if he will move — never realizing that the rifle has lowered until it is too late.

And they love the god they’ve created. Their god is never angry with them. Their god, if he even hates their sin, only loves the sinner. Their god is only merciful, only forgiving, only compassionate. Their god does not take sin personally, nor would he require the shedding of blood to forgive it. Their god serves the creature and simply pours forth unconditional love when and how the creature calls for it.

But this god is a pipe dream. This god is a demon. This god is absent from the Old and New Testaments. Even now, the true God holds the unrepentant by the nape of the neck to do them unspeakable injury if they will not bow to his great love and mercy, and take up his terms of peace and eternal joy offered them in the blood of his own Son.

Judgment Day Is Coming

As Christians with the book, we know what day is coming. A day when clouds will be rolled back, trumpets will sound, and the Terror of the unrepentant will descend. A day when the wicked will plead with the mountains to crush them so they will not face the fury of the Lamb (Revelation 6:15–17). A dreadful day when the wicked will be torched as Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6). A day when they will not just drift but be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). A day of second death. A day of banishment. A day of wrath, tribulation, and distress (Romans 2:8–9). A day when there will be no escape, no rest, and no reprieve from torment (Revelation 14:9–11).

Better to cut off limbs in this life than to go there forever (Mark 9:43). Better to be cast now into the sea with an anchor around your neck than to go there forever (Mark 9:42). Better to not have been born than to spend eternity in hell (Mark 14:21).

Will We Speak Honestly and Pray Fervently?

Love invites us, compels us, demands that we speak. The unbelieving live but breaths away from eternal pleasure or eternal pain — amazing grace or everlasting justice. Are we to say nothing or mumble about it as though it were not true?

Perhaps you’ve heard of Charles Peace, a convicted criminal who, upon hearing of hell spoken coldly of by the prison chaplain who accompanied him to his execution, allegedly responded saying,

Sir, I do not share your faith. But if I did — if I believed what you say you believed — then although England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would crawl the length and breadth of it on hand and knee and think the pain worthwhile, just to save a single soul from this eternal hell of which you speak.

Will we speak honestly about hell? Will we cross the breadth of the street to tell the lost? Will we embrace our great fear of social awkwardness and press through?

Let’s resolve with Charles Spurgeon,

If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

If our neighbors should perish, if family members should disappear upon the broad road, if co-workers should refuse the Savior, let them do so while leaping over our sober warnings and bursting through our arms of prayer.

Jesus in Angry Hands

God so loved the world that he sent his own Son to die for his people’s crimes. Jesus took our place atop the volcano. He willingly traveled through hell’s door and became our Door into heaven. He was pierced by the Father’s glistening sword, struck by his full quiver of arrows. God’s firing squad took aim at him and deafening shots thundered upon Calvary.

He walked into the furnace of God’s judgment. He plunged the depths of the lake of fire. He was tormented. He was crushed. He drank the cup of God’s anger poured out full strength. He did not escape on that Good Friday. Hell’s mouth gaped open to receive us, and he stood alone and shut the hell up for his people.

And on Sunday, he rose in victory. Death, sin, and Satan lay shuddering beneath his feet. It is finished.

Sinners in Crucified Arms

So, we do not merely warn them of God’s wrath. We welcome them to embrace Christ and live. We have good news of great joy for every human. We have a gospel that cries, The curse wasn’t strong enough, Satan wasn’t crafty enough, sin wasn’t ultimate enough, judgment wasn’t final enough, hell wasn’t fiery enough, the grave wasn’t deep enough, the lost weren’t distant enough, and the dead weren’t dead enough for the Lamb of God who was slain!

Family members can be adopted. Neighbors can be saved. Wrath can be abated. Eternal life can be received. We can have God as our greatest love, our greatest treasure, and greatest joy forever!

The gospel is the power of God for salvation from the wrath all mankind sits beneath. So we tell them in the streets. We tell them around our dinner tables. We tell them in coffee shops. We tell them while walking around lakes. We tell them in funeral homes. We bang against the gates of hell with words. We of course use discernment, but we err on the side of boldness instead of caution.

Yes, sinners are in the hands of an angry God, but they can rest in the arms of a crucified Savior. Will we tell them?

6 Cracks In A Secular Worldview:

“You think what I believe is crazy, right?” I said to a Jewish-atheist friend.

His girlfriend kindly intervened, “No, he doesn’t think that!”

“Yes he does,” I said. “I believe that the whole of human history hinges around a first-century Palestinian Jew who died on a cross and was raised from the dead. That’s crazy, right?” My atheist friend agreed. “But the problem is,” I responded, “I think you believe crazy things, too.”

When our friends hear the claims of Jesus, they wonder why we’d believe such fantastical things when there is a perfectly rational, coherent view of the world available to us. But if we look at the secular ground on which we supposedly all stand, we’ll realize it’s more like pack ice floating away from land.

And there are cracks in the ice. Here are six of them.

