It Takes More Faith Not To Believe

I went to Israel in 1976.  Bombings could be heard on the Golan Heights.  I really don’t remember being afraid, as a long-haired, curious, adventuresome fifteen-year-old.  I do remember profound moments and memories. One such memory occurred outside the place traditionally believed to be the empty tomb—the one Jesus borrowed for a couple of nights.

Even as a kid, I remember thinking that the empty tomb really is the crux of my faith.  Either Jesus came back to life after the crucifixion or He didn’t.  If He didn’t, then all I believed about God and the central truths of Christianity were moot.

However, if He DID raise from the dead, then I had to contend with all His claims, all His promises, and His call on my life to follow Him. From the eyewitnesses who saw Him raised, to the marked change in the lives of those to whom He appeared, there are more rational reasons to believe in the resurrection than not.  Actually, when one really examines the evidence, it takes more faith NOT to believe than to believe.

Through my life, I have contended with this man, Jesus. His claims have held an enchantment and attraction for me.  His promises have sustained me.  My hope for help in this life and the promise of a life to come have been anchors for my faith.

And this whole idea of obeying Him, following Him, enjoying a relationship based on love and commitment…that one has been a process.  There have been long, long seasons where my love for Him and commitment to Him have been strong and consistent.  My love and commitment could be seen in my obedience to His commands and to what I believed He was asking me to do with my life.

We enjoyed a relationship—Jesus and me.  He’d speak through the thoughts in my mind, a tugging on my heart, instruction from the Bible, the counsel of godly friends.  And I would talk to Him in prayer.

Juxtaposed to my years of commitment and love for Him, have been the erratic times of love for myself and commitment to what I wanted to do.  Stark contrasts.

One such contrast was in the area of confidence through difficulties.  When I was living for me and living my way, all the confidence I had was all that I could muster.  It was a confidence based on my strengths, my intelligence, my abilities.  When those characteristics ran thin, my confidence plummeted.  Why?  Because my abilities  and strengths and my intelligence had limits.

On the other hand, when I was living for Jesus, in loving commitment, I had more confidence.  Why?  Because I had the advantage of His strength and His abilities.

For example:  If He can raise from the dead, He certainly can handle any challenge that comes my way.  At the resurrection, He proved that He can make a way, when there seems to be ‘no way.’  At those times in life when I look at the circumstances and conclude:  “there is just NO way!”   my confidence can remain high because the resurrection proved Jesus can make a way.

Standing there at the empty tomb in 1976, I came to realize that the resurrection really is the basis for so much of my faith.

Brad Johnson has been in the ministry for more than 30 years. He is currently a Starbucks barista and heads up lifechangecommunity.org.