Facts vs. Faces

This morning before church (well, now that it's 12:41 AM Monday morning, I suppose I should say "yesterday morning") I had a wonderful prayer time with several brothers. Among our prayer requests were a number of people in our lives who are having a hard time believing in Jesus.

And here's what came to mind as I listened to my brothers pray.

So many of our friends and family who have a hard time believing in Jesus are saying, "I can't believe in Jesus. The facts just don't line up. There's not enough evidence."

That may be precisely the problem. Facts.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't think that facts are actually a problem. I love facts. I like to know them, learn new ones, discuss interesting facts with friends, use them in debates. Facts have their place. Usually, they're even helpful for making important decisions.

But here's the problem. Facts, when taken as evidence, always have to be interpreted. "I know X, and I'm pretty sure it means Y. Therefore, I should do Z."

But humans have quite the propensity to find facts--actual facts, mind you--to support their own views of reality, no matter how off-kilter those views may be. That's the stuff conspiracy theories are made of. That's why there's a significant group of people who still refuse to believe that we really put astronauts on the moon. This group has collected a bunch of facts and has interpreted those facts in a way that denies reality.

Now, let's be honest. Although I'm about to suggest that those who do not believe in Jesus are doing just that--collecting facts and interpreting them in a way that denies reality--this is not something that only *some* people do. We all do it at various times. We are all sometimes on the right side of the truth and sometimes on the wrong side. And even as I put this post together suggesting/hinting/stating that those who do not believe in Jesus are on the wrong side of the fact-interpretation-schema, I completely understand why they would say the same thing about me.

So why bother discussing facts at all if I'm just going to claim that the other side has interpreted them wrongly?

Here's why. I have a solution. It's not a solution that I can force on people, but it is a solution that I can and will pray for. And I hope you will, too. Let me set the scene for you.

Suppose we have a conspiracy theorist who, for the sake of illustration, does not believe in the President of the United States. He does not believe that our President's name is Barack Obama, he does not believe in Air Force One, he does not believe in the Oval Office, etc. (Please don't ask me to explain why this person doesn't believe in the presidency, okay? He just doesn't believe because of his misguided interpretation of the various facts he has access to.).

You would hope that this fellow could be persuaded to believe in the presidency simply by debate. You would hope that simply laying out the facts -- all the facts that are relevant -- would persuasively seal the deal and change his mind. But no, facts aren't good enough for this guy.

You know what's good enough? Not facts. Faces.

If somehow this conspiracy theorist could encounter the President of the United States in person and see him face to face, and be guided through the Oval Office and take a ride on Air Force One, he'd believe. The presidency wouldn't be a figment of other people's imaginations any more; this former conspiracy theorist who had met the president would now believe in the presidency.

Why? Because of his encounters. Because of seeing the President face to face.

And suddenly, he'd have new interpretations for all those facts that he'd once thought disproved the existence of a presidency. Amazing.

Friends, much more than we need to be praying for our loved ones to understand the truth, or to grasp the facts, or to submit to the arguments, we need to be praying first and foremost that Jesus would introduce Himself to them. A personal encounter with Jesus would put their questions to rest and reinterpret their understanding of the facts this world has to offer.

Jesus, please meet our friends, our children, our spouses, our families. May they sense that they have been with you face to face. May the facts be reinterpreted by your face. May they know YOU, not just the claims about you. And knowing you, may they always be confident that walking with you is wise an