Trend watchers tell us that a growing number of Americans are more likely to ask “Does religion work?” than “Is it true?”

In the past, spiritual seekers asked, “Is there a God and, if so, how can I know Him?” Today, many are more apt to ask, “How can I use spirituality to overcome my addictions, fix a broken relationship, or learn to feel good about myself?”

Are we trying to answer questions people aren’t asking?

It’s hard for people to care whether there’s an afterlife if they’re trying to survive an unhappy marriage, long-term unemployment, or over-extended debt. It’s a bit like trying to tell people how to find the best restaurant in Washington, DC, when they are only looking for fast food in Pittsburgh.

So how do we get the attention of people who don’t even believe in religious truth? Do we start by showing them that Christ can help them find “fast food in Pittsburgh” (i.e., immediate practical help for addictions, finances, or relationships)? Can we assume that if they find Christ helpful in the urgent and material matters of life, they might be willing to think about their spiritual need of Him?

Does Christ help us find what we are looking for?

The question needs to be answered carefully. We know that during Jesus’ days on earth, He often responded to people’s physical needs as a means of leading them to His Father. His down-to-earth way of bringing people to heaven shows us that meeting people at their point of need is one of God’s ways of drawing them to Himself. It is just as true, though, that our Lord was unpredictable. He didn’t always give people the answers or results they were looking for.

What if we don’t get the help we asked for?

We often hear people give God credit for saving their home, health, or business. But there are other stories out there. Many haven’t turned out so well. Or what about those who called out to God and discovered that He was willing to help, but not in the way they had hoped?

What if doing the right thing makes matters worse?

Ironically, doing the right thing often makes matters worse. Whistle blowers who call attention to corporate crime can pay dearly for their courage. Hard-working employees get mistreated by slacking co-workers who don’t want to look bad by comparison. Health workers contract the infectious diseases of their patients. Job of the Old Testament suffered for being good (Job 1). Even Jesus Himself reminded us that those who follow Him might see things get worse before getting better. He showed how costly it could be to follow Him when He said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’” (Matthew 10:34-36; 2 Timothy 3:12).

What good is a faith that creates more problems?

One of the most troubling side-effects of following Christ is that our faith in Him might separate us from those we love the most. Take, for instance, a husband who regrets that he has ignored his family while making a god out of his work. He turns to Christ for forgiveness and determines to spend the rest of his life showing his wife and children that he’s not the man he used to be. It’s now up to the wife and each of his children to make their own call. They might like their new husband and father. Or they might resent him for bringing religion and God into their lives. If it is the latter, the recently converted man might find himself disillusioned with a faith that didn’t work the way he thought it would.

What works as far as God is concerned?

We might like to believe that if the Lord answered all of our prayers, we would be more useful to Him. The Bible shows us, though, that God sees our needs differently than we do. He’s pleased when we trust Him in the middle of our disappointments.

I’m slowly learning that our ability to help others depends largely on what we have learned in the tough times of our lives. People are more likely to see the power of God working in our weakness than in our strength. The apostle Paul discovered this in the middle of his own struggle. He pleaded with God to remove some unidentified problem from his life, but he learned in the process that experiencing God’s strength in his weakness is what he really needed (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

This inner experience strengthened Paul at a level that he had not expected. But even though it “worked for him,” he wasn’t merely relying on his experience. His deeper confidence was in the historic resurrection of Christ from the dead. Paul was so convinced that our experience must rest in the truth that he wrote, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty . . . . If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (1 Corinthians 15:14,19).

When it comes to having a hope and confidence in the middle of our disappointment, nothing does more to keep our heads clear and our hearts calm than to know the truth of who Christ is and what He has done for us. What the Bible shows us is that it is actually more relevant to ask, “Is it true?” than “Does it work?” In time, what is true about God, ourselves, and our future will be far more important to us than “what worked for a while.” 

Father in heaven, we have tried so often to use You to get the results we long for. In the process we get it all backwards. Please help us to use the results we long for as an opportunity to know You. —Mart De Haan