I’ve been asked these questions many times, “Clare, what if you’re wrong? What if, after death there is nothing – no heaven, no hell? Think of all the pleasures you’ve denied yourself and the money you gave away to evangelize others, wasted? Or even worse Clare, that there is an after-life but it’s not your God who is in charge, but Allah and you end up in Allah’s version of hell for following a false God?”
Have you ever had questions like that yourself? I don’t know a Christian who hasn’t had some fleeting doubts about God. So, here is how I generally respond when asked these types of questions: First, yes, I could be wrong and there is no God. I don’t believe that, but it’s obviously a possibility. Every religious person believes the basic tenants of their religion, and therefore, rejects all other religions as false. But I am so convicted of the truths of Christianity, I’m willing to bet this life and the next on it!
Second, “none of the above” is fool’s choice. If there is an after-life and only one religion got it right, there’s zero possibility that an agnostic will end up in their, or our version of heaven. In other words, believing in nothing, gets you nothing. There is no atheist or agnostic heaven!
Third, being a Christian and living out the teachings of Jesus is a great way to live, even if there is no after-life! Christianity has given me a moral compass that has made me a better person, husband, father and neighbor. And as to the time and money “I wasted” on evangelism, those who come to faith in Jesus, almost always turned out to be better people for it.
So, while I could be wrong, I don’t believe I am. I have no problem entrusting my life, both this one and the next, on a God who loved me and gave up his life for me. But if I’m wrong, “thank you God for giving me a life of purpose, a moral compass and people around me who loved me well, because they loved you as much as I do!”
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” Psalm 1:1-6
How following Jesus works in real life.
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