Only the living stone can be our cornerstone. No other stone will do.
Years ago, in an Apologetics course–apologetics being the art and science of defending the credibility of Christian belief– we were asked a provocative question that still lingers in my mind today:
“If tomorrow an article was published in the most credible journal in the world, showing without a doubt that archaeologists had made a discovery which completely contradicts the story of Jesus, would you still believe, would you still be a Christian?”
I remember the silence in the room after the professor had asked that question. You could hear a pin drop. “If such a discovery was made, and was true, reliable, and conclusive according to the standards of human intelligence: would you still believe, would you still be a Christian?
Little did I know at the time, he was moving us toward a critical question in the study of apologetics, which is: why do you believe what you believe?
Do you believe on the basis of external evidence? On the basis of philosophical proofs? Do you believe because of tradition, experience, or emotion?
All such reasons, he argued, if met with just one credible publication, just one negative experience, just one philosophical contradiction, would crumble, leaving you with no faith at all. If you believe because of the arguments of scholars and theologians, the minute you hear something different from someone smarter (his words), your faith will crumble.
I bring this up not because it’s theoretical, not because it could happen but hasn’t yet, but because far too many Christians base their faith on the wrong reasons. Far too many people build their faith on flimsy foundations, and at some point see their spiritual tower fall.
1 Peter 3:14-16, the Epistle reading for the sixth Sunday of Easter, is all about our reason for hope. Basing our belief, our hope, on the right thing, on the right stone (and there’s only one) is essential to maintaining an honest yet unshakable faith in this life.
The key verse to consider in this discussion is v. 15:
In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
This verse has been used by many to justify the discipline of Christian apologetics. In its original context, however, the verse is addressed to Christians being persecuted for their faith, who were feeling dejected and despondent, and who needed encouragement to endure with patience and grace.
What this verse does not encourage is the philosophical, theological, or evidential defense of Christian belief. Rather, it’s about not giving in to fear and hopelessness when persecuted on account of your faith. It’s about enduring persecution with grace, being ready to explain the reason for your composure when asked about it.
So, Christians, let me ask you: What is your reason for hope? Why do you continue to endure social ridicule and cultural disdain? In other words: why do you believe what you believe?
Far too many Christians, as mentioned above, base their hope (their foundational hope) on the wrong things. Let me just cite a few examples.
“I am a Christian, I endure, because Christianity just makes sense.”
The problem with this is that as years go by and you think more deeply, more honestly about Scripture, theology, and Christian identity, a host of things will not, cannot make sense: deep philosophical questions about the relation between God and evil; valid criticisms of the apparent incoherence of certain biblical passages or theological truths. If your hope is based on “Christianity making sense,” that stone, never meant to be a foundation, will crumble, it will fall.
“I am a Christian, I endure, because there is so much evidence that the Bible is true.”
If this is why you believe, why you endure, the minute you pick up a book by a solid, critical scholar who integrates archaeology, literary studies, and historical data into their work –unless you reject all their claims or ignore all their painstaking work– that stone too will crumble, it will fall.
“I am a Christian, I endure, because the church has been so good to me.”
This has been the basis of faith for so many I know. However, the moment the church disappoints you, the moment it hurts or mistreats you, this stone will crumble; and for many, it has.
What is the reason, the real reason, for the hope that is within you? On what grounds, on what foundation, on what stone, do you base your hope?
I’ve shared several conversations recently with people who were once Christians but are now either tottering on the edge of disbelief or have already crossed that line. Often in such conversations, it’ll come to this question (they ask me): “Why do you believe? Why should I believe?”
When I have these conversations what I never say is: “I believe because there is so much evidence that the Bible is true.” What I never say is: “I believe because Christianity makes sense.” What I never say is: “I believe because the church has been wonderful to me all along.”
What I say is: “I believe because of Jesus.”
This may sound overly simplistic to you, perhaps even evasively simplistic. But this is the only right reason, the only foundation you can trust, the only stone you can build upon. This is the only reason which no publication, no archaeological discovery, no mistreatment at the hands of others, could ever threaten or shake: Jesus is my reason for hope.
The very fact that Jesus is, and that he is for us, that is my reason for hope. The nature of Jesus, the work of Jesus, the experience of Jesus, that’s my reason for hope.
This Jesus is not a literary reconstruction. He’s not a philosophical necessity. He’s not an archaeological discovery. Jesus is God-with-us. He’s inconceivably but incontestably here-with-us. And that is my reason for hope.
So, why do you believe?
Do you find yourself believing because of evidence, logic, or experience, rather than because of Jesus himself? Maybe you do and it’s worked for you until now! However, I know far too many people for whom, at some point, it stopped working.
If you are intellectually honest, if your eyes are open, if you interact with the world to any degree, there will come a point when your faith –if it rests on the wrong foundation– will be shaken.
May your faith rest on the right foundation, not on empirical arguments, not on philosophical coherence, not on social experience, but on Jesus and Jesus alone.
May you be able to say in the midst of social ridicule and shame: My reason for hope is Jesus, and that’s it.
Only the living stone can be our cornerstone, no other stone will do. Others can be stacked upon the corner, sure. But as corners? They’ll never do.
Trust in the living stone, the only stone that can truly hold, and I promise, it will never crumble.
Jonah Bissell
Pastor
*The above is an adaptation of my sermon, “The Right Reason” (1 Peter 3:14b-16), delivered at First Baptist Church of Freeport on Sunday, May 14th.