He Is Good | The Obstacles To Faith | Mark 6:1-6 | Coleton Segars

Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

Where did this man get these things?

They asked.

What are these remarkable remarkable miracles he is performing?

Isn't this the carpenter?

Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James and Joseph, Judas, and Simon?

Aren't his sisters here with us?

And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.

He cannot do any mighty work there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

This is the word of the Lord.

You say through the mouths of infants and children that you establish a stronghold against the enemy.

And what a gift that we get to see our children singing and just doing this ancient thing of worshiping the advent of your first coming.

And so Lord, we're grateful.

Father, from your word today, would you move among us?

Holy Spirit, would you be present?

Would you help us to understand, to comprehend?

Would you give us hearts that are open?

And uh would you accomplish what your word sets out to accomplish, which is to ultimately bring freedom and to help us see for who you actually are in Jesus' name.

Amen.

It's good to see all of you.

If uh if you're a guest here, thank you for coming.

Thank you for supporting the kids.

My name's Colton.

I get the privilege of being the lead pastor of this church, and uh it's just a gift to be with you Christmas seasoned.

Uh we are in a series and have been in the series for a number of weeks, going through Mark's gospel, and the gospel, the the series is titled He is Good because Mark titles his gospel really, this is the good news, the beginning of the good news of Jesus.

And so we've been marching through that, not really focusing on Christmas passages necessarily, but we do have this space where Jesus actually goes back to his hometown in Nazareth today.

So this is where he grew up.

This is where he it's not where he was born, but it is where he spent the majority of his childhood years.

And so it's somewhat of a Christmas passage, if you want to look at it that way.

But um, over the last two weeks, we have looked at uh faith and what faith is.

And um basically what we found is that faith is belief.

Go to the next slide here.

Uh faith is belief put into action.

Faith is belief put into action.

It's one of those slides, it's coming up in just a second.

But faith is not simply, faith is not simply uh belief, but belief put into action.

There we go.

Um and then what we learned uh two weeks ago is that when when faith, ultimately, when belief is put into action, it always makes a difference.

And that's the next slide there.

It always makes a difference and it always does more than we think.

And so the last two weeks what we've looked at is like this woman who had this suffering issue with her with her health, and she had this belief that Jesus could heal her, but her belief did nothing for her until she took that belief and she actually ran to Jesus himself and took her belief, put it into action.

Then we had the synagogue leader who was doing dealing with the same thing, believed that Jesus could heal his daughter, but that belief did nothing for his daughter until he actually grabbed Jesus and was like, Let's go, I'm taking you to go see my daughter.

And so you see this thing where it's like their belief of Jesus was wonderful, but it didn't do anything for them until they took it and shoved it into their lives and actually became something that they acted on and something that they actually did.

And this week, as we move along in this journey of faith, this week is the first week that we actually see a lack of faith in verse five that uh Colin brought up earlier.

Because of their lack of faith, we see what faith does.

Jesus could not do any mighty work there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

And so we're in this third week, two weeks of what faith does, and then all of a sudden winding up in this space where you see like a lack of faith, where faith actually does always make a difference, and it always does something more than we think it will do.

A lack of faith actually doesn't make a difference.

It keeps Jesus from actually moving into a space and doing what he naturally wants to do.

And so he goes to his hometown, and it's not to just like catch up with mom, that's not what he's doing.

He actually wants to go in there and like heal some people and do some stuff.

He wants to preach in their synagogues, he wants to do these things with these people and actually do what he's been doing.

And he's met with a lack of faith, and so it keeps him from actually doing the things that he naturally.

He's like, I just want to do something kind to you.

I actually want to do work in your life, and the lack of faith keeps him from doing the work that he wants to do.

Uh and D.A.

Carson uh in his commentary on this, commenting on verse 3, it says that they took offense at him.

Uh the word is uh to scandalize, they were scandalized over Jesus.

It's where we get our word scandal.

But what he says is like the the took offense at him, being scandalized over Jesus means that they found in Jesus some obstacles to faith in him.

Which I found so interesting because they they see Jesus, they they've spent time with Jesus, they know Jesus, they're not confused on who Jesus is, but they see something in Jesus himself that ultimately places obstacles in front of their minds and in their hearts to go, I would have faith in you, but there's something about you that actually keeps me from having faith in you.

There's obstacles in this space with you that keep me from actually having faith in you.

And so what I want to do today is look at three obstacles that you see, really in two verses, but three obstacles that you see in these people's lives that keep them from actually having and practicing faith in Jesus.

Because I think those three obstacles are things that, for us, if we're honest, are things that we also have issue with, things that we also struggle with from time to time, things that can be obstacles in front of our space with Jesus, regardless of whether you believe in him or not.

These things are common to Christians and non-Christians alike, of just obstacles that get in the way that make us go, like, I don't know if I can really believe that he is who he says he is, or believe what he says he will do.

I don't know that I can do that based on these obstacles.

And so what I'm gonna look at is those three obstacles and then how we can avoid those things.

Because the truth is, these things that were blockades for their faith, it kept them missing out from all the things that Jesus actually wanted to do.

And so I want us to figure out like if he wants to be kind to us and not condemn us, if he wants to be gracious to us and not actually throw stones at us, I want us to experience as much of that as we possibly can.

That these obstacles don't make him go like, I'm not doing it.

He's just going, I just cannot move into that space and do the mighty work I want to do there.

