Good God? (1 of 5)
Series: Belief Barriers
James Merritt
Psalm 73
Introduction
1. In case you haven't heard the latest, our society is growing more secular by the day. One of the fastest growing segments of our population when it comes to religion are the ''Nones.'' These are people who claim, ''no religion'' no affiliation with any religion whatsoever. They now represent 23% of the population. That is now equal to the number of people who claim to be evangelical Christians which is 22.5% and Catholics who make up 23%.
2. Seriously, that puts a big elephant in the room of the church and forces us to ask a question, ''If the message of Christianity is true and the best news the world will ever hear, why are so many people rejecting it?'' In my research, I found that there are five major reasons why people have a problem with Christianity and reject it.
1. The problem of evil
2. Hypocrisy in the church
3. Science and scripture
4. Racism and bigotry in the church
5. Judgmental Christians
3. We are going to plow our way through these objections not just try to answer them, but frankly, to call the church to account for where we have failed in these areas. Today, we are going to take up the one that always rises to the top at the survey. A poll conducted by the Barna Research Association asked a thousand people this question, ''If you could ask God only one question and you knew he would give you an answer, what would you ask?'' By far, the number one answer was ''Why is there pain and suffering in the world?''
4. Let me be clear. Everyone has to deal with this problem, not just Christians. It doesn't matter what your philosophy or your worldview is. The question is, ''Which worldview or belief does the best job of facing this problem and gives the best answer?'' There is no easy answer to this question and there is nothing I can say or anyone else to make you suddenly feel okay that there is evil and suffering all around us. Let's be hones ...
Series: Belief Barriers
James Merritt
Psalm 73
Introduction
1. In case you haven't heard the latest, our society is growing more secular by the day. One of the fastest growing segments of our population when it comes to religion are the ''Nones.'' These are people who claim, ''no religion'' no affiliation with any religion whatsoever. They now represent 23% of the population. That is now equal to the number of people who claim to be evangelical Christians which is 22.5% and Catholics who make up 23%.
2. Seriously, that puts a big elephant in the room of the church and forces us to ask a question, ''If the message of Christianity is true and the best news the world will ever hear, why are so many people rejecting it?'' In my research, I found that there are five major reasons why people have a problem with Christianity and reject it.
1. The problem of evil
2. Hypocrisy in the church
3. Science and scripture
4. Racism and bigotry in the church
5. Judgmental Christians
3. We are going to plow our way through these objections not just try to answer them, but frankly, to call the church to account for where we have failed in these areas. Today, we are going to take up the one that always rises to the top at the survey. A poll conducted by the Barna Research Association asked a thousand people this question, ''If you could ask God only one question and you knew he would give you an answer, what would you ask?'' By far, the number one answer was ''Why is there pain and suffering in the world?''
4. Let me be clear. Everyone has to deal with this problem, not just Christians. It doesn't matter what your philosophy or your worldview is. The question is, ''Which worldview or belief does the best job of facing this problem and gives the best answer?'' There is no easy answer to this question and there is nothing I can say or anyone else to make you suddenly feel okay that there is evil and suffering all around us. Let's be hones ...
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