Why are you a Christian? Have you ever thought about that? Maybe you’ve had an experience that you took as a sign from God. Perhaps you’ve always been a Christian and have never known anything different. Maybe God rescued you out of a particularly awful sin life. If we’re being honest, I think most people might have a hard time articulating exactly why they believe in God in particular, and Christianity specifically.
Why I’m A Christian
I’ve written about my conversion story in previous posts. At the time, I would have described myself as an “Apathetic Atheist”. I didn’t really think much about spiritual matters. I wasn’t interested in having spiritual conversations.
My life at that time was in many ways easier than it is now as a Christian. My worldview didn’t require anything from me. I wasn’t required to follow any guidelines. There was no morality I had to adhere to outside of what would or would not get me in trouble. At that time, I was making more money than I am 15 years later.
So why did I convert? It wasn’t out of some perceived need on my part. I converted after looking at the evidence for Christianity. In particular, I saw that the world reflected in the pages of the Bible matched what I observed about reality. The Bible had an accurate view of reality, and that was extremely powerful for me.
What Persuaded Me To Convert?
What specifically am I referring to when I say that the Bible has an accurate view of reality? I mean that there are aspects of the world around us that make sense from a Biblical worldview. Here are four the specific things I came to realize were true about the world.
Creation
The Bible answers the big question of how we got here. Yes, all worldviews have a creation story. But many of these don’t make logical sense. The Bible describes what we see as we look at the cosmos. That all time, space and matter came into existence at a finite point in the past. Prior to this, nothing existed. The account of the beginning of the universe in the Bible lines up with what we observe about the natural world.
Morality
The existence of evil is often used as an argument against God. In fact, evil could not exist without God. Think about it. If there is no objective standard by which to judge our actions, then morality simply falls into a matter of opinion. We do what we think is right, but our opinion carries no more weight than another person’s opinion. When we say someone is doing something wrong, we don’t mean that we simply don’t like it. We mean that it is truly wrong. And our opinions about the action don’t change the “Wrongness” of the action. The Bible affirms that the ultimate source of morality is the nature of God Himself.
The Nature of Humans
Are humans wired for goodness, or badness? When I was an atheist, I would have said the former. I think many of the greatest mistakes we make in our society stem from this misreading of the nature of humans. We assume that people will do the right thing, act honorably and give selflessly. These are all things we should aspire to. But in reality, we as humans are less than noble. We have the desire to do the wrong thing. We are more selfish than we would care to admit. The Bible describes us as a fallen people in need of rescue for the moral crimes we have committed. This more accurately reflects the world I see around me.
The Solution to the Problem
If we’re honest with ourselves, we realize that there are problems in this world. We all see people mistreating each other, natural disasters and horrific acts of evil perpetrated. We recognize that the world isn’t as it should be. So what’s the answer? Are we able to fix this all on our own? No. Every attempt man makes to fix the world has unintended consequences. There is only one person that has ever existed that is able to solve the problems we see in the world. That man is Jesus. Jesus intercedes for us with the Father to offer us a pardon for all our moral crimes against Him.
So Why Am I A Christian?
I didn’t convert to Christianity because I had to. I became a Christian because truth mattered to me. Carrying on with my old life knowing I was living in way that denied truth wasn’t an option. I had to surrender. It hasn’t always been easy. Following truth often isn’t. But that’s why I’m a Christian. Because it’s true.
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