I want to figure out a way where we, as a people, and if you're a guest here, you as well, how we can wind up in a space where those things don't block us from actually experiencing what Jesus wants to do in our lives.

And so, three obstacles that we see in this particular text.

The first obstacle to faith in Jesus was an unwillingness to take an honest look at the evidence.

This unwillingness.

So notice what these people see.

This is the evidence that they see, and they even say it.

Where did this man get these things?

They asked.

What's this wisdom?

So they recognize he's got some things, some wisdom.

What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?

But then notice all these things that they've recognized.

He's doing miracles, he's preaching, it's amazing, this stuff is great.

And then they look at all the evidence and then decide, isn't this just the carpenter?

Isn't he just the random carpenter from before?

And really, like towns really only had like one carpenter, especially at this size.

And so for them, they're like, isn't that that carpenter that bailed on us a couple years ago and started acting like a rabbi trying to snag some disciples?

Like, that's what to them, they're going, he's doing amazing stuff, but isn't this just the carpenter?

Mark Strauss in his commentary says this that the Greek term translated carpenter is a general run one.

Refers to someone who built with materials such as stone, wood, or metal, someone who built homes or public buildings, made farm tools, household items, or furniture.

In either case, the townspeople are saying, isn't he just a common, ordinary fellow who makes his living with his hands just like the rest of us?

And again, to me, what's so interesting about all of this is like they acknowledged a bunch of the stuff that Jesus is doing.

All the things that he's doing that that should lead them to go, I think he's actually maybe more than the carpenter.

They acknowledge all that stuff.

They see it in front of them, like he is doing miracles, he is preaching, and we are amazed.

And the things that should be evidence to lead them to make a different conclusion, they dismiss that evidence and then just decide, no, we know who he is.

He's just the carpenter.

By their own admission, they admit those things, and yet it still doesn't change their beliefs.

And the evidence that should have been proof that Jesus is someone greater than just a carpenter wasn't evidence to them.

They just dismissed it.

And so it should have led them into this space and it just didn't.

And the reason is because they refused to actually see it and then apply that evidence to their lives.

They saw the evidence and they were like, I'm just gonna dismiss that.

I'm not gonna honestly, honestly look at it.

And so for us, just just as I consider that particular way of thinking, I know that in this room and in my pastoral ministry over the last 20 some odd or 19 years, I've had encounters with people who genuinely are seeking, trying to understand what Jesus is like, wanting, they have questions and they're genuinely like, I would believe, I just have a couple of things that I'm trying to figure out.

I have a couple of questions I'm trying to do.

And those people ask those questions, and it's wonderful.

I really enjoy those conversations.

But at the same time, the majority of the conversations that I have are with people very similar to this.

They use, I just have questions about Jesus not as a way of seeking evidence, they use it as a defense mechanism to actually keep people at bay.

And so they're like, I just have questions and no one can answer my questions.

So then I sit down with these people and they're I'm like, ask your questions.

Ask every question you got.

I'd love to answer them as best as I can.

And if I can't answer them, I will point you to a book that's been written on that specific issue and that specific topic, I promise.

And I have these I have these things all the time.

And my biggest issue with all of them is not the person, it's that when they ask me every single question that they have, and I give them answers that are logical, I'm not a crazy person, I give them answers to all of these things that have been thought about.

Or I reference books of other people who have written these things.

And it does nothing to actually shift and change in their mind.

It's like they ask you question A, you answer A, and they're like, Yeah, but what about B?

Then you ask question B, you answer B, okay, well, what about C?

And then so on and so forth, on and on and on.

And what you realize in the middle of the conversation is I could answer every single question that you have, and it's never gonna like put a light bulb in your heart that goes, Bing! Now I got now I'm a Christian.

Now I completely believe every single thing.

Now I actually understand.

I don't have these questions anymore.

And the hard part is when that happens, when you provide evidence from other people or from your own experience, and that evidence is just constantly dismissed.

It keeps them stuck in this spot where it's like this obstacle is still there because evidence is being presented to you, and you're choosing not to look at it.

You're choosing to dismiss it, you're asking questions like you want it, but you actually don't want it.

You've already decided what you believe on some of those things.

Some people would say, like, well, you know, if you if the Bible weren't filled with errors, and the worst part for me is when I say that, like, have you read it?

And they're like, No, I haven't read it.

I'm like, okay, well then how would you say that there's fill with errors?

Like, well, I heard somebody on Instagram this one time, I'm like, do you live life based on and maybe they do live life based on Instagram wisdom, which is deadly.

Um but there's but they would say that like it's it's filled with errors, and I'm going, okay, you have you read it?

No, I haven't read it.

I'm like, okay, well I would encourage you to read it.

Like you should probably read it and actually have some some of your own thoughts, because then you're actually asking questions from evidence that you're actually looking for versus some argument that somebody else had.

Read it for yourself and just decide.

And then when I tell them, I'm like, hey, actually, just so you know, uh, scholars would even say, secular scholars would even say that the scriptures themselves is one of the most reliable historical documents, the way that they date things and the way that they do things, uh, above like Caesar's wars and all these different things, stuff that we would just take as fact.

There's actually the way that they choose to do it, they would even say, well, the Bible has more copies than all these other ones, and so it's actually more historically reliable based on copies.

It's actually more historically reliable based on the number of years it took between event and when it was written than all of these other things that we would take as fact.

And so we have charts on these things, we could show people these things, and it's just sometimes I've it's rare, but sometimes people are like, wow, I did not know that.

