There are many reasons why people can’t find saving faith in Jesus. We can call these things “obstacles to faith”. Some obstacles are removable, others may not be. Let’s take a quick look at what may be in the way of someone’s faith.
When we tell you [the gospel], we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit [of God], using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who have only physical life [not the Spirit] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14, NLT
The above quote from one of Paul’s letters to the believers in Corinth really says it all. But we’re going to go ahead and look a bit deeper into this, so that no one is left hanging. If one is unable to believe, one should at least understand why.
Another important element to this issue is found in Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus:
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8, NLT
In this quote, Paul is saying that the ability to even have faith at all is a gift from God — given to those whom He chooses. This tells us that we are not the ones who are doing the “saving”; it is God who saves people. And I must add that it is God who “fixes” people as well. We should always keep in mind that every single one of us needs to be “fixed” (repaired, made whole) no matter how “together” we might think we are. (See my post on The DNA of Imperfection for more on this.) Therefore, if you are a believer trying to help someone understand the way of salvation (through the cross of Christ alone), then you should not even try to get them to clean up their act, so to speak. That is what God does, not us. If you are seeking God’s salvation from your own evil nature, ask God to give you the gift of faith.
So with that on the table, let’s take a look at some of the things that people get hung up on that hold them back from receiving saving faith.
Logic
Things like miracles, matters of spirit (things that must be believed to be seen), divine inspiration of the “authors” of the Bible, so-called Bible discrepancies, evolution vs creation, etcetera, are some examples of this stumbling block to people’s ability to believe in Christ.
I have found that all of the logical obstacles to faith that I have looked into are usually a matter of having bad information. In other words, if people were not inundated with fake facts and were given the truth about God and His creation then they might not be stumbled by this obstacle.
One place you can click to in order to get some solid scientific evidence for the truth of the Bible is the website Answers In Genesis. There you can find an answer to just about any question you may have regarding the conflict between the theory of evolution (I pronounce it, “Evil You Shun”) and the Bible. True science is not in conflict with the biblical narrative of cosmology (the study of the origin of the cosmos and life). At Answers in Genesis you will read information given by legitimate scientists who are also creationists.
If you or someone you know is in need of some kind of proof of the existence of God, you really don’t need to see anything other than the creation itself to know that there is a Creator. After all, buildings don’t build themselves, paintings don’t paint themselves, and books don’t write themselves, so why would we think that the creation would create itself? It isn’t logical.
As to the existence (and by extension, the message) of Jesus, there is an artifact that points to His life, death, and resurrection. It’s called the Shroud of Turin, and is simply the most amazing thing on the planet. It has been the focus of much heated debate over modern decades, but I believe that it is the authentic burial cloth of Christ. (Maybe someday I’ll write a post about it.) For now, I’ll just say that the image on the cloth cannot have been made by any means known to man when it was created. In fact, we still cannot reproduce it today, even using lasers. Perhaps the most notable fact of the sheet of linen is that the image is a negative — just like in photography. But there are many, many things about that cloth that make it undeniably authentic to the open-minded and logical person.
Another thing that Paul tells us about the cross of Christ and logic is this:
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” (Isaiah 29:14) So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
1 Corinthians 1:18-23, NLT
The logical evidence is there, if one will just open the mind.
Emotion
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10, NLT
Emotions are tricky. They trick us into believing (or not believing) all sorts of things.
Some people think that they are too angry with God (over, say, the loss of a loved one) to ever love Him. Whatever the emotional obstacle in a person’s heart — be it pain, anger, fear, or whatever — God is bigger than that emotion. He is able to break through your anger to forgive you of it. We would do well to remember that God knows each of our hearts and fully understands why we feel the way we do. He gets it. And He gets us. He truly understands everyone’s feelings.
As a friend of someone who is struggling with an emotional obstacle to faith in God, we should be compassionate toward them and empathize with how they feel. Such connection requires a lot of prayer and patience, bathed in love.
The bottom line in any emotional resistance toward God is this: God is not responsible for suffering in the world. And God is the only One Who can relieve suffering and confusion. All we need to do is give Him a chance — without any condemnation toward Him on our part.
