If you were sharing your faith with someone whose only question was “so what?”, what would you say? We would do well to borrow from an apostle who did exactly that. Paul’s speech in Athens provides a succinct answer to that question, one that can be used for apatheists and also the “spiritual but not religious” and those of other faiths.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth.... From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
“... now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:24-31).
According to Paul, why does it matter if Christianity is true? Because God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice.
Why is this a problem? Because the Maker of heaven and earth has given us rules to live by, and we haven’t lived by them. Even those who don’t believe the Bible have moral standards, standards which they themselves have not met.
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (Rom 2:1). Those who look down on liars still lie. Those who hate thieves have stolen. Those who “tolerate” any lifestyle choice cannot tolerate those who disagree with them. We do not live up to our own standards, and “in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matt 7:2). By our own rules we will be found guilty before God.
How do we escape this judgment? And how do we know this is true? The answer is the same: Jesus.
God commands people everywhere to turn from their wicked ways, to hang all their hope on Jesus, and to follow him. And we know this is true because God raised him from the dead.
If Christianity is true, our situation is dire. We should take this seriously and consider its claims carefully. If your doctor says you have a heart problem and need surgery to save your life, you’re going to listen to his diagnosis and at least consider his prescribed treatment.
The scriptures have given us a much more dangerous prognosis. But we are also given the prescription to escape it. Why does it matter if Christianity is true? Because that means Jesus is our only hope.
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