Why People Don’t Believe

Mark Dunagan
11/07/10 - Sunday Morning

Why People Don’t Believe

Watch out. Unbelief on the part of others can become a stumbling-block even to believers. When we observe someone reject truth, we may be tempted to think that something is wrong with the gospel message or that something is wrong with us for believing it. Many Christians throughout the ages have pondered the same question, “The Bible is so clear, the truth is so understandable, so how can it be that so few accept it?”

Surprise #1: Not Everyone Loves The Truth

The fact that truth is not a number one priority for many people may come as a shock to many believers. There are, therefore, people who will hear the gospel and reject it, although they understand full well it is the truth. Long ago Solomon said, “Buy truth, and do not sell it” (Proverbs 23:23) – liquidating the truth when it stands in the way is a common temptation among mankind. Even more startling is that one can be religious and yet still not have a love for truth. Case in point are the chief priests and elders whom Jesus encountered in Matthew 21:23-27 who were religious, yet they still did not place a high priority on truth. In the Old Testament, God said of Israel, “Who say to the seers, ‘You must not see visions’; and to the prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right’, Speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions’” (Isaiah 30:10). The Holy Spirit noted that people will perish and will be deceived because, “They did not receive a love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). The word “receive” here is enlightening. I think many people just assume they are a truth-lover and whatever sounds good to them must therefore be the truth. The truth is, both truth and a love for it must be “received”, and such will take work, effort, sacrifice and spiritual growth. Truth is an acquired taste because the truth will often run counter to our own preconceived ideas and what we might want to do at any given moment.

A Few Facts About Truth

• It is often contrary to one’s feelings (Proverbs 16:25).
• It is often contrary to one’s own opinions (Isaiah 55:8-9)
• It takes effort to accept it and obey it
• One will be tempted to resist it
• It will often be contrary to what “most people think” (Matthew 7:13-14)
• It is often very narrow

Surprise #2: Even Adults Are Afraid

Fear often keeps people from believing and doing what is right. The fear of what other people wanted to do is one factor that lead to Saul’s disobedience (1 Samuel 15:24 “I transgressed the command of the Lord... because I feared the people”). There are various fears that come between individuals and faith in God:

Some fear what colleagues might think: “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God” (John 12:42-43). I find this verse refreshing because it cuts through all the human justifications and gets down to the real reason. Their disobedience is not rooted in a lack of evidence, or any lack of power in the gospel message. It was not rooted in a failure on God’s part or even a failure in God’s messengers or people. It was rooted in one simple fact: They loved something more than the truth and God’s approval. They clearly saw the truth, they were convicted on the inside up to a point, but they loved something more: they loved status, position, and popularity among their group, no matter how big or small of reputation. They were not willing to trade popularity with certain people for the truth. Observe how small a price some are willing accept for the truth. These men were not gaining universal popularity or esteem for rejecting Jesus. In fact, in remaining in the favor of the Jewish leadership they were only finding approval with a very small segment of the human race.

Some fear persecution: This fear may include something as shallow as being unpopular, remaining uninvited to all the “must go” parties and events, or more difficult persecutions of being picked on, ignored, ridiculed (Mark 4:17).

Some fear not being viewed as trendy, cool or sexy by the culture (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 4:10 “For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me”). In other words, what was most important Demas was his standing with the culture. John’s statement “Love not the world” (1 John 2:15), sometimes may mean being willing to be viewed as uncool by the culture. In reality, being willing to be viewed as uncool is in itself oh so cool.

Surprise #3: Even “Adults” Think They Must Have Their Toys

Jesus said that among the things that will keep people from making it to heaven will be “the love of things” (Mark 4:19). In the end the rich young ruler opted to keep all his “things” rather than become a personal follower of Jesus (Mark 10:21-22). I know the world is filled with people who claim that they understand the difference between the value of people and possessions and that the most important things in their life are not things, yet the real test in this area is our schedule and priorities. Our daily and weekly schedule will always tattle on us. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). And may I add, where your heart is – you will be, your time will be, your effort will be, and the bulk of your life will be. Thus the person who says, “I value my family” – will be with his or her family. The person who says, “I value my God, will be busy in the things of God”.

Surprise #4: We Can Fall In Love With Evil

Again, John would have never said, “Do not love the world” (1 John 2:15) if such was an impossibility. Yes, even the best of people can fall in love with seeing evil, doing evil and believing in evil. The Holy Spirit said, “This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). This last verse does explain one reason why some people do not want to study the Bible or who do not want to receive a track or attend a service – they already know what they are going to hear. They know what they are doing is wrong, and don’t want to give it up because they love it. They have made the poor choice of saying that temporary, fleeting and inferior immediate gratification is far more important than real pleasure and eternal life. Since the best of people can fall in love with evil, we must never be so proud to say, “Well I am a good person and I would never...”. Remember what Paul said, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Surprise#5: Adults Can Be Rather Childish

“On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying” (Acts 13:44-45). Once gain. Here is unbelief, but behind is not some noble motive such as being honest or open minded, rather the motivation is rather childish. They rejected the message simply because it threatened the popularity of their little group. Paul’s message was attracting more people than their preaching ever attracted, so they rejected it.

Surprise #6: Unbelief May All Boil Down To The Fantasy Of “Control”

What really worried the Jewish leadership in reference to Jesus was the fact that they might “lose control”. On one occasion they said to one another, “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation” (John 11:48). The reason that I call this the “fantasy” of control is that we really do not have as much control as we sometimes imagine. We do have free will, but outside of that, there is not much that we can control, including the trials that come our way and the day of our death (Ecclesiastes 9:12). The Jewish leaders were confident that if they could remove Jesus, then they could keep their place. In reality, they rejected Jesus and lost both their positions and their nation. The Romans came anyway! In like manner, I find a number of people today rejecting the gospel or seeking to hinder the spread of the gospel (yet another vain pursuit), including:

1. Parents not wanting their children to learn about God because if they do the illusion will be removed, the jig will be up, and the children will see that their parents have been living selfishly and telling them lies.
2. Husbands not wanting their wives to become Christians because the wife will finally realize and see what an underachiever he has been all these years. 
3. Friends not wanting their friends to become Christians because they will no longer look the other way or condone evil behavior. Or, the fear that such friends will no longer waste their lives with them in some addictive and sinful behavior, and that they will actually change and move on with their lives (1 Peter 4:1ff).

The sooner we embrace the reality that God is in control and humbly submit to His rule on our lives, the sooner we will be benefitted by embracing all truth.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net