When we read the Psalms, for example, we see that the psalmists also struggled with their emotions toward God and life. This is a fundamental part of the human experience, and is inescapable. Unfortunately, not everyone is capable of coming to grips with their emotions, especially when it comes to the Almighty.
Behavior
Perhaps “lifestyle” is a better subtitle?
I have known at least hundreds of people who refuse to accept God because of His standards of conduct and because He will hold all of us responsible for what we do.
I think it is important to realize that all of us are fallen human beings. Not one of us is perfect (as God is perfect). If you read my post on the DNA of Imperfection, you’ll know where I’m coming from on this.
Just as the logical obstacle is based on misunderstanding, this obstacle, too, is based on human ignorance. It’s important for us to understand that the fleeting pleasures of this life are nothing compared to the riches of the afterlife, if we are believers in Christ.
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Ephesians 2:1-7, NLT
But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
When we who are believers try to share the message of hope that is in the gospel of Christ to those who are far from Him, we must remember that we are not the ones doing the saving. Therefore, there is no place for condemnation toward them from us. Let God do the condemning. Rather, we should show such people that the lifestyle that they are in now is petty and meaningless compared to the fullness of a Spirit-filled life and the eternal relationship of love, peace, and fulfillment that follows on into the afterlife.
Culture
We have now run into one of the main reasons why I write this blog — the culture of religion around the world.
In the USA, we have a culture of Christianity that is a huge turn-off to many people in the larger society. In some ways, this is inescapable.
To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.
2 Corinthians 2:16
But in many ways, it is that we are being insensitive to others in trying to force them to behave as if they are already saved. Telling homosexuals to leave their lifestyle and come to Christ is not our job, for example. Instead, we should be sympathizing with them in their struggle to understand the good news. We should be sharing our life-giving faith with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). What we should NOT be doing is trying to get them to stop their sinning.
This cultural obstacle has nothing to do with actual cultural differences between us. It doesn’t matter if you’re of any one ethnic background or another, or gender, or age, or social group (like republican or democrat, liberal or conservative), or nationality. God isn’t calling anyone to be in a culture club; He’s calling us to Himself, into a personal relationship that is between you and Him. If He wants you to change in some way or another, He’ll let you know.
When a believer tries to force a non-believer to follow a particular code of conduct, that is not going to help anyone in their relationship with the Father of creation. Christians would do better to address the relationship and not the religion (or the church attendance). Don’t get me wrong, there are good things about church attendance, but that isn’t the goal of the gospel. And to try to pull someone too forcefully into the church culture might just backfire with devastating consequences. Also, it is possible to coax someone out of a destructive lifestyle. I’m just trying to say that it is dangerous to their eternal soul to link it with being “right” with God. That’s what the cross is for.
Spiritual Forces
As I have been alluding to throughout this post, there are spiritual forces at work in the world — both for good and for evil.
Mankind has an enemy that will do all he can to pull us away from God. This can be in the form of distraction, which might be very subtle. It could be in the form of fear or intimidation. The enemy might use clever tricks of logic, emotion, lifestyle, or culture to persuade us to ignore or abandon God. Anything he can use to pull us from God is something that he will try. And he will not give up, ever. For as long as you live, you will be bombarded by attacks of the devil and his army.
On top of the devil’s attacks, we have to deal with our own inner evil. In fact, I would argue that the heart of man is his greatest enemy. Satan cannot forcefully pull you away from Jesus; only you have the power to turn from Him.
Our response to this spiritual warfare for our souls should be prayer and perseverance. Continue to pray for God to enlighten you in His truth. Continue to pray for that friend or loved one. Continue to fight against the things in your own heart that pull you away from obedience to the Creator, and endeavor to do what you know is right.
And always remember: We don’t save ourselves; God saves us, though the cross of Jesus Christ — the only means for us to be made “right” with God.
If the message of salvation from an eternity of lonely seclusion sounds better than no salvation, you must ask God for the gift of faith. If you would like to live eternally in a state of happiness and fulfillment, you need to ask God for the gift of faith, which I encourage you to do.
Go in peace and share the good news.
Gary
