A Skeptic's Epiphany

"Have you done the research?  I mean, really DONE the research?"  My ego was challenged.  But it was done in such a diplomatic way that I had to admit, "No, I have not REALLY done the research and weighed the facts."  Honestly, I always thought faith in some higher power was some blind belief in something to help give ignorant people something to grab on to when the you-know-what hit the fan.  Religious people were goofy, silly people with this attachment to the world's only "socially acceptable imaginary friend".  I even thought that about my own family to an extent - that they were doing it because they thought they had to - that they had been brainwashed into believing the hype or felt pressure to say they believed it in order to "fit in".  Surely they were smarter than that. 

But my cousin - someone I always admired, who was quite intelligent and very down to Earth, who had an ere of quiet confidence about him when it came to life - had challenged my intellect.  He challenged me as a reasonable man to do the research.  He did not TELL me to do the research, nor did he force anything on me for that matter.  He simply explained how he had done so, how he was before doing so, and how his life had changed since then.  In retrospect, it was his "testimony".  He then asked me to look into it to be sure, and to make my own conclusions.

And he didn't just make suggestions.  He asked if he could send me a few books to read.  Both were written by a man named Lee Stoebel - a man just like I was, who thought religion was pure silliness.  He was the Legal Editor for the Chicago Tribune with a law degree.  He'd decided, once and for all, to treat it like a legal case, and debunk this Faith and Christ and some Intelligent Designer nonsense.  In the process, however, quite the opposite happened.  As he studied the FACTS (not opinions, but pure facts), the case was made by a landslide for Faith, Jesus and God.  Intriguing.

Lee Stroebel's "The Case for Faith"

Still highly skeptical, but not to be called an unreasonable man, I ventured to read "The Case for Faith" then "The Case for Christ".  And it had to be in that order.  If I didn't have Faith in a God ... the Christ thing was a real stretch.

Lee did not mince words.  He began each chapter with some pretty compelling arguments against Faith and Christianity.  In fact, I was really liking this first book.  It seemed to be justifying my Athiestic stance (why did my cousin send me this book?), stating in very clear terms the very reasons I was so skeptical and unsure why anyone would believe such nonsense given these solid facts.  But then the table turned, discussing a rebuttal to each and every argument I had ever thought.  Apparently some people had been doing some research and had dug deeeeep into this subject matter.  Absolutely amazing, in retrospect, how these "truths", based on fact, had been squashed by society over time, adding uncertainty to my viewpoint by only stating partial-truths and/or conspiracy theories. 

Woof.  Point after point I thought I had for not believing were crumbling away.  By the end of the two books, I couldn't believe I DIDN'T believe in God and Jesus.  The facts were that compelling.  Like a murder case where the accused was video-taped doing it, had his DNA all over the murder weapon ... oh, and said, "Yeah, I did it."  THAT compelling. 

I felt silly.  Actually, I'll use the phrase "arrogantly ignorant" - that's how I'd been for all these years.  Like the know-it-all in 5th grader who states, "In 1822, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" with an I-know-more-than-you smirk on his face. 

I accepted God into my life and acknowledged Jesus as His Son and my Savior.  I wouldn't have been a reasonable man at that point had I not.

Side note:  The statement above used to give me the willies anytime I heard someone say it.  Now it gives me that warm feeling like seeing your Gram after a long absence, only greater.

Now for a reality check ... Has life been perfect since?  Not even close.  I still have the same hardships, the same worries, the same doubts.  But now I have something that allows me to make sense of it all.  That gives me purpose.  That acts as a gauge for my decisions and actions.  It is - in a word - freeing.

As I read through the Bible, really for the first time as someone who desires the knowledge contained therein, I can't believe I've done without the truth, the good news, the joy it brings me. 

Funny thing is, some who read this will do what I did before.  They will roll their eyes, say "Greg's lost it", and carry on.  But if they are reasonable people, they will accept the challenge ...

Have YOU done the research.  Really?

Whether you believe or not, God loves you, as should all Christians.  If you believe something different, God still loves you, as should all Christians.  We're all in this together.  Some have done the research and are now on a path with purpose and feel whole.  Others will get there eventually and others never will - but it's not my place - nor any one's place - to judge or to condemn.  It's up to one person - you.

I say this without getting the willies in any way, shape or form ... God bless you.