This Past Year, through discussions and debates at university, I have been made very aware of how difficult it is to convince others of concepts that I have always taken for granted. It has been strange for me to realize that I cannot prove many of the things that I believe to be true. I cannot prove that there has been a past. I cannot prove to you that there will be a future. I cannot even prove to you that I exist apart from your immediate or enduring perception of me, and that I exist as a distinct being outside of your brain.
Trouble proving the basics
Although the average person does share my belief in these unverifiable things, the average person may not share a belief in the God of Abraham. How can I prove the existence of God? This concept is even more distant than the others I have mentioned, for the senses can’t be brought forward as evidence of His existence. The God whose existence we proclaim cannot be accessed by the senses at all! How can we ever persuade others that He exists?
I may point to scripture verses (such as “all scripture is given by inspiration of God…”), but the skeptic will point to similar verses of other `sacred texts’ and ask why the Bible’s self-proclaimed authority should be accepted above the others. I may point to evidence in the external world (e.g. `nature’, ‘fossil record’, ‘world events’) and yet the same pieces of evidence are subject to different interpretations by the evolutionist and the agnostic, who remain unpersuaded.
Frustrated and aggravated, I may say, “Well, you just don’t want to believe,” and turn away, proclaiming the unbeliever to be obstinate and stiff-necked. The entire endeavor of rational persuasion may appear to be futile, and dialogue with such an audience a waste of time.
We’d like power to prove
Doctrines we uphold, such as the existence of God, the truthfulness and goodness of divine standards, and the coming of Christ, may be difficult to preach persuasively. If only the believer could access the holy spirit, perform a miracle here or there… shaking the ground, actually raising the dead; appearing and disappearing at whim… such miracles would be undeniable. However, we do not have the spirit gifts of working such miracles, and we are still left with the task of preaching the gospel.
It seems that preaching does not always accomplish the goal of converting the hearer. Noah’s message was an unimaginable one, and his outreach was spectacularly ineffective. Yet he and his family were spared by his endurance. Even words spoken by angels do not always convince the hearer, as Lot, his wife and daughters were physically removed from Sodom in a case of direct intervention. Faith in future events, especially strange and unexpected ones, does not come easily.
Preaching seems inadequate
Why does God ask us to preach when it’s so ineffective?! When we ourselves don’t always perceive the purpose of God in circumstance and situation, when we don’t know all the answers, when our faith is weak, when our patience wears thin, when we just don’t understand, when we’re tired and can’t think straight, when the vision of hope is dim in our eyes, how can we ever hope to accomplish anything? When we can’t prove anything to someone who doesn’t want to believe it already, when our powers of reason and of faith are compromised both by the limits of our nature and the grip of each passing emotional and physiological state, how can we preach effectively?
God must participate
Our own limits, our own weaknesses, teach us of the need for God’s ongoing intervention in our lives and the lives of others. Our most brilliant reasoning, our most moving appeal, our most enduring example, none of these are sufficient. The only thing that can persuade others of the truths of the Word is the power of God, which opens hearts and minds as the spirit wills. We cannot discover the unseen God through reason or through faith alone; coming to know God cannot be achieved merely through our human effort. Yet God does work both through our strengths and through our weaknesses. He determines the increase, and our job remains to sow the seed, and to share the hope of deliverance with others.
We cannot prove the existence of God, or prove the second coming, but we can and must, continue to preach them as truth. In the field, in the workshop, at school, on the street, we declare our beliefs in word and action. We must sow the seed wherever we are, to hard ground and thorny ground, to thankful and ungodly, hoping that in the mercy of God the seed will fall on good ground as well. We must not grow frustrated or impatient, but continue to pray that God will open our own eyes as well as the eyes of others, and accomplish His righteous will and purpose in and through us. Our labor and hope is not in vain; so let us not be discouraged!
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One