The truth inevitably brings us to a fork in the river where we’re forced to choose.
You might have seen the old cartoon with two little boys talking after church. One, recovering from the bitter disappointment of having just learned that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, declares to his friend, “And I’m going to look into this Jesus Christ business too!”
Most of us can identify with that little kid. Remember when you placed an innocent belief in those you trusted most, only to find out they had set you up for a big letdown? Remember the gleeful anticipation of finding money under your pillow from the tooth fairy, seeing what Santa left for you or looking for the eggs and candy the Easter bunny hid? One day the stark realization hit you that it was all a scam!
Call it what they will—harmless fun, make-believe—they still lied to you. These were followed by any number of deceits that turned us from childlike believers into suspicious skeptics.
Hacking through the jungle
But what would life be like, what would we find, if we turned our cynicism into a quest for discovery and, like the little boy, looked into “this Jesus Christ business”?
All of us on the Discern staff decided at some point in our lives to do just that; and now, years later, we love sharing our findings. Different things stirred each of us at different times, but we all shared a common irritation and curiosity. We were annoyed at finding out that a lot of things we’d been led to believe were not in the Bible and curious to know the truth about “this Jesus Christ business.”
Anyone seeking to discover where the Bible leads has to hack his way through a jungle of man-made traditions and prejudices that choke and obscure the truth.
The quest for biblical discovery parallels many other great discovery stories. I recently read Candice Millard’s The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, recounting his little-known exploration of an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River. The grueling venture nearly cost his life, and it certainly changed his life.
Like Roosevelt’s crew slogging through the Brazilian rainforest, anyone seeking to discover where the Bible leads has to hack his way through a jungle of man-made traditions and prejudices that choke and obscure the truth.
At the fork in the river of life
It’s an extremely demanding quest. Or, as Jesus described it in His book, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).
Why? Probably because the greatest challenge isn’t finding out what is or is not in the Bible—it’s finding out what is or is not in us!
Truth inevitably brings us to a fork in the river where we’re forced to choose: Will we take the wide, easy-flowing stream offered by today’s vast variety of beliefs, or the more challenging, less popular channel of truth defined by Jesus Christ? Only one leads to life.
It’s no different now than it was when Jesus walked the earth. He had to cut through a maze of false religious ideas to lead people to truth. In one instance, answering a Samaritan woman’s questions and explaining that none of the religions of the day had it right, He told her, “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (John 4:23).
God really wants people to “look into this Jesus Christ business” and discover what His way of life really means! We hope Discern can help guide you down this incredible river of life!
