Published 11/5/19
By Greg Johnson
What If...
The topic of faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t come up too much with you and your friends. Occasionally, belief in God will be mentioned—and a few of your friends do go to church. The ones who don’t go know that you’re a regular attender. One thing’s for sure: most of them don’t really understands what it means to be a Christian.
At soccer practice one day, the coach lets everyone know that the tournament game will be Sunday at 10:30 A.M. and that you need to be there forty-five minutes before game time.
One kid speaks up, “coach, I’m not sure I can go. We have church on Sundays, and my parents don’t like to miss it.”
The coach looks at his assistant and rolls his eyes.
“Well, I understand,” he says. “You ask your parents if you could just miss this Sunday, then call me tonight.”
“OK.”
“Does anyone else have a conflict?” the coach asks.
You raise your hand. “I might miss it too because of church, coach.”
Again, he gives his assistant a frustrated look.
As you’re gathering your stuff together, a few teammates try to convince you and the other player to skip church. They’re being friendly about it, but you know they don’t understand. Just then the assistant coach tries to get in on the conversation.
“I never had this problem when I was playing club soccer,” he says. “My parents told me never to believe anything I couldn’t see. They said trust your eyes and your instincts, not some invisible God who may not be there. You ought to consider that same advice.”
Questions to Think On
• What the coach says sounds logical, but there are many things we believe in that we can’t see. Can you name a few? (wind, people in history, electricity)
• Do other classmates ever challenge you on your beliefs? In what ways?
• Why do you think God doesn’t reveal himself to people if he wants them to believe in him? (Mom or Dad, give your answer)
• Is it easy or hard for you to believe in someone you can’t see?
What Does God Have to Say?
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
(c)