First of all they are high-minded and look down on believers as simple-minded idiots. They think all Christians are led by blind faith and they disdain them for being "suckers." The lecturer at Cal State after showing the anti-Christian film last week began the discussion afterwards by inviting anyone in the room to define faith. Some people struggled with words but could not come up with an answer. I held my peace to see what the philosophy teacher would come up with. He proudly proclaimed that the reason no one could answer the question is because those who claim to have faith know that it is blind faith. "Christianity is a blind faith," he proclaimed.

That’s when I spoke up. "Oh, no it is not blind faith," I responded. "Then how would you define it?" he said with a smirk on his face. The Lord gave me the remembrance of the Scripture as I said, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen." Dead silence in the room. So, I repeated myself, "’Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.’ I have the full assurance from the Holy Spirit that the Bible is God’s word to mankind. There is nothing blind about it. I know that to be a fact as much as I know that all of you in this room exist." I went on to tell them that I didn’t have that assurance until it was bestowed upon me when I repented of my sins and committed my life to Jesus Christ. Many groans were uttered when I said that, so I told them that God has given everyone a measure of faith and that is why all civilizations believe in God to one degree or another. The lecturer then asked me to define faith in terms that weren’t religious. So I said, "okay, faith is when a pedestrian crosses the street on a green light and feels assured that the cross traffic will stop for the red light." They liked that answer better.

The second barrier to faith by the intellectual crowd is that they can’t believe in anything they can’t test with their senses. They want to see proof – sorta like what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Cor. 1: 21-23:

"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness."

The evil film we were shown last week tried to make a point that Christians are trying to convince them of ideas that can’t be proven, which is tantamount to asking these intelligent people to adopt the same "blind faith." The viewers in that room responded with a lot of "yeahs" and head nodding. When the subject came up in the discussion, the lecturer had full support when he said it would be foolish to believe in something that cannot be seen. I responded that he should get out of the field of philosophy since that also discounts his area of study as well as psychology and sociology. I tried to get across to them that Christianity is not unreasonable and that it is historic but the I ran into the third obstacle.

Third, they do not want to let go of any sinful lifestyle they are living in. The lecturer reiterated what was brought up in the documentary, that the Bible condemns homosexuality. And they all concluded that since that’s the case it can’t be divine. He paraphrased the Old Testament law that any man caught lying with a man as with a woman was to be stoned. I pointed out that those laws were part of the theocratic system of the government of the new nation of Israel and that they became a source of our own laws in America. When I mentioned that the sodomy laws were on the books here up until only a couple of decades ago the lecturer got nervous and said, "enough, enough."

Today there are many false converts who will only come to God on their own terms. Those in the modern homosexual churches are not willing to forsake everything, pick up their crosses, and follow Jesus. They will not lose their life in order to save their life. They just tack Jesus onto their life choices. Their commitment is not total as it is with true believers who come to Him not holding onto anything of the old life, but who answer the call to die to self and live for Christ. This attitude is not limited to homosexuals. In fact, the problem is pandemic in Christendom of those who think they’ve entered in but who do not come through the door of repentance. Anyone who has read the John Bunyan classic, "Pilgrim’s Progress" knows what happens to them at the end of their earthly stay.

So when we invite people to know Christ we need to be honest with them about the cost. They cannot hold onto their favorite sin and be deceived into thinking that Jesus will overlook their half-hearted confession of faith. And they also need to know that if they will repent and come to Christ, no holes barred, He will give them the Holy Spirit and their desires will be changed from the inside out. And then they will have life and that more abundantly. Then they will see that Christianity is not blind faith. Then they will know the Creator of us all. He will not be a theory, or a concept, or an illusion – He will reveal Himself and His Word will become alive to them.