Question 10 – You can believe for yourself, but why force/pressure me into believing?

You know the type of statements I mean: Everyone has their own beliefs.., you have your beliefs but do not force them on me! Such statements correspond to often given opinions in our societies.

Maybe people are tired of the way everyone asserts 'his' truth. When there are many of these 'truths', logically, people are fed up with everyone who begins to talk about his faith and stay at arm's length.

Maybe many of you are of the same opinion. I respect this and understand your position. I am also against forcing faith on someone. These days when the 'spiritual market' is flooded to bursting with various sects, opinions and philosophies, the logical approach to protect ourselves is to keep them at arm's length.

As I have said in previous answers, God desires our love and obedience on the basis of our free decision. Of course, this is not possible to coerce by force. Forced membership in any church holds no value for God. He is concerned about our hearts and not a facade of formal membership.

'Let everyone believe what he/she wants to…'

Yes, I respect this. Yet in spite of this, allow me to question the logical merit and validity of this statement. Although we can believe in what we want, even in all kinds of nonsense, it still does not mean that it is true. Above all, I do not agree with the basic idea that this position and opinion hold. It is often stated something along the lines of:

No truth exists therefore let everyone believe what he wants to.

In other words truth is relative. No absolute truth exists or at least no one can come to know it. Can all of this be true as long as an actual God exists who Himself wants that we come to know Him? That is to say, if the one and only God who created everything – the galaxies, the planets, the Earth, life, humanity, the universe – exists, then who else has the right to our thanks except God himself! The only one who deserves our worship, our gratitude and our love is He alone, not anyone else.

Imagine this example. You commit both intentional and unintentional offences that you will be fined for and then imprisoned for. After some time you are told that someone has paid your bail. You arrive home and there you find that everything is clean and tidy. You find an envelope that contains a message and a great sum of money. Your good friend Carl has put it there. To whom, in this made-up story, do you owe your gratitude, thankfulness and affection?

According to the logic of our question under discussion, many people in their own way believe that it does not matter who you thank for this deed. You must respect anyone who claims that many people deserve your thanks, just not the true one. We have to tolerate the faiths of others after all, do we not? And woe to you if you say, 'Carl did it!'

Indeed, that is just nonsense! If the one and only God exists, then only through Him can we find real fulfilment in life. It was He who paid for our redemption, He who cleaned our house and He who left us the message and envelope…

Are we then to tell others (not force our faith) about our faith?

I will try to approach the answer through an illustration. Imagine a group of people that have a glass of water in front of them. You are the only one who knows that it contains a deadly amount of poison which will take effect several days after it has been drunken. You live in a situation where freedom and tolerance to opinions exist.

These people firmly believe that the glass contains pure water. You, however, believe that the water has been poisoned. What will you do? If you dare to bring their attention to the fact that the water has been poisoned, you will be accused of being intolerant and denounced as intolerant and that you are forcing your faith on others. But what if the water is in fact poisoned? Is there really a place for the claim that, 'Everyone can believe what he wants just don't force others to believe what you believe in.'? How would you react? Would it not be inhumane if you kept quiet and did not try to at least tell them about the poison? It is similar with God. If someone has come to know the living God who gives his/her life peace, love and fulfilment and who saves him from the righteous judgement which each one of us deserves, how then can he be silent about it all? He ccanot! He should not!

God himself commands:

"that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)

But wait! Anyone can say this about his/her faith! Imagine/ Think of…

Nearly everyone claims his 'truth'. How then can we know which one is the right 'truth of truths'? Why in all the world should I, with my belief in Christianity and Jesus Christ have this truth? What about Buddha, Allah, aliens, New Age or flying spaghetti monsters? That's a good question. Examine whether my propositions are based on a solid foundation! Examine the claims of those who claim that they know the truth! Be critical, but be honest, fair in your search.

From time immemorial people have formed various ideas about the development of the world, about mysteries, unexplained phenomena and gods/deities. Frequently these ideas result in superstitions, various cults, sects and religions. The Bible knows all of this and describes it. One prophet in the Bible phrased it in the following way:

"What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. (Habakkuk 2:18-19)

In other words, people create various gods and idols to which they bow down and worship. However, these idols do not have any power; they are blind, deaf, mute and powerless. Such a faith, no matter how sincere and how good its viewpoint, is simply mistaken. As a Christian, I can't force the Christian God on anyone nor take their faith away from them by force either. I do not believe God even wants to force them. Of course, I want to give my reasons as to why I believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to God. If they do not accept this proclamation, I respect their decision. Although I may believe that their opinion is based on an unsound foundation, I can do nothing about it. I can only pray to God that He would intervene in some way and make himself known to them.

Consequently, I believe that you do not have to be afraid of Christians. As soon as you meet a genuine Christian, he/she will want to share his/her belief, will be glad to share about the joy and peace he/she found in the Lord Jesus Christ and will be glad to talk to you about God. However, he/she should not try to force you to believe. Know, however, the statement, 'Let everyone believe what he wants; it does not matter,' is misleading/misguided and dangerous.

Summation

Christians should not be those who force others into their faith. They should be those who show you the one and only meaningful Truth which is of incalculable value, the living God who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Your reaction is now your free choice. The single statement, 'Let everyone believe what he wants,' or 'everyone has the freedom to believe what he wants' (no matter how senseless/unreasonable it may be) though possible, is, however, an untruthful and dangerous statement if a living God exists.

"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
(Acts 4:12)