That's new information, I will process that information.

But many times it's like, yeah, but.

And then it's again, it's like, okay, I presented evidence, and they just shove it off into this space.

And they stay stuck in this spot where it's like, and now there's still this obstacle between you and Jesus.

And what he wants to do in your life is bless you.

What he wants to do is be kind to you, and yet you continue to dismiss the evidence.

Other people would say, well, look, like Christianity, isn't that like really just uneducated Southern people believe in Christianity?

No offense to Southern people.

Um, but like I've heard this before.

I did ministry in Chicago, Wisconsin, New York.

Like, isn't that really for uneducated people?

And when they say that, I'm like, you clearly haven't done any research because Galileo, Copernicus, Johann Kepler, uh Isaac Newton, like all of the and scientists today, like there's all these people that are Christians and practice faith in Jesus that if you would say that they were uneducated people, you clearly don't understand that there were people that were educated that actually did choose to follow Jesus.

And my point isn't that it's wrong to seek for evidence.

I think if you seek evidence, you will find evidence.

The issue for me is when people sit there and go, like, I'm seeking evidence, and then you give it to them and they go, No, I don't, I don't believe any of that.

It's like, but the evidence is you haven't even looked at it, you haven't even taken it and actually seen it.

And it leads to the space where the things that Jesus wants to do in people's lives, he's just not able to do, not because he doesn't want to, but because the evidence that's presented doesn't get past this obstacle of just dismissing it.

And then all of a sudden he's not able to do that.

And it doesn't just happen in the unbelieving world, it happens in the church as well.

I talk to people in the church and they're like, I don't believe prayer works.

I'm like, what evidence do you have that prayer doesn't work?

Have you just went hard, like I prayed one time and it didn't work?

And I'm like, okay, but you would never say that God's a liar in the Bible.

Like if you're a Christian, you're not allowed to say that.

Um and so if you would never say that, then you'd have to admit that there's evidence pointing to the fact that prayer does seem to shift and change things according to the scriptures.

People who are married, like counseling definitely won't work for me.

It won't work for my marriage.

I'm like, it's a multimillion dollar industry that's growing.

Like, I the evidence suggests that it might do, it's doing more for other people than it then than maybe you think it would do.

And so I would encourage you to go counseling.

No, I had a bad counselor one time, and so I'm not doing that anymore.

It's like, well, you've eaten bad food too, and you still eat.

Like people say, like, I don't need to stop doing what I'm doing, and then again, the evidence, like everyone in your life is telling you to stop doing what you're doing.

Everyone in your life is doing that.

The evidence would suggest that what you're doing is actually hurting you, not helping you, hurting the people around you, not helping you.

Look at the evidence.

And in the church, when we seek not to do that, we're actually blocking this thing that Jesus actually wants to do in our lives.

And so one of the obstacles is just actually leading us to this space where it's like, here's some evidence that might change the way that you see the world, view things.

Do you want to shift and change based on this?

Do you even want to be curious about this?

No, I want to dismiss it.

And it's like, man, then you just hinder what Jesus actually wants to do.

He's not mad at you.

I think he's just sad for you.

He actually wants to do something for you.

So that's the first obstacle.

Just refusing to look at the evidence.

The second obstacle that we see in this text is judging Jesus based on someone else.

A lot of people's obstacle to Jesus is judging what Jesus is like based on people who claim to be what Jesus is like.

And you see this here, they ask this question, and it's a very short thing, but it's like, isn't this Mary's son?

Which is wrong.

They should have been like, isn't this Joseph's son?

Because that's the way you do it in Middle Eastern times, especially at that point.

You would reference someone by their father's name.

So Mark Strauss again says, this second question seems derogatory, for it was not customary among Jews to describe a man as the son of his mother, even when the father was not alive, except if you're trying to insult him.

Behind this question may be the rumor circulating during Jesus' lifetime that Jesus was illegitimate.

And I find it so interesting that this thing that happened back then is still the same thing that we do today.

For them, Jesus can't be special, he can't be Messiah, he can't be godly, he can't be a great prophet.

Just pausing for attention.

Um He can't be Jesus can't be those things because I mean Mary's that that harlot, right?

Like we she he can't.

He came from her, and she's kind of, I mean, we you know, we only talk about her in her hushed tones.

And so it winds up in the space where they judge Jesus based on someone else's life or what someone else did to them or what they think someone else did.

And to me, again, growing up for me, that is the reason why I did not, for however many years, did not want to be a Jesus follower.

I watched many of his followers or the people that claim to be following Jesus, and I was like, I don't want anything to do, if that's what it's like, I don't want anything to do with Christianity.

The Christians I saw and heard and watched, they lived boringly dull lives.

And uh Dallas Willard has this quote where he says, How many people are radically and permanently repelled from Jesus by Christians who are unfeeling, stiff, unapproachable, boringly lifeless, obsessive, and dissatisfied?

And I was one of those people repelled by Jesus based on those people.

I just watched them live and I was like, man, I just, if that's what I gotta be, like I just, I was a sports guy, and all the Christians I knew were nerds, no offense to the nerds or anything like that.

But I was like, I just, y'all don't have any fun.

I'm having a ton of fun.

Like, I just, I just don't want any of those things.

Again, I love baseball.

All the Christians at my school were like, baseball's dumb, that's stupid, it's a waste of time.

And just side note, if you're ever trying to witness diminishing what other people love, it's not a great way to present Jesus to people.

