Why Jesus Matters, Regardless of How You Might Feel about Christianity.

Once an avowed atheist, C. S. Lewis’s own intellectual and spiritual journey led him to the God of the Bible and ultimately to Christ. While he seldom spoke of his beliefs during university lectures, His Christian faith profoundly influenced his writing. C.S. Lewis wrote over thirty books, including the Chronicles of Narnia, The Space Trilogy, Mere Christianity, Miracles, Surprised by Joy, The Screwtape Letters, and The Problem of Pain.

C. S. Lewis, author, Oxford literary critic, and arguably the most influential Christian apologist of the 20th century, made this observation in an essay titled “Christian Apologetics," which he first delivered during Easter, 1945, at a conference in Carmarthen, Wales, to a group of Welsh Anglican clergy and youth leaders.

(This essay is now part of a larger collection of writings entitled God in the Docks.)  In reminding the audience he's speaking to that the merits of Christianity should be argued not because of it's good moral teachings or how they might benefit society, but because it is the absolute truth. He says:

“One of the great difficulties is to keep before the audience's mind, the question of truth. They always think you are recommending Christianity not because it is true, but because it is good. And in the discussion, they will at every moment try to escape from the issue "true—or false" into stuff about a good society, or morals, or the incomes of bishops… or anything whatever. You have to keep forcing them back, and again back, to the real point. Only thus will you be able to undermine their belief that a certain amount of "religion" is desirable, but one mustn't carry it too far. One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

Christianity has, through the years, provided many good things to the World. And while we also acknowledge that many awful things have been perpetrated in the name of Christianity, true biblical, Judeo-Christianity has indeed blessed the world with unspeakable goodness. This includes establishing a standard of human worth and dignity, while advancing the pursuit of knowledge. It’s given us the family unit, which is the foundation of any stable society.  It’s also done more to influence the moral and ethical framework that is the foundation for law, civility, and order in the world. Whether or not people realize it, much of our codes of conduct, and even the general expectations we have for decency and virtuous human behavior, are rooted in biblical and historical Christianity.

Even non-Christian, secular historians and anthropologists can't successfully dispute the historical reality that Christian tradition, ideals, and ethics produce safe and stable societies throughout history and the world.

Christian ethics and ideals inherently provide every human being with a framework for finding the best human experience. This is not by coincidence either. In fact, this reality exists as a direct result of the Christian faith as it has been handed down since Jesus's first apostles. But what they taught about Christ and the gospel they preached in the New Testament epistles was not just a contrived system of rules built on human constructs. Instead, they aknowledged Christ and His Way as the absolute truth.

Creation reflects the specific attributes, nature, and character of the Creator—John 1:1-18. We as humans are made in his image too-- in other words, His character permeates every aspect of Creation, including how we are made to function and think. This is true, whether or not we choose to see it as such. The fact is, true biblical Christianity provides one of the most comprehensive and reasonable explanations for our existence and purpose. WE are averse to Christ because our depraved human nature that chooses not acknowledge this reality. Let's be clear, no one likes to think that they are accountable to someone, especially an all-powerful creator. We will do just about anything to marginalize the truth, but the evidence is present—Romans 1:20.

Just because you chose to dismiss Christianity though, doesn’t mean you are not, and in many cases, unwittingly still “borrowing” from its very truth every day. Again, the moral framework within our human existence isn’t just similar to Christianity; it’s naturally grounded in the divine character of its Creator, Jesus Christ. Things like gratitude, compassion, justice, honesty, and temperance are not cardinal virtues constructed by ancient philosophy and adopted by Christianity, but rather, the character of God imprinted in our hearts as divinely created beings, made in His likeness—Genesis 1:26-27.

Christ, though, is what makes Christianity true. When Jesus said to his disciples in John 14:6, ”I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” He was announcing to them and the world the Truth that no other religious system or philosophic thought process can provide—The answer to the most foundational questions human beings long to know— “why am I here, and what is the purpose of my life?”

In what might be his most recognizable work, outside of the “The Chronicles of Narnia” C. S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" makes a similar observation.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Sadly, American Christianity has done a pretty remarkable job of repackaging the gospel to make it more palatable or accessible to more people. I get wanting people to know Christ, but whitewashing the truth just to make it more inviting is misleading and destructive.

Too many people embrace a false Christ, one that Scripture does not teach. And they soon find Christianity in general to be more rules and religion than a relationship with their Creator. The consequences of this incomplete understanding of Christianity inevitably lead to some kind of dismissal or rejection of the true Christ. People simply reach the conclusion that Christianity is like every other religion—full of people who live in sinful hypocrisy and who have all sorts of double standards. They twist Scripture to cozy up to more comfortable interpretations of things that they find difficult or offensive. Finding these people to be mostly living a fraudulent Christain faith, they walk away from Christ, without ever being truly discipled in the Way.

Here is the thing: I’m not going to stop someone from rejecting Jesus, but don’t dismiss Him or Christianity simply on the basis of the misrepresentation of that truth from those who profess to represent or know Him; And for crying out loud, don’t dismiss Christianity because of an aversion to things you may not fully understand or don’t seem to make sense either. Remember, the issue in question here should be one of discovering the truth. At the end of the day, I’m not going to twist anyone's arm to get them to follow Jesus. In fact, Jesus himself told his listeners to first consider the cost of following Him—it's more than just praying, confessing and loving—see Luke 14:25-34. What I will ask of anyone is this: does what the Scripture says about Christianity stand on its own two feet? Not what people say about it, but what you read in it's pages?

