by Bret Carter
(June 2023)
When the teacher hands out the test, there are sighs of relief. Instead of fill-in-the-blank, it’s
multiple-choice. Not the best form of testing, but it’s definitely good news for the students who
didn’t study. Even if you know nothing about a subject, you can sometimes slide through with
some lucky guesses. No wonder these exams are sometimes referred to as “multiple-guess.”
The apostles faced something along these lines. “He questioned His disciples, saying to them,
‘Who do people say that I am?’ They told Him, saying, ‘John the Baptist; and others say Elijah;
but others, one of the prophets.’ And He continued by questioning them, ‘But who do you say
that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘You are the Christ’” (Mark 8:27-29). The general
public had reduced the truth about Jesus to multiple-choice.
Who is Jesus?
a) John the Baptist
b) Elijah
c) one of the prophets
Peter was astute enough to answer, “None of the Above.” He filled in the blank.
Misunderstandings about Jesus happened more than once. When He was in Jerusalem during the
Passover, there was a dispute about where He was born (John 7:40-43). Since Jesus spent a lot of
time in Galilee, most people thought He was born there. Anyone could have walked right up to
Him and found out He was actually born in Bethlehem. But instead of taking the trouble to
pursue the facts, they resorted to guessing. People do that a lot.
There are different levels of guessing. You can make a good guess. You can make
an educated guess. You can even make a wild guess. That’s when your estimate is based on
nothing more than the ideas swirling around inside your head.
In many situations, that’s okay. Making a wild guess about what brand of coffee to buy is fine. A
pilot making wild guesses during your flight—that’s not okay. When it comes to choices with
serious consequences, no one wants speculation. Yet strangely enough, when it comes to matters
of the soul (clearly the most important consideration of all), the great majority of people do
nothing more than try to make a good guess.
It doesn’t have to be guesswork. God has provided some basic evidence for His existence. “For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without
excuse” (Romans 1:20). Creation alone helps remove conjecture. Creation requires a Creator.
That’s Truth 101.
But despite the evidence, there are those who reject this premise. They deny the concept of a
Creator and as such, they reject the Bible. After that, the only real option left is lots and lots of
guessing. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but
they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).
There it is: “futile in their speculations.” In other words, useless guessing.
Someone who holds to the premise of evolution will claim evidence, but a closer look reveals a
lot of speculation. There are many times, in fact, the conclusions don’t even follow scientific
protocol.
This touches on something you’ll often hear among Christians when discussing the topic of
evolution. Since an evolutionist cannot observe the events that led to his belief, a Christian might
say, “It takes more faith to believe in evolution.”
Although the intention is legitimate, this implies a misunderstanding of faith. It suggests that a
Christian and an evolutionist essentially have the same caliber of beliefs merely moving in
opposite directions.
The world has corrupted the concept of faith. For the world, faith is blind or leaping. For the
world, faith is a matter of ignoring the evidence and your common sense. Faith is putting on a
blindfold and sprinting. It’s made out of nice thoughts and wishful thinking. For the world, faith
is another way to make a wild guess.
That’s not biblical faith. Real faith is made out of knowledge—more specifically, knowledge of
the Bible (Romans 10:17). There are no Scriptures that suggest any other source.
If you want the simple, hard evidence of a Creator, you’re standing on it. Measuring and
calibrating this physical realm with genuine science will often provide details that coincide with
the Bible. It is definitely a worthwhile pursuit. But faith doesn’t come from Christian Evidences.
Real faith doesn’t depend on un-earthing corroborative relics or inscriptions. It doesn’t depend
on whether or not we find Noah’s ark or Goliath’s sword. Relying on these for confirmation
relegates us to the skepticism of Thomas.
The reason we know there was a Flood, that David fought a giant, and that there’s a life after this
one is the same reason children know Jesus loves us: “For the Bible tells me so.”
Real faith isn’t blind hope. It’s a conviction based on reliable information (Hebrews 11:1). When
we use the term “faith” to describe an evolutionary stance, the point is well-taken. But it’s
important to not degrade real faith in the process.
It’s not that we chose a different fork in the road. Biblical faith isn’t blindness based on a better
agenda. A Christian’s faith is a rational response to the information presented in God’s Word.
When it comes to matters of the soul, there’s no guesswork.
This is probably why so many veer away from actually studying the Bible. Keeping a
comfortable distance will allow for a perpetually pending decision. Many souls soothe
themselves with the assurance of a future enlightenment. After all, God has promised, “those
who diligently seek Me will find Me” (Proverbs 6:17). But a directionless, vague search can
allow a person to indefinitely put off submitting to God’s will. All of us know someone who is at
peace with the fact they are still “searching.”
The seeking phase and the actual finding were never meant to be that far apart. Dragging out the
search is not unlike a man who claims to be looking for his car keys while he’s playing golf. He
lines up for the putt, calmly explaining, “I’m still looking for my keys.” No, he’s not. The truth is
obvious. He just really wants to play golf.
God held people like this accountable. He said they are “always learning and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth” (II Timothy 3:7). A lot of people love the search. It’s the finding
part they don’t necessarily like. To always be in the process of coming to a conclusion allows
you to indulge your preferences. As long as you can keep the search going, you get to do what
you want.
This is why our culture finds it so offensive when you actually reach any kind of conclusion.
They don’t want any conclusions because once the guessing is over, so is the party.
Chronic guessers don’t have to change their life. This is where you’ll find the air-quote
Christians. “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without
self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such
men as these” (II Timothy 3:2-5). They don’t want godliness; they want a form of godliness.”
And God says get away from them.
If you’re really looking for answers, you will find them soon enough. Anyone who has been
searching for years and years isn’t really looking.
One of the best things about being a Christian is the confidence that comes from a faith based on
knowledge. When the guesswork is gone, you can start to have some peace of mind.
On the television show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” the first contestant to win the million
dollars was a man named John Carpenter. As he navigated his way through the increasingly
difficult questions, the standard options for help were available to him. At any time, he could ask
the audience, reduce the answers to 50-50, or phone a friend. But as he progressed, he didn’t
resort to any of these.
Carpenter took on each question, methodically working his way closer to the million dollars. But
then he got to the last question and something happened. The host asked the question, “Which
American President appeared on the television series ‘Laugh-In’?”
Carpenter hesitated.
The question was repeated and then Carpenter said something that surprised everyone. “I would
like to phone a friend.”
The tension in the studio increased dramatically. It looked like Carpenter was finally beaten by
doubt. Apparently, he didn’t know the answer.
“I want to phone my dad,” he said.
Everyone held their breath as the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Dad.” Carpenter smiled. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to win the million
dollars.”
Carpenter then said, “Richard Nixon. That’s my final answer.”
What made this such a great moment was the confidence of the winner. Not arrogance, but a
relaxed assurance that he had the knowledge he needed. To have such peace of mind in the midst
of those high stakes was worth a million dollars. To have that in your life is priceless.
This is what God offers. The confidence of having solid answers. “These things I have written to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life”
(I John 5:13). If you’re a Christian, you don’t wish you’re going to heaven. Because of the Bible,
you know it.
The materials of Christianity are knowledge and wisdom. We don’t work in wishful thinking or
guesswork. In fact, when it comes to speculation, that kind of thing doesn’t last long. “We are
destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are
taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (I Corinthians 10:5). Being a Christian
is actually quite reassuring. We don’t use guesswork. We destroy it.
bret@rockymountainchristian.com
