Connecting with people

By William R. Cunningham
December 10, 2006

John 20:24-29 (NKJV) -- {24} Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. {25} The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” {26} And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” {27} Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” {28} And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” {29} Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Introduction

Why should anyone believe in Jesus Christ or any of the Christian claims?  Why should anyone become a Christian in the first place?  I think it is very important that we consider the modes of belief to become effective witnesses of Jesus Christ.  We are taught in the traditional churches that we have to bring someone to Christ.  We lead them through the sinner’s prayer with the belief that such is the beginning of their journey to heaven.

However, that in itself begs the question of why we believe that.  Why do we believe that leading someone through the sinners prayer or the like means that they are indeed saved?  Why do we believe that when someone comes down the altar to accept Christ that they are indeed saved?  We have certain beliefs that affect our lives in a very significant way whether we are aware of it or not.

I read an article on the Internet that presented reasons why the arguments for Christianity are ridiculous to many.  Some of the arguments that we use could very well be used by other religions and some do use the same or similar arguments.  For example, many religious hold to a being that created the heavens and the earth.  There are many religions that hold to miracles and a savior-type figure.  What sets Christianity apart from these other religions?

Our objective here is to introduce the concept of belief.  Why do people believe the things that they believe?  Why do we believe the claims of the Christian faith?  Why does a person believe in Buddhism or some other belief system?  These are the questions that will help us to connect to people as we present to them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The human being is a complex creature and mere reason (what makes sense) is not sufficient to lead someone to a certain way.  I think sometimes we are so intent on pushing our own religious beliefs that we forget that the person we are talking to comes from a completely different background and therefore have a completely different belief system.  They may not see things the way we do and therefore may come to a completely different conclusion with the same information that led us to believe.

I’ve talked to people that were so intent on presenting the beliefs of their particular system that they did not hear what I was saying or trying to say to them.  Sometimes people are so intent on making us accept what they have come to accept and believe what they have come to believe that they don’t consider who we are, where we are, or where we are going.  The objective of their interaction with us is to make us comply to their system.

Interestingly enough I just watched a movie that dealt with someone’s quest to believe.  The movie is called the Polar Express.  Here a boy had lost his belief in Christmas, Santa Claus and all things pertaining to the magical time of the season.  He did research to show that the claims of Santa Claus for example could not be true.  He read in an encyclopedia how the North Pole was dark and cold and yet that is the place that Santa Claus supposedly lived.  How could that be?  That boy was trying so hard to believe, but reason and evidence kept getting in the way.  There was something missing that kept him from believing, but what was it?

We struggle to believe things that we are led to think that we should.  We don’t know where that pressure comes from or why it is there, but nonetheless we feel compelled to believe something.  Why do we believe the things we believe?  Why should we believe anything anyway?  Furthermore, why should we believe in the claims of the Christian Faith?

Why do we Believe?

I have a book titled, “Why Should anyone Believe Anything at All?” by James W. Sire and it presents some very interesting information about beliefs in the context of the Christian faith.  Let me go over some of the points presented in that book now.

People believe something because

1. My parents believe it so I believe it
2. My friends believe it (peer pressure)
3. My society believes it
4. My culture in general holds it – We need to believe X because we need to communicate with others in our community
5. It is all that I know about
6. It is all that I understand
7. Communities brainwash people into believing it.

Psychological Reasons for belief

1. X gives meaning, purpose and direction to my life.
2. X gives me a sense of identity
3. X gives me a sense of peace (eliminates the fear of a life in hell)
   
   One thing about religious beliefs is that it gives us a sense of comfort because no one wants to admit that they don’t know what is out there.  No one dare admit that he or she does not know for sure about life and the afterlife.  Therefore, people accept religious beliefs to stump those fears and give them a sense of peace.
4. X makes me feel good – Some people believe something simply because that belief makes them feel good.  Some hold that beliefs and therefore religions are all subjective so we should believe only those things that make us feel good.
5. X is a crutch for the week – Some hold that religious beliefs are only for those who do not want to or cannot face the realities of life. 

Religious Reasons for Belief

1. My pastor/guru/religious authority figure told me.
2. Miracles prove the truth of X – People believe that things happen to people that can only be explained by supernatural reasons.
3. I believe because I had a deep religious experience

Philosophical Reasons for Belief

1. I believe X because it is true – We may think that beliefs are subjective, but it plays a major part in our lives.  We may believe something because it is true in our minds.
2. I believe X because X is reasonable – This goes beyond blind faith, culture, parents, or peer pressure.  Our beliefs will eventually have to make sense to us in order for us to cling to it else we will find something else more reasonable to believe.  For example, one may believe in God because the universe is to complex and ordered for it to have happened by chance.  There must therefore be an intelligent and loving God who created everything.
3. There is empirical evidence for X so I believe it – People believe things because they have evidence for it and are able to understand it or at least experience it intellectually at least.  We believe because we can touch, see, and hear it so to speak.
4. X gives the best answers for the tough issues of life
5. Belief is a mechanism that humans use to survive.