Um, and so they were like, Oh, you, you know, you should be a Jesus follower because what you're doing is stupid.

I'm like, this is the worst evangelism I've ever heard in my entire life.

But they were like, no, no parties, no fun, no sports, none of that.

Don't even look at a girl.

I was like, man, I'm gonna really struggle with that.

You ever seen that parks and rec uh thing where it's like uh the guy's like straight to jail?

Um, where he's sitting there, he's like, uh he's talking about his country's government, and it's like, oh, you overcook food, straight to jail.

Undercook food, straight to jail.

Drive too fast, straight to jail.

Drive too slow, straight to jail.

And like he's just saying this about this thing, and to me that's that's what it was like.

Oh, you play sports, straight to hell.

Straight to hell.

Had fun, had fun today, straight to hell.

Okay.

They wanted Bible study, side hugs, alternative swear words.

Um turn every conversation into talking about Jesus.

So it's like, it's hot outside, it's like not as hot as hell.

You want to know about Jesus?

It's like I didn't find anything compelling about their faith.

I just didn't want anything to do with it.

Uh there try not to sin, hide the sin if you do sin, constantly feel guilty about it.

You're gonna love this, join us.

And I was like, dude, I just I don't want anything to do with any of that.

And I think probably this is a common experience, maybe not in the same capacity in the same way, but I think for many of us, people have had bad experiences with Christians, bad experiences with people who call themselves after Christ's name.

And they decide and they judge Jesus based on the person who carries the name.

And so I get that.

I think the church has done, I've been hurt more in my life by church people and people and people who call themselves Christians than I have by any of my unbelieving friends.

Much more hurt by Christians than anybody else.

And so for you, if you watch how Christians act and you want nothing to do with it, or people in the church have hurt you and you've dealt with church hurt, uber spiritual people that just weirded you out, and like, I'm gonna pray over you in tongues.

And you're like, I don't even know you yet.

Like it, like, I know and I also believe in the spiritual gifts, but like that's a that like it can be this thing where you're like, I don't even know if I can jump into something like that.

People have judged you for not being more spiritual or as spiritual as them, and you're like, I just if that's what he's like, I don't want that.

Like I just I just cannot walk in that movement.

I cannot do that thing.

And to me, I understand that, but for me, what I realized was I wasn't running away from Jesus when I was running away from this thing.

I was actually running away from their version of Christianity.

Like I just Jesus, I didn't know anything about him.

I just what I did know was from them and I hated it.

And so I finally ended up actually turning to Jesus when I realized that Jesus was calling me to follow him and not them.

Jesus wanted me to be with him, not to necessarily be like them.

And that was so good for me because I was like, oh, so I don't have to be like that.

And Jesus was like, no, you don't have to be.

I mean, they're you know, I love them the same, it's fine.

But like, no, you don't, you don't have to be like that.

And then I was introduced to people like Charles Spurgeon, who was a preacher and loved Jesus and also smoked cigars.

And I was like, okay, all right, thank you very much.

Um, and then like Martin Luther, the Reformation guy, like his wife brewed beer.

Like, my wife's not that spiritual yet, but it's coming.

Like, there's gonna be this thing.

C.S.

Lewis and Tolkien like met to talk theology over a pint of beer.

Like, and again, it's not drinking and smoking that I'm just desperate for, it's not that.

But there's this space in my life where I'm going, okay.

There's something different, right?

Like, I if that's if that's not necessarily your your take on it and you don't want to do those, like that's completely fine.

But it's not this narrow-minded thing that's like, you better fit this gap or else.

And when I was introduced to people like Eric Liddell, who was like, when I compete, and my he was an Olympic runner, and he's like, when I compete, when I run, I sense God's pleasure.

And I was like, okay, so me playing sports, what God has gifted me to do, isn't my idol worship, but like, this is a way I can actually worship him.

This is what he's made me to do.

And it changed everything for me to be like, you don't have to be like them.

I want you to be like me.

I want you to follow me, not them.

And so for these people, they're actually scandalized over Jesus because it's like, we've met somebody that's connected to you and we don't want anything to do with you.

And I think that so often happens, where like you miss out on what Jesus actually wants to do in your life because it's like, I've met your Christians and I hate them, and I'm I hate him too.

And it's like, but it's very, very likely that they're nothing like him.

It's very, very likely.

Now I think he loves them deeply and he allows them to carry the name because he's never going to turn anybody away.

But there's this space where it's like he is calling you ultimately to follow him and to look to him and not judge him based on what your experience is with someone else.

I get that it's easy to do that.

But what you do when you do that is you hinder him from doing what he wants to do in your life, and what he wants to do is not judge you like they judged you.

He actually wants to lead you into freedom and life that he has for you.

And so don't let someone else dictate your life with Jesus.

Let Jesus dictate your life with him and let it lead you into a space with him.

All right, that's the second obstacle.

Just judging Jesus based on what you've experienced with someone else.

Third obstacle to faith in this particular text was they had more faith in their own beliefs about Jesus.

They had right beliefs about Jesus.

They're not wrong.

It is Mary's son.

He was a carpenter.

Um, and then it goes on, it says, Isn't this the brother of James?

Yup.

Joseph, yes, Judas, yes, Simon, they're killing it.

So many beliefs about Jesus.

Aren't his sisters with us?

Didn't know Jesus had sisters.

Apparently he did.

And like, but there's this space where like y'all have solid beliefs about him.

But what you decided in the midst of your belief was like, I know about him, and there's nothing more to know.

