I was talking with a young woman a few months ago, and she said, “I don’t believe in organized religion.”
I replied, “Do you believe in disorganized religion?” We kept talking about it for a few minutes, but I’m not sure if my comment really did much good.
More recently, a guy told me he was an atheist. I asked him why he felt that way, and he said that stories of a man walking on water and a guy who got swallowed by a whale just didn’t make sense to him.
I suggested that maybe he was looking at the question from the wrong end. Maybe he should ask himself if it makes sense that there is some kind of God, given the order and complexity of the universe. If it makes sense that God exists then it seems like it would make sense that He could perform miracles if He wanted.
I’ve thought about both conversations recently, and I think I might really be on to something with my second comment. I mean, you could show me certain algebraic equations and trigonometry problems and they would look like nonsense to me. But if you start me with the basics, and walk me through every step of the process logically then I will be able to understand the more complicated truths. I could see how it all makes sense.
Your brain chemistry, the complexity of a living cell, hopes, dreams, love—are these all the byproducts of random chance? If not, Who put it all together? If the answer is “God” then why not believe that He would want us to know about Him? Why would He give us the insight to figure out that He was there unless He wanted us to understand what He wants from us?
If God is real, and He has given us the means to know what He wants (through the Bible), then the ball is in our court.