Q1  How does someone become a Christian?       

There is no magic formula or set of words or deeds.  Someone could say the right words but not believe it in their heart.  Only God knows our hearts.  Here are some key Bible verses:

John 3:16-17 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9 – That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   

Q2 Why are Christians always trying to convince others to become Christians? Aren't Christians too preachy?       

A    Christians are not on commission.  They don’t say, “I told you so” once someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.  The primary reason Christians want to “convert” others is because Jesus told them to (Acts 1:8) and because they know what He has done in their lives.  Keep in mind that Christians are not the ones doing the converting.  The Holy Spirit, not people, changes hearts.  Christians are just instructed to share their faith, in love. 

Another reason is logical.  Christians know the only way to experience true forgiveness and to find real peace and joy in this life and in heaven is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Isn’t it reasonable that they would want to share this Good News?  Jesus summarized all of the Old Testament laws and teachings of the prophets as follows in Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  If you really love other people, wouldn’t that compel you to want to share what you have learned?  Of course, Christians need to do this in an effective way.

Regarding “preachiness,” when sharing the Christian message we must keep a balance between God’s justice and God’s love & grace.  If we focus too much on God’s justice, people may be scared into believing because they want to avoid Hell, or they may decide God is unfair and ignore the message altogether.  The hearers may not get the message of hope, forgiveness and love. 

If we focus too much on love & grace, the message is also incomplete.  Jesus doesn’t promise that life will be easy once you become a Christian.  In fact, He promises that it won’t be easy.  But He also promises to be with you forever, and to forgive you of all your sins.  Without addressing justice (i.e., God’s laws or the 10 Commandments), people may not realize they need Jesus.  Avoiding the message of God’s laws is almost like “bait and switch” advertising.  People may be seduced into saying they are Christians (“Sure, I’d like to have peace, joy and love!”), but when troubles come they will fall away.  

In the Gospels, when Jesus encountered people who knew they had violated God’s laws and needed forgiveness, He went straight to the Gospel message.  When He encountered those who didn’t understand their need for Him, He pointed out the law to them first. 

Q3  What do Christians believe?              

A  It is important for Christians to know what they believe and why they believe it.  How else can they live out and share their faith? 

Q4   What was Jesus’ basic message?             

A  Repent & believe.

Q5   If God is good, why does He allow suffering?            

A  This is a common and difficult question for many people.  Suffering is rampant in our world.  Suffering can have different causes, such as:

Logical, natural consequences of our own sins.  Example: Someone drives after drinking too much alcohol, and gets hurt in an accident.
Sins of others. 
Example: Someone else drinks and drives and hurts us, or someone we love.
Avoidable disasters.
Unavoidable physical disasters.

Much of the discussion centres on the concept of free will.  God did not create us as puppets.  He wants to have relationships with us.  He loves us and wants us to love Him.  But He won’t make us love him.  That would be violating our free will.  God doesn’t step in and violate the free will of others when they are about to do something bad to us.  As C.S. Lewis said, “Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.  The happiness God designs for his higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and woman on this earth is mere milk and water.  And for that they must be free.”

Some people ask, “Why doesn’t God intervene to stop evil?”  First, if he intervened every time someone was going to perform an evil act, we would have no free will to do good or evil.  Second, keep in mind that God DID intervene by sending His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for all the evil deeds ever committed or to be committed.  And Jesus will intervene again at some point and wipe out evil completely.   Third, He still intervenes and performs miracles in His creation, but sometimes He lets evil things happen for a greater good to come out of them. 

Allowing suffering doesn’t mean that God isn’t perfectly good.  Letting something happen is different than making it happen.  God can reach us in our pain.  As C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscious, but shouts in our pains.  It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  My goal is to listen carefully so He doesn’t have to shout at me!  :-)

Many people assume that God is indifferent to suffering.  Yet God so loved the world that He gave his only Son to experience unimaginable suffering and to die as a victim of evil and cruelty.  He endured this to overcome sin, so that we might be reconciled to God and eventually live a perfect life with him in heaven.  Jesus endured all manner of unjust suffering, including being rejected by family members and others, mocked, abandoned by friends, beaten, given 40 lashes and crucified, so it is unfair to say that He is indifferent to pain.  Also, read all the stories of how compassionate Jesus was when encountering suffering people. He was not aloof. He cared about and shared their pain, just like He cares about your pain and problems now.

The Case for Faith, by Lee Strobel, provides some solid answers to this question, as do many other books and web sites.  An “admittedly imperfect but nevertheless helpful illustration” Mr. Strobel used in a Christian Research Journal article (“Handling Christianity’s Toughest Challenge”) also helps put suffering in perspective.  Imagine having an absolutely horrible day on January 1 – you crash your new car, lose lots of money, have health problems, etc.- then having the remaining 364 days of the year filled with pure joy and success.  How would you respond when someone asks how the year went?  Most likely, you would say it was a great year.  Our earthly lives might be like the first bad day, but heaven will be like the perfect, joyful 364 days, and beyond (provided we have accepted God’s free gift of grace).