1. Lack of Foundation for Science and Existence

Belief in a personal Creator God may seem crazy, but it’s the foundation on which science was built. The scientific method was developed by Christians because they believed in a rational Creator who ran the universe according to rational principles. Princeton professor and world-class philosopher of science Hans Halvorson argues that science still rests best on a theistic foundation. Science can explain how the universe came to be, but the scientific method of seeking natural causes for natural phenomena can’t give us a first cause. Atheism struggles to explain why there is a universe at all or why the universe follows rational laws comprehensible to human minds. If the success of science points us anywhere, Halvorson argues, it’s to supernaturalist theism.

2. Lack of Grounding for Human Equality

My secular friends believe that the equal value of all humans is a self-evident truth. But if we embrace the materialist story that humans boil down to their physical parts, why should we be valued equally? Some try to ground equality in science, referencing evolutionary sources for altruism (a field led by Harvard professor and Catholic Martin Nowak). But evolution gives us plenty of evidence in the other direction, and as leading atheist psychologist Steven Pinker observes, examining how human morality emerged is different from the moral project of how humans ought to live.

If the universe is nothing more than what science can measure, we have no ultimate grounding for human value and equality. We’re only atoms, after all.

Others look to ethical frameworks that transcend culture, often citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But the Declaration was penned by a disproportionately Christian committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt—a keen Christian—and is strongly informed by Judeo-Christian values. Indeed, in 1983 the Iranian representative to the UN called it “a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition, which could not be implemented by Muslims.”

Of course, secular philosophers can and do formulate ethical systems that uphold human equality. We can even observe that equality promotes flourishing. But if the universe is nothing more than what science can measure, we have no ultimate grounding for human value and equality. We’re only atoms, after all.

3. Tension between Secular Values and Religious Diversity

My secular friends celebrate religious diversity and uphold the rights of religious minorities to practice their faith. This is a beautiful instinct. But what happens when religious beliefs clash with secular values? If we say to our Muslim friends, “We uphold your right to be a Muslim, so long as you embrace equal roles for men and women, the legitimacy of same-sex marriage, and the freedom of your teenagers to experiment sexually,” are we truly upholding their right to practice their faith?

Beliefs predominantly held by white Westerners often stand in tension with the beliefs of racial and religious minorities.

Nicholas Kristof challenged his tribe in the New York Times, “We [liberals] want to be inclusive of people who don’t look like us—so long as they think like us.” My non-Western immigrant friends from a range of religious backgrounds often struggle with the sense that a secular worldview is being thrust on them and their children. Of course, this doesn’t mean secular liberal ethics aren’t right and shouldn’t be enforced. Perhaps they are. But we must recognize they’re beliefs predominantly held by white Westerners, and they often stand in tension with the beliefs of racial and religious minorities.

4. Competing Needs for Objective Truth and Religious Relativism

Some of my secular friends are comfortable saying religious beliefs are just wrong. Most, however, would balk at that and prefer to think all religions are equally valid: the COEXIST bumper sticker approach. But since religions make competing claims on objective truth, we can’t say they are all equally true without invalidating truth itself.

If racism is wrong, then religious beliefs that uphold racism are wrong. If the claim that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead is untrue, then the central tenet of Christian faith is untrue. Where different religions make conflicting claims about historical events—as they do—they simply can’t all be right. However hard it may be to prove what happened in the distant past, if we abandon the concept of historical truth, we abandon truth itself and reality unravels.

5. False Assumption of Increasing Secularism

We don’t see the cracks in the ice of the secular worldview because it seems like the default setting. Religious believers are thought to be on the wrong side of history: as the world becomes more modern, more educated, and more scientific, secular humanism will spread and religion will recede. But this hasn’t happened, and it’s not going to happen anytime soon. In fact, the world is becoming more religious.

The idea that atheism is the default setting for educated people is simply untenable.

That memo has yet to arrive in most university departments, but it’s been sounded loud and clear by sociologists of religion. Moreover, the link between education and secularism is a myth. Christians invented the university, and today, Jews and Christians are the most highly educated groups in the world, with the smallest gap in education levels between men and women. In the United States, while college-educated Americans are less likely to say they believe in God with absolute certainty, it’s still 55 percent of the graduate population, and college-educated Christians go to church more often than less educated Christians do. The idea that atheism is the default setting for educated people is simply untenable.

6. False Assumption That Less Religion Is Good for Society

New atheists argue that the world would be better off without religion, but you have to be highly selective with your examples to make that claim persuasive. And you have to ignore the data indicating that in the United States at least, people who participate in religious community are happier, healthier, and live longer than those who don’t.

In our present moment, atheism isn’t evaluated on the same basis as any given religion. People say, “I can’t be a Christian because of the Crusades.” People don’t say, “I can’t be an atheist because of North Korea.” Of course, my secular friends will protest that North Korea, China, and Stalinist Russia don’t represent their kind of atheism. Amen to that. But neither do the horrors of the Crusades or the Inquisition represent my kind of Christianity.

To be sure, religious beliefs can motivate horrific actions. The so-called Islamic State gave us daily examples of this horror. But atheism is not well-correlated with virtue, even outside its totalitarian regimes. As atheist psychologist Jonathan Haidt observes, “Atheists may have many other virtues, but on one of the least controversial and most objective measures of moral behavior—giving time, money, and blood to help strangers in need—religious people appear to be morally superior to secular folk.”

