One True Creator

By Donna Winchell

My daughter recently shared with me this amazing image of Arches National Park. It is magnificent; it spoke to me of the Almighty God who created Heaven and Earth. But then to my surprise when I shared it with someone else, the response I received was so different: “This isn’t real”. We chatted and it became apparent that her skepticism about the image was not about who created the majestic arches and moon, but simply skepticism about the authenticity of the creator of the image – Photographer vs. Photoshop.

But her reaction reminded me that religious skepticism is a fact; and that Christianity is becoming more marginalized with eye-rolling cynicism about church, religion and Christians. It's becoming increasingly more popular to operate in the black-and-white world of facts; and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous. When it comes to Jesus, skepticism runs rampant – just as it did more than 2,000 years ago, it is nothing new. Two such skeptics –  Nathaniel (John 1:45–47) and Thomas (John 20:25) were disciples of Jesus who had their doubts.

Since we are God’s disciples, how we choose to engage skepticism matters. Our efforts should be done with prayer and conviction. Only God is capable of doing the hard work of changing people’s hearts and minds – our job is to love and share prayerfully, trusting that He will finish every good work that He begins in a skeptic’s life. Even with Thomas, Jesus did not scold him for his doubts. He responded to his skepticism and said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27 NIV).

We may encounter different levels of skepticism or cynicism depending on the person and what they believe. With some we might try to get them to see the biblical point of view, but we could end up feeling like we are in a debate with others. They may challenge us to give up our presuppositions and compromise our convictions. We might be asked to ‘’prove’’ that there is an Almighty Creator who created Heaven and Earth without using the Bible; but that is not possible. We must remain strong; we need to remember the words of Paul to the Corinthians: 

The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. (2 Corinthians 10:4–6 MSG).

How do we stand firm, love well and share God with skeptics? We can start by praying for them and for the Holy Spirit to lead us during conversations with them. We must engage skeptics in dialogue leading to the truth. As the apostle Peter said, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV). He immediately followed that command with instruction on how to engage the questioner: “keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3: 16 NIV).

Ultimately, our goal as Christians is to proclaim the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to help skeptics to trust in their Creator and Savior – to know that He is the One True Creator. The Bible is full of great verses to share with a skeptic –  (Prov 14:15 ; Prov 19:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, 1 Jn 4:1, Prov 26:4-5, etc.) –  that could satisfy their intellect and logic or touch their emotions and heart. We can pray that the Holy Spirit will stir in them the desire to continue seeking and knocking, and prayerfully, being found in Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for teaching us how to be a light to those who have doubts. Open our eyes to opportunities to guide those who are seeking the truth, and help us to be your disciples so that others may see You in us and come to glorify you.

Amen.