Having said all this, keep in mind that there are no easy answers for people who are suffering.  They generally need love and compassion instead of a lot of theories.  So before answering, be careful to determine why someone is asking this question.  Is it purely theoretical?  Is it because they are suffering?  Or is it a smokescreen because it makes a convenient excuse? 

Q6  Some Christians don’t behave as Jesus taught them to.  Why is it that Christians talk about love, but they are often portrayed as being hateful, judgmental and hypocritical?     

A  First, let’s just say that many groups don’t like to be defined by the words and behavior of their extreme members.  Also, keep in mind that someone isn’t a Christian just because they claim to be.  Only God knows each person's heart.  The crucial issue isn’t whether or not all people who claim to be Christians are successful in following Jesus’ principles.  It is whether or not the claims of Christianity are true.    

If you don’t like hypocrisy, you’ll love reading the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (commonly referred to as the Gospels, or the Good News.)  Jesus spoke out strongly against the hypocrites of His earthly time. 

Also, keep in mind that Christians still sin.  Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, said, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”  (Romans 7:19).  Once we believe in Jesus, God begins to sanctify us – that is, to make us more and more like Christ.  But we won’t be perfected until we get to heaven.  That isn’t an excuse to keep sinning.  It is just reality. 

Christians must remember that how they witness to the world is crucial.  It is not effective or accurate to come across as self-righteous, holier-than-thou, arrogant or superior.  We need to remember that we are Christians only by God’s grace, and not because we deserve it.  We shouldn’t stereotype non-Christians or assume that we know their motives.  This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t live out our faith and try to change the world, though.  Christians are called to be salt and light to the world, but to do it with spirits and actions of love.

Q7  Don’t all good people go to heaven?  Isn’t it arrogant to claim Jesus is the only way to heaven, as Christians claim?              

A  It is very popular, even for Christians, to think that good people go to heaven.  But there are problems with that concept.  Who defines “good?”  How good is good enough?  How many people have you ever met that didn’t think they were good?  Go to any prison and most of the inmates will tell you they are good.  If being 51% good got us into heaven, how would we keep track of it all?  Where is the chart that gives the weight of each individual sin?  What about the sins we don’t realize we are committing?  If we knew we couldn’t get to 51%, should we give up and be bad on purpose?  How can we ever be assured of our eternal destiny?  

Believing one has the truth is not arrogant (though we shouldn't convey it in an arrogant manner).  Nearly everyone thinks they are speaking the truth.  The question is what facts and logic are there to back up truth claims? 

I'm not saying Jesus is the only way; Jesus said He was the only way.  And that is a big difference, because his life, death and resurrection attest to the fact that He is God, and that we can trust what He says.  Jesus also taught that no one is good enough on his or her own to get into heaven.  Also, if there are other ways to heaven, why did Jesus have to die on the cross? 

All major world religions have exclusive elements, so it is unfair to say that Christianity is unique in claiming to be the one way to God.  The question is how the truth claims of the religions stand up to scrutiny. 

Christians can be assured of their salvation, because it is based on what Christ did for us instead of what we do.  If salvation were based on works (that is, the good things we do), then we could never be certain if we were saved or not.

Many people are puzzled as to why Christians go to such lengths to share their faith. Think of it this way: If you were sure you knew the one true path to eternal life and to peace in this life, wouldn't you want to share it? Wouldn't it be unkind of you not to share it, especially if Jesus had specifically commanded his followers to spread the Good News?

With respect to who goes to heaven, the myth persists - even with some Christians - that everyone goes to heaven.  Jesus warned us at length that there are eternal consequences of not following Him, but many don’t want to “offend” people with these warnings.  God loves us unconditionally, yet He doesn’t accept us unconditionally . . . unless we accept Jesus as our saviour.  Then God sees Jesus’ perfection when He looks at us.  Believing there is a God is different than placing your faith in Jesus (Satan knows there is a God, but Satan actively rebels against Him.)

Even one sin separates us from God.  Picture a line that shows relative “goodness.”  At the far left is pure evil (Satan).  Move over a couple inches and you find Adolph Hitler.  More over a couple inches more and you find Osama bin Laden.  Move over a foot or so and you find yourself and most everyone else on the planet.  Move over another foot and you find Mother Teresa.  Then move over about a million miles (infinity, actually) and you’ll find God.  We are so far from the goodness of God that we can’t even conceive of His perfection. Studying God's laws and understanding more of his nature help us understand that we need Jesus, because we can never be good enough on our own.

