The Most Important Question: How will you answer your toughest questions?
Adam Barr
Adam T. Barr (MDiv, ThM) serves as senior pastor at Peace Church near Grand Rapids Michigan. In addition to his work in the local church, Adam speaks and writes on Christianity and culture, helping followers of Jesus understand and apply God’s Word in an increasingly post-Christian society. His most recent book, Compassion Without Compromise, is available through Bethany House.
All the questions we have been asking (and hopefully answering) this year have really been begging one essential question: Where should we turn for answers? This is the question of our generation. What is our source of authority? How can we really learn the truth? Are we really just left to majority rule or whoever shouts the loudest? As Christians, we affirm that God has given us a place to turn.
My family and I live fairly close to one of the Great Lakes—Lake Michigan. It is a vast shoreline of sand dunes and blue horizons. We spend time there each summer reconnecting with the beauty of this place and the grandeur of God’s creation. But anyone who has lived on this lake very long understands something: it can be dangerous. The floor of Lake Michigan is littered with ships captained by people who underestimated the forces that could assemble and overwhelm even the best-equipped vessels. This reality was in my mind on a trip a few years ago.
A friend with a large fishing vessel had invited me out. We departed before the sun was up. As the sky grew lighter, a deep fog settled over us. In a matter of moments, the shore was gone from view. A few minutes later, I was totally disoriented. We could have been traveling safely south to north along the Michigan shore or pointed west towards Chicago, 118 miles away. I wouldn’t have known the difference. Thankfully, my friend had some incredible technology on his ship. We sailed in confidence knowing that his compass, radar, and other devices would not only keep us from running aground but also guard us from unseen objects on the bottom.
Question: Where do you turn when life gets confusing?
Christians have always given two important answers to that question: Scripture and Reason. We believe that God made us in His own image. Therefore, we are able to contemplate the universe and discover the truth. He gave us a reason to do these things. We also believe something else: Our human reason has been impacted by sin.
You see, it is not really possible to disconnect our brains and our hearts. Another way to put this is that our desires will greatly influence the way we think. If our hearts are not aligned with God and His priorities, then we are likely to use our reason to rationalize our rebellion rather than submit to reason’s deeper dictate: All creatures were made to worship our creator. Paul touches on this in Romans 1:21–25:
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Even as Christians, we need to beware of the temptation to use our minds to excuse our selfish behaviors rather than submit to God’s loving authority. We need a surer source of truth. Thankfully, God has made this possible.
We believe that God has revealed himself in his Word, the Bible. While God has spoken to us in many ways throughout the ages, there is only one place we can turn to find out exactly what God wants us to know. Paul said as much in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Paul tells us that Scripture is God-breathed. In other words, it is inspired by God. The people God used to write the Bible were normal folks like us. But the process by which they wrote Scripture was far from normal. Paul indicates that God himself worked through them so that what they wrote is a revelation from Himself!
This claim of inspiration carries with it an inherent claim to authority. Just as my instructions to one of my sons would be authoritative whether spoken or written, God’s Word carries His divine authority. I bet that most of us agree on that.
But here is what I fear: Many believers don’t live like that! Many Christians exhibit an outsized trust in their own insights. Or they turn to the world for “expert answers.” Or they simply remain indifferent to the Bible. Which is simply amazing! Think about it: God has spoken to us. That changes everything! In a world of competing truth claims, we have a source of ultimate perspective.
As we are called out into the world to share the Good News, we should ask ourselves: Are we people whose hearts and minds have been shaped by Scripture? Here is something amazing: Paul also tells us that Scripture has the power to thoroughly equip us. Scripture works its way into our very soul and refines it, aligning it with God’s way of thinking. As we become people of the Word, our reason, though still touched by sin, is itself made holy and useful.
While it is helpful to ask questions and seek answers, let’s never forget where we are called to turn for them. Outside of redemption itself, the Bible is the greatest gift God has given His people. Our world will be looking for people who shine with the light of truth. Let’s not forget or neglect this gift, “a lamp for our feet and a light for our path” (Psalm 119:105).