One of my pet peeves, if you will, when it comes to matters of the faith are when Christians will act as though a topic is not all that important if they don't have an answer for it. We all know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the central message that all believers should understand and proclaim. However, sometimes, in order to get people focused on the Lord you might have to talk about subjects that may seem silly or not all that important. What I am beginning to believe is that the less we understand about a subject the less "important" it becomes. I admit that I am guilty of doing this myself. Although, I have an interest in End Times prophecy, I am not well versed in the topic. Therefore, I have a habit of saying "We'll know it when we find out," or words to that effect, to mask my lack of knowledge. Recently, I was talking with some believers about a comment my pastor made about the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew 1. When an individual disagreed with my comment on the subject they dismissed it by saying:
"I don't find that scriptural, perhaps he is subject to [Christian teacher] epiphanies."
My first thought was that this is the reaction of someone who may disagree with what was said, but doesn't have enough of a grasp of the subject to offer any reply. When you say something isn't scriptural you must be prepared to offer what is scriptural. Furthermore, when you slander the person you disagree with it only lessens your argument. Later on, another believer offered this comment about difficult subjects:
"We do not need to know that [understanding the genealogy of Jesus] in order to believe in Jesus... Some of these matters we just need to accept by faith."
In general, I can agree. But, we don't put faith in faith. We put faith in something of substance. If you believe a chair will support your weight, you show faith in that chair by sitting down. Your faith is based on facts, experience and testing. Therefore, when you try to convince someone of the chair's ability to support their weight you have evidence to present.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Have you ever asked a child why they believe what they do and they responded with, "because"? It is cute, but you know it is the byproduct of them not knowing why they believe the way they do. Obviously, we excuse a child because they don't know any better. Yet, as adults, especially Christians, we might as well be saying "because" if all we can offer as an answer or defense of our position is to dismiss the comment as unscriptural, slander the one who made the comment or make general statements about faith. Scripture is clear that faith is the substance and evidence of what we believe in. This means that there are tangible facts that can be used to support what we believe. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we will know every answer to every question. But, we must be ready to give a biblical response to what we believe or point someone in the direction to get that answer. It is okay to say "I don't know," but make the effort to find out the answer.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Matthew 5:13
Where did the universe come from? How did the human race originate? What is wrong with the world? Why is there suffering in the world? What is the answer to people's sense of guilt? All these questions, and those like them, have answers that do not directly center on Jesus Christ. But, they can and should lead directly to Jesus at one point or another. How do you get to that point unless you first give an answer to the initial question? Perhaps, you don't know the answer. And that is okay. But, there is an answer. You can't be the salt of the earth if you don't have any salt to give out. The salt we have is the truth of the Bible. And the truth of the Bible is supported from within and from without its pages. We serve ourselves, others and the Lord better when we familiarize ourselves with those truths that uphold the scriptures we claim to believe in. If we don't know the answer doesn't mean the subject is not important or "secondary" to the Gospel. And it definitely doesn't justify slanderous statements about those we disagree with on a subject. Remember that God does have an answer on just about every subject and He is willing to reveal it to us if we just let Him teach us. And, we then share that knowledge with those we encounter.
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