Don’t get me wrong. We Christians aren’t good people either: We’re a bunch of immoral hypocrites clinging for dear life to a beautiful Savior. But something about that clinging seems to help.

So do religious folk believe crazy things? Absolutely. And, for the record, my Jewish-atheist friend is far smarter than I am. But it’s crazy whichever way you look—and it may just be that people who believe in crazy things like the resurrection are on counterintuitively solid ground.

The late Dallas Willard once wrote:

Because I make my living as a university professor and philosopher I am frequently asked, in so many words, “Why do you follow Jesus Christ?” My answer is always the same: “Who else did you have in mind?”

Tough Questions: Who Are the Two Witnesses in Revelation?:

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (Revelation 11:3-4)

The two witnesses are among God’s unique witnesses who will proclaim His message of judgment during the final stages of the Gentile trampling on Jerusalem—and will preach the gospel so that the Jewish remnant can believe and enjoy God’s protection.

The question of who the two witnesses will be has intrigued Bible scholars over the years, and numerous possibilities have been suggested. John identifies them merely as the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. That enigmatic description is drawn from Zechariah 4:1–14.

Zechariah’s prophecy looks forward to the restoration of Israel in the Millennium (cf. Zech. 3:8–10). The olive trees and lampstands symbolize the light of revival, since olive oil was commonly used in lamps. The connecting of the lamps to the trees is intended to depict a constant, spontaneous, automatic supply of oil flowing from the olive trees into the lamps. That symbolizes the truth that God will not bring salvation blessing from human power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Zech. 4:6). Like Joshua and Zerubbabel, the two witnesses will lead a spiritual revival of Israel culminating in the building of a temple. Their preaching will be instrumental in Israel’s national conversion (Rev. 11:13; cf. Rom. 11:4–5, 26), and the temple associated with that conversion will be the millennial temple.

While it is impossible to be dogmatic about the specific identity of these two preachers, there are a number of reasons that suggest that they may be Moses and Elijah.

First, the miracles they will perform (destroying their enemies with fire, withholding rain, turning water into blood, and striking the earth with plagues) are similar to the judgments inflicted in the Old Testament by Moses and Elijah for the purpose of stimulating repentance. Elijah called down fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:10, 12) and pronounced a three-and-one-half-year drought on the land (1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17)—the same length as the drought brought by the two witnesses (Rev. 11:6). Moses turned the waters of the Nile into blood (Ex. 7:17–21) and announced the other plagues on Egypt recorded in Exodus chapters 7–12.

Second, both the Old Testament and Jewish tradition expected Moses and Elijah to return in the future. Malachi 4:5 predicted the return of Elijah, and the Jews believed that God’s promise to raise up a prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15, 18) necessitated his return (cf. John 1:21; 6:14; 7:40). Jesus’ statement in Matthew 11:14 that “if you are willing to accept it, John [the Baptist] himself is Elijah who was to come” does not necessarily preclude Elijah’s future return. Since the Jews did not accept Jesus, John did not fulfill that prophecy. He came “in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

Third, both Moses and Elijah (perhaps representing the Law and the Prophets) appeared with Christ at the Transfiguration, the preview of the Second Coming (Matt. 17:3?).

Fourth, both left the earth in unusual ways. Elijah never died, but was transported to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11–12), and God supernaturally buried Moses’ body in a secret location (Deut. 34:5–6; Jude 9). The statement of Hebrews 9:27 that “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” does not rule out Moses’ return, since there are other rare exceptions to that general statement (such as Lazarus; John 11:14, 38–44).

Since the text does not specifically identify these two preachers, the view defended above, like all other views regarding their identity, must remain speculation.

One Issue Voter:

The other day I was having a conversation with an individual on politics and abortion and they accused me of being a one issue voter. Below is my response to the accusation:

No endorsement of any single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor, or president. But there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from public office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, no matter what his party or platform was. Or a person who endorsed corporate fraud (say under $50 million) would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said that no black people could hold office—on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said that rape is only a misdemeanor—that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.

It's the same with marriage. No one quality makes a good wife or husband, but some qualities would make a person unacceptable. For example, back when I was thinking about getting married, not liking cats would not have disqualified a woman as my wife, but not liking people would. Drinking coffee would not, but drinking whiskey would. Kissing dogs wouldn't, but kissing the mailman would. And so on. Being a single-issue fiancé does not mean that only one issue matters. It means that some issues may matter enough to break off the relationship.

So it is with politics. You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from holding public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying that the endorsement of racism, fraud, or bribery would disqualify him—except that child-killing is more serious than those.

When we bought our dog, I picked up a brochure on the laws of North Carolina concerning animals. Statute 343.2, subdivision 1 says, "No person shall . . . unjustifiably injure, maim, mutilate or kill any animal." Subdivision 7 says, "No person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal." The penalty: "A person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that "no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law." Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to "maim, mutilate and kill" a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil—even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.