Sinking Sand

I recently had the privilege of listening to Andy Stanley speak about his new book Irresistible. The focus of the day was on the singular event that defines Christianity.

Andy spent the opening session highlighting how many people, myself included, work under a faulty assumption: that the Bible is the foundation of the Christian faith. The follow on from this is the following: as the Bible goes, so goes Christianity.

The image that comes to mind is of someone struggling in sinking sand, trying to find firm footing but sinking ever deeper and deeper. This is the state of Christianity today - an ongoing struggle to prove the veracity of the Bible, and a hidden fear that the Bible might be proven wrong and if so, then Christianity is false, Jesus is dead and our faith is misguided.

BUT...

The Bible isn't the foundation of the Christian faith. It is simply a collection of documents, detailing the history and law of Israel, and letters and eye-witness accounts of a very specific event: the resurrection of Jesus. That event is the foundation of the Christian faith.

For me, in that conference, I felt like someone who, was that person sinking deeper and deeper into the sand trap, but who suddenly found a firm footing. My firm footing of faith wasn't in the veracity, inerrancy or reliability of a title (The Bible), but in the EVENT the documents of the Bible, specifically the gospels talk about - the resurrection of Jesus.

Many people witnessed this resurrection and gave testimony to its truth: broken-hearted women, fearful fishermen, terrified followers and ashamed individuals. These nobodies, conquered people living in a dusty corner of the Roman empire, would testify to this event and in just 300 years, that Empire would make their faith the national faith of the empire. From a persecuted group of dozens, a movement of billions now exists.

Andy gave a clear clarion call that I am answering - let's testify to the resurrection of Jesus again and live the way he told us to - loving one another AS HE LOVED US.