My friend Carter spoke at his father’s funeral and observed, “My dad showed us that the gospel works.” What a magnificent heritage! The gospel works because it is true. When Paul went to towns across the ancient world, telling the story of Jesus, he met with a variety of responses. In Thessalonica, some believed while others opposed Paul and forced him to leave town.
Next, Paul stopped in Berea and found that the people there received the message eagerly and then examined the scriptures to see if it was really true. When they did, many of them believed. Why? The message of Christ will stand the test of intellectual inquiry. So when Paul arrived in Athens and preached to the Athenian intelligentsia on the Areopagus, some doubted the resurrection but a few believed.
A survey in Great Britain last week revealed that more people there claim to be atheists than claim to be Christians. Some claim to be “post-Christian.” In their minds, they have simply outgrown the story of Jesus Christ and consider it to be a fairytale. To this day, though, bright women, men and young people, who seriously consider Christianity discover that it is true. Christianity is not true because it works, but it works because it is true.
