This will be one of a handful of Sparrow's Perch blogs that isn't born out of an experience with my little feathered friends, or my observation of them. For my brothers in Christ, this will be a head slapper, maybe even a head scratcher. It came about as I was talking to a stranger I met while walking the other day. I was sitting down on one of the benches along the creek enjoying the nice cool morning air when a man sat down next to me and asked how I was doing. I'd seen this individual many times before walking early in the morning and he was always cordial when I offered up salutations. (Some people appear uncomfortable when you greet them with 'good morning,' or 'how are you doing.') I understand being reticent about replying to a stranger asking how you are doing. What business of it is theirs to query my well being? I on the other hand enjoy it when someone greets me regardless of how the greeting is being offered. My time in the Air Force made me very comfortable with saluting officers, and offering the universal 'good morning, Sir...or Ma'am as the case may be. Holding doors for strangers, addressing elders with proper respect, and assisting people if they are overwhelmed with kids or packaged items. I call it the Edwardian ethic. (Sorry, back to my story.)
He remarked about seeing me often, and I replied the same. He appeared to be in his late forties or early fifties to me, which is a great time in life. I simply asked "How are you doing?" out of courtesy. To say the least I wasn't ready for what happened next. "I'm doing good, but I could be better." he replied. Now I've heard that response and have used it myself so without thinking I asked him how it could be better. He was having 'kid' problems, and was frustrated by not having an answer. He was a Christian man like me, and like most Christian men, he wanted his children to be as faith filled as him. His oldest daughter was going to school at a big university out of state, and had come home spewing disdain for the way her father had raised her as a Christian. It was heartbreaking to him as she began to tear into the fabric of his faith, and blame him for holding her back from her full potential. She'd come for 'Father's day' out of obligation, and he wished she'd just stayed at school. He tried desperately to counter her arguments, but for every reply he made she had a 'learned' response. Finally, she ended her visit with the zinger question I've been asked a hundred times by atheists and agnostics alike over my lifetime. "What if you're wrong?" " What if there isn't a God, and we just die?"
Actually I wish I'd have been there because that is the easiest question for me to answer. As someone who'd grown up in the early stages of the space race, and seen aircraft go from dope and fabric to steel and aluminum, I was in awe of science. I had a 7th grade science teacher who was openly atheist and loved challenging all the Christians in his class to prove God. At that time in my young life, I didn't have a clue, but I knew one thing he didn't. During the summer between 6th and 7th grade I went to church camp and got filled with Holy Spirit. Suddenly, the doubts were gone. There is a God, and no amount of argument could change what I'd experienced. I never challenged him and never had to. (In his desire to prove mind over matter, he put his hand in a terrarium with a tarantula in it. He was allergic to its bite and had to be taken to the hospital that night.) When he came back a month later still swollen, he was a lot more humble. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I didn't think of a snappy come back to him, I just didn't unleash on him. That reply has been used countless times throughout my life as I've encountered smarter men than me asking me the same question. "What if you're wrong? What if there isn't a God?" What if there's nothing when you die?
"I won't know, I won't care, I'll be dead." When I first started using this reply, it usually took people a few days to digest what I said. For those who were quicker on the uptake, (maybe a handful,) the next question is usually. "Well doesn't that make most of your life meaningless? You've spent all this time trying to please a God who doesn't exist. Look at all you've missed."
"What have I missed?" I'll ask. "What debauchery have I avoided, what hedonistic practice have I been denied because of my faith?" I've never understood an atheists need to destroy another person's faith, let alone point out how much of life Christians miss out on because of their faith. What have I missed? I truly believe that if more of us Christians would be content in our lives, the issue of missing anything would be moot. Because I know Christians are going to be the only ones reading this blog, the question of 'what if' is nothing for us. We resolved it the day we gave ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you can be talked out of your faith in Christ, then your hope is gone.
Because we are Christians, we've found a life of love and goodness that makes our lives meaningful, and also helps us to be grateful to the one who gives us all we need. Yes, I feel great sorrow for those who've once known the goodness of God, to allow the enemy to steal their faith. So, here's my answer back to the daughter who felt the need to crush her daddy's heart on Father's Day; "What if you're wrong?"