Here’s another story that many of you have probably seen forwarded around before in one variation or another.
Well, first I’m going to break it to you. The story isn’t true, at least not in the forms we commonly see.
This is another one of those Christian forwards that I find challenging. Do you take some truth from it, the basic message that we need to stand up for our faith? The truth that God can do what he wants when he wants? Certainly many of us have been challenged before and it’s nice to see the story of someone who felt some backup when they stood up for their faith. Maybe you’ve gotten into debates with your friends or coworkers, or a high school teacher, or even a college professor as in this video. It would be nice if God occasionally gave us some proof that could be seen by others (e.g. lighting some drenched wood on fire- 1 Kings 18).
I can’t say I’ve ever gotten this kind of a sign. But I have felt God’s presence at times when I needed it most. You know what I mean. Opening up my devotions and getting just the right verse. Having someone come up and tell me they were praying for me, even throwing out something like “I’m not sure why I was thinking about you yesterday, but I felt like I should pray for you”. Those kinds of things. God can work in whatever way he wants. Sometimes he does give incredible signs. Sometimes he’s more subtle. But while some may not find the whole “just the right Bible verse” discovery all that amazing, I find it perhaps the best. After all, God promises he will always be there for us in the Scriptures. God promises he will always give us the words we need, and in the Bible we have his Word to us. So yes, these things are more than coincidences.
But back to the forward. The other angle that troubles me is how to deal with a forward like this that isn’t true. I have a hard time referring to it or sending it on. There may be a moral within that is true, but as Christians I think we need to show ourselves committed to truth as being grounded in fact. We believe Jesus Christ really came to earth as a baby, grew up, died, and rose again. These are more than stories with a spiritual, uplifting truth. These things happened. And we need to know these things really happened. And as we move forward then I think we need to continue this pattern, in giving people truth.
Now that doesn’t mean we can’t use story. I like fictional stories, as long as it’s clear that’s what they are. Jesus used parables, so if you want to tell a story that’s true in the fashion of parables, that’s good. Just make sure we all know that’s the case. That’s where I have trouble with forwards like this. They seem to claim fact while really being only parables. In our world where truth is already seen as so mixed and gray, we need to be careful of that as ones who believe there is real truth, and the Truth, as found in Jesus Christ.
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