Sermon Illustrations
Scholar Warns That Faith and Truth Belong Together
Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian scholar from India, shared the following story after visiting America:
In November, 2011, I visited two classes at a Christian university in North America. I asked both: "How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?"
Twelve hands went up in [the class of about 25 students]. These sincere and devout students had grown up in Christian homes, gone to church all their lives, and studied in Christian schools. Some had been in that Christian university for three years! They respected their elders who taught them that Christianity was all about faith with little concern for truth.
Christianity lost America because 20th-century evangelicalism branded itself as the party of faith. Secularism (science, university, media) became the party of truth. This is one reason why 70 percent of Christian youth give up meaningful involvement with the church when they grow up…. Secularism acquired the "truth" brand by default because evangelicalism began defining the Church's mission as [just] cultivating faith, not [also] promoting knowledge of truth.