Like, this is all there is.

He is just the brother of this one, the son of this one.

This is his trade, this is his, and you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right.

But you didn't leave any room for the fact that maybe there's more to him than what you currently know.

Maybe there's something else that's available to you about who this Jesus actually is, than just his genealogy.

Maybe there's something for you in this particular space.

And for them, they're just like, we know a little and now we know everything.

And so they make this space about Jesus where it's like, we don't need to know anything else.

And to me, again, I think we do the exact same thing with Jesus.

For the unbeliever and the skeptic, I've heard people say this, and I again, all everything I'm about to say, like I it is not judgment, it is truly, I've also experienced these things and walked through these things, so it's not judgment.

But the unbeliever and the skeptic would say stuff like, um, I believe that if God were actually real, like I would believe in God and that he were real if the church wasn't so corrupt.

If there weren't so many hypocrites in the church, I would believe this thing.

But the issue is with that belief, and so that's a belief, and you have faith in that thing.

It can't be real because I believe there are hypocrites in the church, and you're not wrong.

The issue is when you look at the claims of the gospel and the claims of Jesus, hypocrites in the church don't disprove the existence of God.

They actually substantiate the truth and the beauty of the gospel.

The reason there are hypocrites in the church is because Jesus lets anybody in.

He's like, I love them all.

It's like, that one?

Yeah, that one.

Like, whoo! I can't believe you love that one.

Like, he just he constantly allows any of these people, and if we were a country club or Jesus was like, actually, we're only going to take this particular race, or we're only going to take this particular righteousness, or we're only going to take this particular thing, then all of a sudden you could kind of put some parameters around how many hypocrites are in the church and how broken and messed up people are.

But because Jesus goes, I invite everybody, anybody is welcome.

Anybody's able to come in here.

And so it actually makes sense that the church is filled with people who mess up and are hypocrites.

Because Jesus invites the angry, he invites the selfish, he invites the greedy, the judgmental, the arrogant, the proud, the thieves, the racists, the democrats and the republicans.

He invites the drunks, the addicts, and the failures.

He invites the people who don't follow through.

To me, he invites the people who slow you down, and that is the most frustrating thing, pet peeve of mine in my life.

Don't slow me down.

He invites the hypocritical and he invites them in because he loves them and they need his grace and they need his forgiveness.

And he allows them to continue to bear the name Jesus because his unconditional grace and forgiveness is always for them.

And so he's never going to look at somebody and be like, sorry, you've sinned too much, get out.

You're too much of a hypocrite and you're keeping people from me.

Get out.

And so the idea that like I can't believe in God because there are too many hypocrites in the church, and it's like, actually, this substantiates the truth of the good news of the gospel.

Jesus welcomes everybody.

He's the most inclusive person that there is because he says, regardless of what you've done, I have space for you.

And I can have, I can, I can, I have forgiveness for you, I have grace for you.

And so the church is, by Jesus' own way of doing things, always gonna be the most hypocritical uh organization in the world because he never kicks anybody out when they screw up.

And so you may not want to join the church based on that, but it's always gonna be true.

And it's never gonna diminish what God has actually done.

It's actually gonna speak to look how much he loves people, that he lets them stay.

Look how much he loves people, that they continue to screw up, but he has forgiven them again and again and again.

The church will always be filled with that kind of people.

And so, again, unbelievers, skeptics might say that.

Unbelievers and skeptics might also say that, like, I can't believe in a God.

I can't believe in a God that sends people to hell.

Like, I believe in a God of love.

I can't believe in a God who sends people to hell.

There was this atheist man at Tim Keller's church in uh New York that came up to him to talk about this very problem.

And Keller was bracing himself for um just uh answering these questions, but the man actually came to say, like, I have this problem, but hey, actually, here's something that's been happening to me to help me get past this particular problem.

And so this is what he says.

He says, the the man said that he had this problem with God about hell based on his beliefs, and um he he talks and he says, I came to realize that this doubt that I had about God came from the underlying beliefs in my own culture.

He goes, he says, I have a Chinese friend who does not believe in God, but who said to me, You know, if God exists, he certainly would have the right to judge people as he saw fit.

He says, I realized that my doubt about hell was based on a very white, Western, democratic, individualistic mindset that most other people in the world did not share.

And so to insist that the universe be run like a Western democracy was actually a very ethnocentric point of view.

And I love the honesty of that.

He was just like, I don't believe in a God who would send people to hell, and then he, white man, and then he talks to one of his friends who also is is is not a believer in this God, but has a very different mindset that would say, like, actually, if in our culture, if if if a God does exist, they can do whatever they want.

They are God.

And he was like, Oh, I didn't realize, I thought what I was saying would make sense cross-culturally, and actually, this is just shaped by my background.

And what he basically winds up saying, he's like, when I I think it goes on here, when I looked at the things I didn't believe about God, I discovered that I didn't have good reasons for them.

When I started to examine some of the basis for my doubts, faith in God didn't seem so hard.

And he and he talks about this idea of like, basically, I believe what I believed about God because I just wanted God to be this way.

Like I just made up a God.

I believe in a God who doesn't do X.

And it's like, where did that come from?

And he was like, Oh, I think I think I just want that God to exist.

It's not based on a book, it's not based on anything other than like this is what I want him to be like.

And so he had so much faith in this belief, and then when he started actually asking questions about it, he found himself in a space to go, like, should I have faith in this belief that I have?

