OPINION: Belief matters

Things are not always what they seem to be. Sometime ago, I was in Jerusalem standing beside King David's Citadel watching some grade school boys and girls climbing all over a rock pile and singing their hearts out in Hebrew. Suddenly, I became aware of the fact that I could understand what they were singing, strange since I do not know Hebrew. My first thought was that I was hearing/seeing a theophany, a miracle from God, but then I realized that these kids were exactly the same age as our youngest daughter and they were singing the same songs she was singing back home. I could understand what they were singing because I knew the music. The obvious was that a miracle was occurring. The truth was music is universal.

I love the Old Testament story about the prophet Balaam and his donkey (Numbers 22:20-30). Balaam was on the road to give God's message to some questionable people when he came to a narrow gap in the road and his donkey refused to go any further. The obvious was Balaam didn't see the angel standing in the middle of the road with a drawn sword ready to kill anyone attempting to pass, and instead began to heap punishment upon his donkey for stopping. You would think that if a donkey could see the angel of God, surely one of His prophets ought to be able to see the angel as well. Then, God opened Balaam's eyes and he could see the angel. Looking deeper into the story, the truth was Balaam was too busy trying to entice God into giving a blessing to the forces of Barak that he was unable to see God's will. The story is easily clarified by reading II Peter 2:15 and Revelation 2:14.

Life is like that. Many times we do not see the truth of a situation because we are preoccupied with something else. Sometimes we see some cops either shooting someone or beating someone up, and quickly decide it must be police brutality. However, when a thorough investigation is completed, many times (not always) the officers are exonerated because there were circumstances not readily available to the observer. Thus, the obvious is not necessarily the truth.

One of the most emotional times in our lives occurs when our ailing parents need to go into a nursing home. Knowing that a nursing home is usually a person's last home before dying, they often exclaim, "If you love me, you'll not make me go." The obvious appears to be a lack of love from someone's children, but the truth is better found when a child responds by exclaiming, "I love you so much that I am going to take care of you." Too many times, it simply is not possible for children to care properly for their parents still at home.

Except for a few atheists who want to remove any reference about God in our society, most people believe in some kind of God. There is just too much evidence to suggest otherwise. Thus, while the obvious appears to suggest we are a Godless society, the truth is more likely that it is not God who is doubted, but rather a historical Jesus.

Most of the people in the world would love to get rid of Jesus and the Bible. Why? It's not the moral and religious biblical code that teaches us to love one another and not to take human life in vain. That is generally accepted by all God-fearing people. What people find offensive is the biblical statement that "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; and no one comes to God except through him."

The atheist says that everyone should abandon believing in God, but Jesus said that all men and women are brothers and sisters. The terrorist believes it is okay to blow himself or herself up and everyone around in the name of God, but Jesus taught turning the other cheek and going the second mile. The world believes it is best to remove God from any of our places of business, economy, government and learning institutions, but Jesus said that God is at the center of our lives. When I talk with people today, they simply point out that it really doesn't matter what you believe, that everyone is going to the same place anyway. That's the obvious; the Bible declares something else entirely.

Thus, the obvious appears that many people today believe that religion is old fashioned and it really doesn't matter what you believe about Jesus or God, but the truth is it matters a great deal. We may not know much about what life after death involves, but as far as I know, Jesus is the only one to have come from heaven, visited mankind to tell about it, and then returned to heaven after being raised from the dead. I would much rather follow someone who knows where he has been and where he is going than someone who is merely wandering around trying to make up his or her mind about where to go and what to do. What about you? Jesus makes more sense to me than self-proclaimed atheists, agnostics, or even lukewarm Christians.

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Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 30 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff's Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.