Sermon Illustrations
Stephen King on His Belief in God
When the bestselling writer Stephen King was interviewed by NPR's Terry Gross, King shared some interesting thoughts about his faith in God. At one point Gross commented, "[So] you always believed in God. You were just bored in church." King replied,
It's certainly a subject that's interested me, and I think it interests me more the older that I get. And I think we'd all like to believe that after we shuffle off this mortal coil, that there's gonna be something on the other side. Because for most of us, I know for me, life is so rich—so colorful, and sensual, and full of good things, things to read, things to eat, things to watch, places to go, new experiences—that I don't want to think that you just go to darkness ….
I choose to believe [in God]. There's no downside to that. If you say, "Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God," then you're missing the stars in the sky and you're missing the sunrises and sunsets and you're missing the fact that bees pollinate all these crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests intelligent design.
Editor's Note: If you're preaching on doubts or spiritual questions, you can add the rest of King's quote. King went on to say, "But, at the same time, there's a lot of things in life where you say to yourself, 'Well, if this is God's plan, it's very peculiar,' and you have to wonder about that guy's personality—the big guy's personality …. What I'm saying now is I choose to believe in God, but I have serious doubts …."