Or do other people, would they punch holes in my ideas as well?

And that's what he found that they would.

And I think for for other people would say, like, I can't believe in a God because of all the suffering in the world.

I believe in a God of love that doesn't tell people what they can and cannot do.

And the question that this man would ask, and what Keller would ask him, what I think is worthy of asking is like, where did you get that?

Like, what do you what book are you basing that on?

Or is that just something that you're like, I actually I just want to believe in a God this way?

And for these people in this text, they're going, we believe Jesus is the brothers of these people and the son of this person, and this is his trade.

And it's like, great, you believe those things.

Why is it that you don't think that he can't be more than that?

What is that based on?

And they never asked that question.

They just decided, I know this, I have faith in this, and so I have have no room left for faith that Jesus could be anything else.

I think that happens to people outside the church, and I think it definitely, I feel like I've been picking on people outside of the church or unbelievers and skeptics, it definitely happens inside the church as well.

Christians do the exact same thing: more faith in their beliefs than faith in the actual things that the scriptures say.

So people will say, like, I know that God says that sin leads to destruction in my life, but um, you know, I think this is fine.

It's not gonna hurt anyone, it's not hurting me, so I'm just gonna keep doing that.

It's like, where did you get that belief?

And the answer is, I just want to sin in this way.

I just want to keep doing it.

I don't want it to be bad.

And it's like, but what's it based on?

And it's like, nothing other than this is just something I want to do.

And right now it's not currently hurting anyone that I can see, and therefore it must not be hurting anything.

It's like, but it's not based on, and you would claim the scriptures would be true.

And yet you wind up in the space where you have more faith in your belief than actually the things that the scriptures tell you to believe.

People say, I know I'm called to forgive that person, but this is different.

I don't need this is different.

I don't need to forgive that person.

And you have this belief that I don't need to do it, and you trust more in your belief than what Jesus tells you to do.

Forgiving that person won't make a difference.

Praying about this won't change anything.

Earnestly seeking God won't make any difference in my life.

Counseling won't help my marriage.

And it's like, again, what is that belief based on?

Because it seems to be out of line and out of step with what the scriptures teach.

And yet we have these things even inside the church where we go, I hold my belief as more faithful than the scriptures themselves.

And the point of all of this is that every time we do that, if that is the obstacle of just going, like, I know what the scriptures say, but I'm gonna do it this way because I have more faith in my thing, what it does is it ultimately keeps Jesus from actually doing the things that he wants to do in your life because you don't have faith in him, you have faith in yourself, and you have faith in your beliefs.

And so it winds us up in this space where faith in our own beliefs actually keeps us from having faith in Jesus, and not having faith in Jesus hinders him from doing the thing that he actually wants to do in your life, which is to bless you, guide you, lead you into freedom, and to do mighty works in your life.

And to continue to trust only in here's what I believe is true without ever questioning it, when it's out of line with what these other things are, then it leads us into this space where we're we're just not gonna experience everything that he has for us.

The tragedy of these three obstacles, of these things, is that for these people it kept them from experiencing the mighty work that Jesus actually wanted to do in their lives.

Because faith in Jesus, actually practicing faith in him, belief put into action, doing that actually does create a space where it will definitely make a difference in your life and it will do more in your life than you think it will do.

Faith in him will do that.

But a lack of faith will just hinder him and keep him.

Not because faith makes him do a thing, it's not that.

He has chosen to operate in a faithful environment and to do mighty works among faith and faith in people.

But faithlessness is a space where it's like I'm not prohibited from doing it.

I just don't, I'm not able to enter into your space and do the work that I actually want to do.

And for our church and for the people in this room, I do not want us to be a church where it said, because of their lack of faith, Jesus wasn't able to do mighty works at Christ Community Church.

Like, what a tragedy.

And it would be that like Jesus wanted to do more here, but because of the lack of faith, he just wasn't able to do all the mighty things that he actually wanted to do with the church.

I don't want it to be said that because of our lack of faith, Jesus couldn't heal many marriages there.

Because of our lack of faith, Jesus couldn't reconcile many relationships there.

Because of our lack of faith, Jesus couldn't heal many sick people there.

Because of our lack of faith, Jesus couldn't answer many prayers there, couldn't save many souls there, couldn't free many from their sin there, couldn't give many people the peace that they actually longed for.

I just don't want it to be this space.

Where we enter into this thing, where we hold more on like, here's what, you know, honestly, this here's been my experience with other Jesus followers, and so I'm not gonna do this thing.

Or, you know, I thank you for the evidence that faith actually makes a difference, but like I'm not gonna look at that, I'm just gonna dismiss it.

Or like I'm just gonna hold on to really like, I know I've been a Christian for a long time.

I'm just gonna, my beliefs are fine, I'm just gonna stick with what I got.

And then all of a sudden it's like Jesus wasn't able to do everything that he wanted to do there.

Because we just practice this lack of faith instead of actually practicing belief set to action.

And so for us, I just don't want us to enter into that space.

I would like for us to avoid those obstacles.

Not because I'm like, we need to be more spiritual, not that.

I don't care about that, although maybe that's a good thing.

But I do care if like if Jesus actually wants to break into your life in our space and do something among you, he's not going to condemn you or be rude to you or be cruel to you.

He wants to be kind.

And so consistently, what he wants to do and move into people's lives is like, I actually want to do more in the things that you long for, I want to move into your space and do those things.

But a faithlessness keeps him at bay and keeps him going, he's just going, look, I'm not gonna force my love on you.

