Skeptic: Week 2

Devotional

One of the most common complaints I see against Christianity is that It is too narrow of a religion. People think it is really narrow to believe there's only one true God. It’s really closed minded to believe that there is only one path to get to that God. That Jesus isn’t the only way. Some have even gone as far as to say it is arrogant to believe that Christianity is the only right way. Like how dare we assume we know what’s best and everyone else doesn’t. How dare we believe that everyone needs to follow our belief system to get to God.

My response to that complaint is this. You are right. Christianity is narrow. In fact Jesus makes it very clear how narrow this one path is in John 14:6.

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

He didn’t say there are many ways. He didn’t say “I am the best way” He didn’t say “This is my truth what's yours?” No. He said I am the way, I am the truth, I am life. He is it. We want access to God? We want a relationship with the Lord? Guess what? We get it by putting our faith in Jesus. That’s it. That’s the choice. The only choice.

He also says in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

So Jesus himself says if you want a wide open path you can choose it. But it won’t lead to life. It definitely won’t lead you to the Lord. The narrow path. The one a lot of people aren’t choosing. That’s the path that will bring you life and peace. So yeah Christianity is narrow.

But the beautiful thing about it is even though it’s narrow, the option to choose that path is open to every single person. So it’s not exclusive. There is no bouncer at the door deciding who gets to be a Christian and who doesn’t. The invitation to follow Jesus, accept what He did on the cross and live for Him is open to everyone. You just have to have the faith to choose it. You have to have the faith to say “I don’t have all the answers but I believe God does. And I am going to put my faith in Jesus and try to follow Him.” The bible says,

That’s the requirement. That’s all. So yes Christianity is narrow. You have to confess that Jesus is the only way and you gotta live like it. But that option is wide open to everyone. So you are right in thinking it is narrow. But here is why I think it’s not arrogant to believe Christianity is the right way to God in comparison to other religions.

Jesus’ character was flawless.

The big thing we believe as Christians is that Jesus is the son of God. Basically Jesus is God. And if that’s true, then of course we can believe everything else He says. One key characteristic about God is that He doesn’t make mistakes. And we see that in Jesus’ life too. Peter (who spent every day with Jesus) wrote this

Jesus performed miracles.

We read all about them in scripture. We see that Jesus had a supernatural ability to heal people, to raise people from the dead, to quiet storms, to feed thousands of people, I could go on and on and on. Jesus was miraculous. You don’t see a lot of that in other belief systems.

Jesus also had the ability to see into people’s lives and predict the future.

Jesus would be in a room with people and read their thoughts. He would meet someone and know their story before they even told him. Other religious leaders don’t claim that and even if they do claim it, they really can’t back it up. Not really.

Jesus is the only one to rise again from the dead.

Everything we belive kinda hinges on this. If Jesus claimed everything he claimed, died and didn’t rise from the grave. Eventually christianity would have died with him. Probably quickly. But the reason we can believe everything he says and does is because we believe he is powerful enough to conquer death. Because He is the one true God.

There is tons of evidence for the resurrection and if you are looking for it you will find it. If you want to learn more about it, read the case for christ by Lee Strobel. It gives so much evidence for Jesus' life and resurrection.

There is one more reason I believe that it is not arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way and that is,

Personal connection with Jesus.

I have had my times of doubt. I have had times where I have wondered if this really is the right way. I believe every christian goes through those times. Bit in those times of doubt, and in the hard times of my life and even in the good times. I always had something to rely on. That was my personal relationship with Jesus. He has always been there. When I pray and seek Him He always shows up. It’s not necessarily how or when I expect it to happen every time, but He has filled me with peace and answered every single prayer I have thrown up at Him. That personal relationship with Jesus is what has kept me confident in my faith and I believe that will do the same for you. If you are struggling with doubts or questions my challenge to you is 1 do some research. Read a case for Christ. And 2. Pray. Talk to Jesus and see if He shows up for you. I believe He will. He might not always give you everything you want. But He will be with you and I believe He will make his presence known to you.

GAME

5 SECOND RULE

NEEDS: n/a

SETUP: Choose one student beforehand to be describing the things or do a practice run for the students!

Directions:

A collaborative upfront game where one student has 5 seconds to describe a movie/tv show/noun of your choice to the whole group. Once the 5 seconds are up someone from the audience has to guess what it is!

A student can win this game by having help from the audience! If the audience is able to guess the correct word/thing 3 times the "describer" wins!

Students will have two chances to guess what it is and if they fail then they will have to switch with someone else on describing the word/thing. Choose a student from the audience for the next person.

If the game goes by fast get creative! Do another round and see how many students can get in total.

Here's a list you can use:

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Lava Lamp
• Goofy (Disney character)
• Fortnite
• An Orange
• An 8 Ball
• Barbie
• Your Student Pastor
• Kanye West
• A Panda
• Japan
• The Bible
• Transformers
• Makeup
• A Wedding
• Post Malone
• Star Wars
• Stranger Things

*leader note - save 10 minutes for intentional prayer time at the end*

Small group questions

1. Do you have friends that follow other religions? What are some of them?
2. Why do you think people say it is “narrow” to believe Jesus is the only way to God?
3. Read John 14:6. What does Jesus mean?
4. If Jesus is the only way to the Father. How do we develop a relationship with God? What does it look like to come to the Father through Jesus?
5. We talked through some reasons why Jesus is different from other religions. Do you have any other reasons why Jesus is different and more reliable?
6. One of the strongest defenses for Jesus is your personal relationship with Jesus. Can you think of a time in your life when God felt really real to you? Share with the group.

Moving forward

If you feel like you are lacking that connection with Jesus. One way to grow it is through prayer. Talking to Him. Let’s practice together today. Here is what we are going to do. We are going to spread out around the room, everyone by themselves and take 3-5 minutes to pray. You can write your prayer down in your phone or journal. You can pray in your head. You can even pray out loud quietly. Just talk to God about anything in your life. *give the group 5 minutes to pray individually then come back together.* Now that we have prayed as individuals we are going to pray in groups. Split up into groups of 3 people. In your group I want you to share 1 thing with each other that you just prayed about or one prayer request you have. Now take turns praying for each other about what you just talked about.