Christians who are trying to be evangelistic tell people that they should believe certain things. But how does one believe something which one doesn’t believe? Can a person force him or herself to believe?
For example, I do not believe in unicorns. If someone tells me that unicorns exist, will I then believe in unicorns? Not at all. If I see a unicorn for myself, will I then believe in unicorns? Most definitely.
But Jesus wanted us to believe without seeing. He said “Blessed are those who believe, though they have never seen.” That seems quite difficult (impossible?) and perhaps even foolish. There must be a step between seeing nothing at all, and seeing the actual unicorn.
If someone tells me that they have evidence that unicorns exist, will I then believe in unicorns? Probably not at first. I’ll most likely ask to see the evidence.
Jesus said “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
So even Jesus realizes that I need to see something… perhaps a picture, or a reflection.
Next come some hard questions…. Where, today, can I see a picture or a reflection or an example of God? Is it found only in fundamentalist, evangelical Christianity, thus leading me to the conclusion that that is the true path to the Father?
These thoughts are becoming a bit scary. Perhaps I’ll contemplate unicorns and get back to them later.
“Where, today, can I see a picture or a reflection or an example of God?”
In his book, “A Community Called Atonement,” Scot McKnight refers to humans as “Eikons,” that is, created in God’s image. He goes on to describe us all as “broken Eikons,” in need of God’s atonement, with God, within ourselves, with one another and with people and the world around us. While we are all broken, we are none-the-less called to be reflections of God and Christ to one another. We…are one way we see, and believe.