When you force your love on someone, that's called rape.

Like, I'm not gonna do that.

Like, I'm not gonna move into that space.

To force my words on you is to domineer you and to dominate, I'm never gonna dominate.

Like he could, but he's he's like, I love you too much to ever move into that space.

I come where I'm invited, but I'm not gonna move into a space where I'm not wanted.

And I won't condemn you for not wanting me.

You see that here in this text.

He doesn't condemn these people, he doesn't leave going like, you don't want me, I don't want you either, you're gonna burn.

Like he doesn't do that.

But instead, he just he leaves quietly, and it says that he healed a few people, just some oddballs that are sitting there going, like, hey, I know everybody else doesn't, but I do, and he's like, I got you.

And he walks into this space and he does something.

But he wanted to do so much more.

And I want those pockets of like small pockets of faith in our church where he's doing a lot of good things, but I'd love for the for the actual whole of us to actually experience everything that he longs to do in our lives.

So, three ways that we avoid these obstacles, and then I'll be finished.

Three ways to avoid the obstacles.

One, examine the evidence honestly.

If you're a non-believer or you're a Christian, examine the evidence that goes against the things that you claim to believe.

Examine the evidence.

Francis Collins is a leading scientist, he still works with Biden, he worked with Trump, he worked with Obama before that, all the different presidents, all the way from Bill Clinton on.

He worked with Clinton, um, but uh Francis Collins is leading scientist.

He was um director of the Human Genome Project, and he talks about examining the evidence of Christianity and how he didn't want to do it for a long time, but uh this is his story.

He says, in the home where I grew up, faith was not something that was talked about very much.

My father was a professor of drama, my mother a playwright.

I had no particular reason to attach any value to any particular faith system.

It had never been something I was familiar with or internalized at all.

I ended up in the medical school curriculum, and one afternoon one of my patients, a wonderful elderly woman who had a very bad heart disease, uh, had a particularly bad episode of chest pain while I was with her.

And when she got through it, she explained to me how her faith had helped her in that situation, and after she finished, she looked at me quizzically and asked, What do you believe, doctor?

He says, I was an atheist, but ultimately I had to admit to myself that her question made me realize that I had arrived at an answer to the most important issue that we humans ever deal with, is there a God?

I'd arrived there without ever really looking at the evidence.

I was supposed to be a scientist, and if there's one thing scientists claim to do is to arrive at conclusions based upon evidence, I just hadn't taken the trouble.

I thought Christ was as much myth as his history and realized.

After reading more about it, this was a historical figure upon which we have a great deal of evidence for his existence and his teachings, and even his rising from the dead in a literal way.

I realized for the first time that one can come to belief on a rational basis.

Considering the evidence, a journey that I thought would result in strengthening my atheism resulted, to my surprise, in my conversion.

And I again love this story, love the testimony.

I think it's beautiful.

The fact that he acknowledges, honestly, I just didn't look at the evidence.

I'm in the medical school profession, I don't have time to look at the evidence, but this is an important question.

I should probably deal with the fact that actually is there a God, and I should base it on something other than I just didn't take the time.

And so when he does, he actually looks at the evidence, it leads him to the logical conclusion in the other direction, and he makes a decision to follow Jesus.

And again, the only reason I say that is like it's just important to acknowledge that there is evidence there and to look at those things on both sides, whether you're an unbeliever or you're someone inside the church, to look at the evidence that's presented to us and make a decision based on that rather than just dismissing it right away.

So that's the first.

Let's examine the evidence.

The second is don't judge Jesus based on someone else.

Don't judge him based on someone else.

What we should do instead is get to know Jesus for yourself.

Like actually get to read the scriptures, read the gospels, get to know him for yourself, seek him for yourself.

The reason is because then you'd be able to filter out the other people who claim to follow Jesus or say they follow Jesus and then they're terrible to you.

You'd be able to filter that.

So for instance, if someone called me on the phone and was like, hey, I have a message from Rainey.

She thinks you're stupid, a terrible father, and you're bald, and she doesn't like you.

I'm like, you got one right, but I know that this message isn't from Rainey because she'd never say those things.

Like the other ones, too, I actually cut my head shaving, it was really hard, so maybe I'm a little stupid.

But but like that is not what she would say.

I have a filter because I know this person.

Like I know she wouldn't say those things.

Why do I know that?

I know that because I know her.

And so there's a space where you're able to enter into a relationship with Jesus and get to know him, and then when people treat you terribly in the name of Jesus, you're like, man, I don't know whose name you're carrying, but it ain't his.

Like you have to enter into this spot where you know him well enough to where you're able to actually say, Thank you so much for your kind words in Jesus' name.

Thank you for chopping me down with the Bible verse.

Thanks for doing that.

Um, I'm gonna just keep moving, and actually, I'm gonna spend my time with the Savior who's a friend of sinners, and I don't know what you are, but we're gonna part ways here.

And so you need you need just to filter in that way.

Don't let somebody else keep you from experiencing what Jesus wants to do in your life.

Get to know him yourself.

And the last, be humble enough to ask questions about your own belief.

Be humble enough to ask questions about your own belief.

All these people had to do was go, we know a ton about you.

And Jesus would be like, you do know a ton about me.

Like, we've seen, we've been at your house, we've seen these things, we've known this, and da-da-da-da.

All they had to do was ask some questions.

What else?

What else don't we know?

Why are we confused?