Here’s one way a Christian could picture getting into heaven.  After you die, you meet St. Peter at the gates of heaven.  He asks why He should let you in.  You realize that there is no way for you to make a case for your being good enough on your own to get in.  All you can do is to look at Jesus and say, “I’m with Him.”  If you can truthfully say that, Jesus would say, “Yes, you are with me.  Come; let me show you the mansion I’ve prepared for you.”  Then you would spend eternity in the presence of the one true living God. 

Q8  What about the people who haven’t heard of Jesus?  Isn’t it unfair for them to be judged by God?        

A  The apostle Paul addresses his letter to the Romans, mainly in chapters 1-3.  “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)  God has written his law on our hearts.  If we accept His general revelation of his will, He will give us his more specific revelation (Jesus).  Jesus may work through friends, or missionaries, or appear to people in dreams or visions.  He has been doing this for two thousand years.   

God is the perfect judge.  No one will stand before him after they die and be able to say, “Wait!  You didn’t consider everything!  I need a lawyer!”  We will all listen to God’s judgments and realize that they are perfectly fair. 

Also consider the logical consequences if it were true that not hearing of Jesus automatically provided salvation.  If that were the case, you wouldn’t want to tell anyone about Jesus, because you would be taking them from a “saved” state to a state where they may reject Jesus and be “unsaved.”   

Q9  Aren’t there a lot of mistakes and inconsistencies in the Bible?  Even some Christians will admit that.  What if I am skeptical about Christian beliefs?  If I already believe, why do I need to be able to explain my faith?                  

A  It is true that many Christians are surprisingly uneducated about the Bible.  If Christians have doubts about the accuracy of the Bible, they should research the topic more thoroughly.  If we claim that God didn’t inspire certain passages we don’t like or don’t fully understand, then how can we be sure that John 3:16 is God’s word?  Don’t be afraid to examine the evidence.  Thomas doubted that Jesus had been resurrected, so he asked to see the evidence.  Jesus showed Thomas the evidence and Thomas believed, exclaiming, "My Lord and my God!" 

It is OK to be sceptical, provided that you keep honestly searching.  It is better to be an open sceptic than a pretend believer. 

"It may surprise those unfamiliar with the facts that there is more documentary evidence for the reliability of the New Testament than any other book in the ancient world."  (Dr. Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics.)

Remember what 1 Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”  All Christians aren't called to be theologians, but they should be able to explain what they believe and why they believe it.     

Q10  Can’t you make the Bible say whatever you want it to?  Haven’t people used the Bible to justify evil things like slavery and the oppression of women?                

A  Many people - who may or may not be Christians – have often used the Bible to support their personal agendas.  They may do this deliberately or by accident.  Either way, this doesn't disprove or discount the Bible.  Stalin, Lenin and Mao Tse-Tung killed over 100 million people without using the Bible at all.  When Biblical principles are followed properly, lives are transformed and cultures are changed for the good.

Taking verses out of context – deliberately or not – can lead to wrong conclusions.  Here is a simple example:  You could truthfully say that the Bible says in Psalm 53 that, “there is no God.”  However, the full reading of Psalm 53 verse 1 says, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” 

With respect to the examples noted above, the verses that some people used to support slavery in the U.S. were taken out of context.  The Bible teaches that all human beings have an inherent dignity and worth because they were made in God’s image.  Slavery in the Bible was usually due to economic circumstances, and was not an enslavement of members of a single race of people by a different race.  Slavery, oppression and prejudice are completely un-Christian concepts.  To abuse people in this way is to disrespect the God who created them.  In the Christian worldview, racial discrimination is a sin, because it mocks the God who created us all.

Regarding the treatment of women, the Bible was and is radical, especially when viewed in a worldwide context.  The apostle Paul is ironically considered a chauvinist by some today, yet his teachings were equally radical in the first century – but for the opposite reason.  Women were generally treated as property at that time, yet Paul treated them as equals in Christ.  As Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Jesus’ treatment of women was radical as well.  For example, in John 4, talking with the woman at the well in the middle of the day was unheard of.  Finally, Mary Magdalene was the first one to see Jesus after the resurrection.  If Jesus’ followers were trying to be politically correct for their day, or if they were trying to make up the resurrection, they never would have said that a woman was the first to see Jesus.  Women weren’t allowed to be witnesses in court in that culture. 

According to Mike Singletary, former Chicago Bears linebacker, “If a man exercised his authority in the way it is outlined in the Bible, a woman would not resent it.  She would find herself served.  She would find her needs met.  She would have her say, be able to exercise her gifts, not be pushed back and ignored and treated like a second-class citizen.  God’s design for marriage is for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and for wives to respect their husbands.  Christ loved the church enough to die for it, and that kind of love is worthy of respect.”