This brings me to the crux of this essay. Every one of us must consider all that Jesus said of Himself, and what He did to demonstrate Who He is. For example, take a minute right now and go read John 6. Nothing recorded here allows you the opportunity to remain, neutral or indifferent to Christ.

Moreover, we must also consider what His disciples claimed about Him in their letters. I encourage you to read Paul's letter to the Ephesians and consider the same reality--can we honestly remain neutral or indifferent to Christ given what the apostle Paul records in this letter?

The bottom line, you can’t simply read the Scriptures and not be forced to contemplate the validity and merit of what has been written and spoken. — As Lewis puts it, “You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or a madman, or something worse.”

I have reasoned this much--the Christian faith must either be rejected, or it must be embraced—it cannot be partially embraced for what positive virtues and benefits it may produce, but ignored with regards to areas that make us feel uncomfortable or offended. Biblical Christianity is a collective system of truth and beliefs that ultimately point to Christ.

Scripture makes so many remarkable and absolute claims about our origin, purpose, problems, and even eternal destiny if we remain as we are. We can’t simply pretend like it’s a belief in the tooth fairy or Santa Claus—something that is mostly inconsequential to us regardless of whether or not we believe in it or not.

If Christianity is indeed true, then the implications of its message are far-reaching and life-changing for everyone. We must reconcile with it then, regardless of how we feel about it. We cannot remain indifferent or pretend that we can remain neutral or passive towards Christ—John 3:16-19. Jesus says that we are already judged as guilty and condemned, verse 18. This is because we are already enemies of God. We must turn to Christ if we are to be restored to our Creator.

For this reason, we can’t go about just "liking" the parts of the Christian faith that make us feel good. We can't just embrace the truths that improve the overall quality of the human experience, or just seem to make the world a better place either. Christianity’s claim is far too consequential to our future existence and eternal destiny for us to do that. Again, to quote C. S. Lewis,

"Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

How do we learn what true Christianity is, though? The answer is--the Scriptures. Yes, the Bible is God's inspired Word—2 Timothy 3:16-17. and it alone establishes what is true. All we have to do is be willing to open the Scripture and read it with an attitude of humility and honesty. For those willing to take on the challenge, I encourage you to begin with reading the gospels. These are the 4 narrative accounts of the earthly ministry of Jesus at the beginning of the New Testament. Do this though—read with an open heart; be willing to prayerfully consider what God is saying and don't make excuses when Scripture cuts into your ego. Instead, be willing to acknowledge even that hard truths. This is necessary.

Be careful though, one big reason people don't take me up on this challenge is that they just can't let go of what they love, or their tendency to reject things they don’t understand, or seem too unrealistic to consider. The fact is, sometimes it's just easier to think that the Bible is just not relevant or relatable to life in the 21st century and lean into what you already know. I've done this too and it's no way to think about truth. But I realize, there will be those who simply ignore anything to do with the Bible and Christianity. And for those who insist on posturing themselves this way, I don't know as there is anything I can say here to change this response.

But, to everyone else, I would say this, as you read Scripture, ask God to reveal Himself to you objectively. Don't look for signs either. Don't listen to your feelings; and be prepared to feel uncomfortable; this is okay. The truth sometimes hurts.

Lastly, avoid the tendency to look for subjective things. Things that appeal to your sense of well-being or your own personal bias. These may or may not be legit. Instead, look for statements of fact and truth; these are what God intends to communicate to all of us universally. What is essential to knowing and relating to Him can be found by anyone willing to read and listen to Scripture—the Principal of Perspicuity.

For more understanding on how you should read and relate to the Bible take a few minutes to read this article on Knowing Scripture by the late theologian and Christian philosopher, R. C. Sproul.

In closing, I want to make this point clear, you can't be fooled into following Christ emotionally. This means that making some kind of emotional or religious choice to start doing life a certain way is not what being a disciple of Christ is all about. And to be clear, following Christ is also not about avoiding hardship, discomfort, failure, personal suffering, poverty, sickness, or struggle.

Instead, following Christ is an opportunity to know the truth, through repentance and faith in Him... as the Lord of your life. This indeed may involve all of these things to some degree or another, but in order to be like Him, we too must learn to suffer—Hebrews 5:7-9.

This thought is not appealing to the old self, but as we begin to interpret our lives through the lens of Scripture, we discover what it means to know and enjoy Him regardless of how we feel, or our circumstances or even what station in life we currently find ourselves in. We're still able, while remaining citizens of this current world, to have true joy—Philippians 4:10-20.

I encourage you to consider the implications to your life, if Jesus is indeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

God in the Dock (1970) by C.S. Lewis is a collection of 48 essays and 12 letters on Christian theology and ethics, edited by Walter Hooper.

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life; C.S. Lewis's 1955 autobiography, detailing his spiritual journey from childhood in Belfast, through atheism and WWI, to his reluctant conversion to Christianity at Oxford, exploring his lifelong search for "Joy" as a divine longing.

Mere Christianity makes available to both believers and nonbelievers C. S. Lewis’s powerful and rational argument for the Christian faith.