Jesus is constantly answering questions to people who were genuinely curious.

But to the judgmental, he just allows them to be judgmental, and he's not gonna fight for something, against something, and enter into a battle with somebody.

He's just not gonna do that.

All they had to do was be humble enough to ask questions about their own beliefs.

I know I've had a lot of quotes, spent a lot of time in two books.

One was Tim Keller's book, Making Sense of God.

It's a great book if you're a skeptic.

It's an invitation to the skeptics.

The second one is a book uh called When Breath Becomes Air, uh Breath Becomes Air by this man named Paul Colinithi.

Uh he was a neurosurgeon that died young because of uh lung cancer, but he wrote his memoir and he talks about his faith journey, and it's if you're gonna read it, you should read it.

It is very sad, okay?

I like finished it last night, and like Rainey was already asleep, and I was like just went beside her and laid in the bed.

I was like, this is the saddest book I've ever read in my life.

And I woke her up.

I was like, I'm just sad right now.

Like he died, and his wife, like the after their eight-month-old uh the baby had just been born.

Anyways, read the book, but good Lord, it's sad.

But um, the reason I referenced that book, Keller referenced it in his book, and I wanted to read it because of his story about being humble enough to ask questions about his own beliefs.

And this is what he says neurosurgeon wrote this book.

He says, I was an ironclad atheist, and the primary arsenal leveled against Christianity had been its failure on the empirical evidence.

Surely, enlightened reasoned offered a more coherent cosmos.

Surely there's no proof of God, therefore it's unreasonable to believe in God.

And he says, the problem, however, eventually became evident.

If everything has to have a scientific explanation and proof, then this is to banish not only God from the world, but also love, hate, and meaning.

That is a world that is self-evidently not the world we live in.

Science can reduce phenomena into manageable units.

It can make claims about matter and energy, but about nothing else.

Science can explain love and meaning as chemical responses in your brain, but if we assert that love, meaning, and morals do not merely feel real, but actually are so, science cannot support that.

And then Tim Keller comments on his experience, on Kalinithi's experience.

He says when Kalinithi realized there was no scientific proof for the reality of meaning and virtue, things he was sure existed, it made him rethink his whole view of life.

If the premise of secularism led to conclusions he knew were not true, Namely, that love, meaning, and morals are illusions, then it was time to change his premise.

He found it at that time no longer unreasonable to believe in God.

And I love just the idea that Colinithi was humble enough to ask the question.

Like if I know that certain things definitely exist even though science can't prove them, if I know they definitely exist and science can't prove them, why do I think that God can exist because science can't prove it?

I know there are things that science can't prove that are true.

Maybe it's true that God exists even though science can't prove that he is true.

And he just began dealing with the question, and what he ends up saying, he says, I return to the central values of Christianity after this.

Because sacrifice, redemption, forgiveness, uh I found those things to be so compelling.

And so he returns to the central values of Christianity because he finds them compelling.

And he just was willing to ask himself some questions, like, here's what I believe.

Is what I believe actually right?

Why do I believe what I believe?

And if what I believe is different than what I claim to believe or something like that, like maybe I should just put that under the microscope and just consider it.

And for us, I would just encourage you to be humble enough to ask the questions.

So to the skeptic, uh, I would encourage you, I don't know that I actually put this up there, why do you believe the claims of Jesus and following him aren't for you?

Why do you believe that?

Because if you haven't tried it, then you have no reason to suggest that it won't work for you because you've never actually tried it.

Is it based on rigorous trial and error, or is it just based on it won't work for me because that's how I feel?

I've watched other people do it and I don't think it'll work for me.

Or is it based on actual evidence?

And to the Christian, why do you believe that prayer and Bible study and community won't work for you?

Why do you believe that going to counseling and seeking to reconcile and practicing the scriptures and putting it, why do you believe that asking Jesus to heal you won't work?

Have you tried it?

Have you actually walked up to people and said, like, hey, will you heal me in Jesus' name?

I'm just, I'm and I know that he doesn't always want to do some of those things.

I know that's not always the case.

But I do think that there's this space where why do you believe what you believe about some of these things?

And are you gonna have more faith in what you believe about them, or are you gonna have more faith in actually the things that are presented to you about those things?

And so for us, I just want us to examine the evidence.

Don't judge Jesus based on your experience with someone else, and then be humble enough in your own beliefs to ask questions about those beliefs.

To you and to me, Jesus wants to do mighty work in our lives.

And he proves that to us consistently.

He proves it to us consistently.

What does he want to do?

He wants to do mighty good works in our lives.

And he proves it to us by laying down his life on a cross.

Like, how committed are you to the bit?

How committed are you to this thing?

It's like, oh, I'll give my life for it.

I want to be so kind to them that I'm willing to die so that kindness can move towards them.

And so that's what he wants to do.

Faith opens a door for him to move in and actually do those things.

And so for you, don't allow the obstacles to stand in the way of what Jesus actually wants to do in your life.

Let me pray.

Father, you have pursued us and you have sought after us.

This season is a reminder that you were willing to send your son, whom you love, with whom you are well pleased, you're willing to send him so that you could ransom and bring salvation to the world.

That anybody who has faith in him can actually experience the goodness and the grace and the freedom that you have come to bring.

These songs that we sing about goodness and light and peace and hope and joy, that he rules the world with truth and grace.

He's never going to condemn us when we come to him over our sin, that he wants to just remove it from us.

God, I pray that you help us to see you the way that you are.