As you can see there are a lot of reasons why a person would believe something.  Now the question is why should anyone believe the claims of the Christian faith?  The answer to this question isn’t as simple as you may think.

Connecting With People

Take the time to connect with people.  Get to know the person you are talking to so that what you say would have more meaning to him or her.  Consider how Jesus handled Thomas’ doubts.  Jesus met Thomas where he was so to speak.  Thomas for whatever reason would not believe until he had physical evidence that the person claiming to be Jesus was indeed Jesus.

Notice that Jesus did not condemn Thomas for wanting physical evidence in order to believe.  However, what was it that Thomas had problem believing.  It appears that unless he had evidence of the wounds of the pre-crucified Jesus then he would not believe that Jesus had indeed raised from the dead.

There are many people who have similar trouble believing.  For whatever reason someone may have a problem believing in a particular claim of the Christian faith or about God.  If we don’t connect with these people when we interact with them then all of our efforts to witness to them will be in vain.  We would never address the thing that keeps them from believing.

Some people need very little to believe whereas others may have an obstacle in the way.  We need to be sensitive to people and get to know them so that we would be most effective when we share our faith or otherwise talk to them about Jesus Christ or the Christian faith.

The Heart

Does it matter how a person comes to believe in Christ?  I don’t know, but I do know that it is important that we do.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.  However, the Bible tells us that our faith must exist in our hearts.  What is the heart?

The heart is the core of the human being.  The Easton Bible Dictionary defines the heart as follows.

According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. “Heart” and “soul” are often used interchangeably (Deut. 6:5; 26:16; comp. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33), but this is not generally the case.
The heart is the “home of the personal life,” and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1 Kings 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps. 24:4; Matt. 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Gen. 20:5, 6; Ps. 11:2; 78:72), pious and good (Luke 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word “soul” could not be substituted for “heart.”

The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom. 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Gen. 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Matt. 12:34; 15:18; comp. Eccl. 8:11; Ps. 73:7). Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Ezek. 36:26; 11:19; Ps. 51:10–14), before a man can willingly obey God.

The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart (Ps. 95:8; Prov. 28:14; 2 Chr. 36:13). “Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things.”

Jesus said at one time that what we speak comes from our heart (See Matthew 12:34 and Mark 7:21-23).  Jesus also spoke of believing with the heart in Mark 11:23).  My point is that we need to be touched in our hearts.  However, I’ve pointed out earlier that people believe things apart from the heart and we truly need to be aware of that too.  Why?  Well we could try to reach someone in their heart whereas the hindrance is in his head.  The heart does not necessarily overrule the head as we all do things that we don’t agree with in our hearts and vice versa.

Getting Through to People

The point that I want to make in this discussion is that we need to get through to people where they can grasp what we are saying.  We cannot begin to dump a bunch of religious jargon on them because they just may not get it (See John 3:3).  Learn as much as you can about people that you interact with so that you would be understood more accurately and that you would understand him or her more accurately.

Too often we speak to people with no regard to their position or frame of mind.  We dump our religious beliefs on them and try to convert them with no regard for their beliefs or why he or she may not believe.  Religious people are good for trying to convert you.  They just want to get another notch on their bedpost so to speak.  Church fold are good for this type of evangelism.  They bombard you with the truths of their belief without hearing what you have to say.  They try to get you to conform to their religion instead of just talking to you.

The Holy Spirit

We have to realize that we do not have the power to save anyone.  I cannot use the right words to get you saved.  The only thing I can do is present the gospel to you and it is then that the Holy Spirit works on the heart (though I actually believe that the Holy Spirit is active long before you actually decide to put your faith in Christ).  The Holy Spirit is always calling us to Christ because that is what God is doing and has been doing all along.

The bottom line is that we should not take it upon ourselves to save people because we cannot.  Only God can save.  We are his ambassadors beseeching others to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).  Just know that it is the Holy Spirit that saves and not us.  The only thing that we can do is share.

Why We Believe and Why We Don’t

The reason that you believe in Jesus Christ may not be the same reason why someone else believes.  The reason that you believe in Jesus Christ may not be enough for someone else to believe.  This is something that we must realize else we could waste a lot of time trying to convert someone when we could do much better by just getting to know them and sharing.  I believe that one thing that any person desires is for someone to talk to.  Be that person that people can talk to and you would find that you could be instrumental in solving their problems for believing.

Help people to meet Jesus Christ.  Promote the truths of Jesus Christ and stay away from religious dogma.  I believe that people have had enough of religion and are really looking for answers to the many questions that they have.  Be that person that would help them find those answers and come to meet Jesus Christ so that they would put their faith in him.  Connect with people by knowing why they don’t believe so that they would have a reason to believe.  Amen.