I've just finished reading Lee Strobel's book "The Case for
Christ". As the crime reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Strobel
began asking questions he had like: Who was Jesus? A good man? A
lunatic? God?
Here is a few pages excerpted from his book: "At the time that I
was investigating the case for Christ, I was a newspaper reporter, not an
archaeologist or historian. I know the importance of background research,
so I was willing to take an interest in ancient sources, but my day-to-day
focus was on the here and now. I moved in a circle where yesterday's news
just didn't make the grade. So I wondered what kind of contemporary
evidence I might find to back up - or discredit - Christ's claims.
Then I met Ron. I was a Tribune reporter covering the criminal
courts building, a square, gloomy facility next to the Cook County jail in
Chicago's west side. Day after day I watched a steady stream of
defendants - most of them clearly guilty - desperately trying to exploit every
loophole to avoid the punishment they deserved. Everybody was looking to
cut a deal, to hoodwink the jury, to fool the judge, to beat the rap - anything
but take responsibility for what they had done.
Everybody except Ron. He turned everything upside down. When
he was 8 years old, Ron threw a hammer at somebody's head and ended up in
juvenile court. That was his first of many encounters with the law. Later
he dropped out of school, got mixed up with drugs, and rose to
second-in-command of the Belaires, a vicious street gang that terrorized parts
of Chicago.
He got into big-time trouble when he was 21. A rival gang
called the Palmer Street Gaylords brutally assaulted one of Ron's friends, and
Ron vowed revenge. He borrowed a gun and went hunting for Bob, who had
led the Gaylord attack.
It didn't take long for Ron to track down a half dozen Gaylords as
they were leaving a bar. Although Bob wasn't among them, his brother Gary
was. A plot quickly formed in Ron's mind: he decided to murder
Gary, and then when Bob showed up at his funeral, Ron would ambush his too.
That way he'd kill two Gaylords.
So Ron jumped out of hiding, thrust the gun into Gary's chest,
shouted, "Belaires!" - and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The gun misfired. Now Ron was standing in front of 6 very
angry Gaylords. As they began to come after him, Ron pointed the gun in
the air and pulled the trigger again. This time is went off, sending the
Gaylords scattering.
Ron started chasing Gary down the sidewalk, shooting at him as
they ran. Finally one of the bullets found its mark, tearing into Gary's
back and lodging next to his liver. Gary collapsed face-first on the
pavement.
Ron came up to him and flipped him over.
"Don't shoot me, man!" Gary pleaded.
"Don't shoot me again! Don't kill me!"
But without an ounce of compassion or a moment of hesitation, Ron
shoved the gun in Gary's face and pulled the trigger.
Click!
This time the gun was empty.
A siren wailed in the distance. Ron escaped the police, but
they promptly issued a warrant for his arrest on a charge of attempted murder.
With Ron's extensive criminal record, a conviction would undoubtedly mean
20 years in the penitentiary.
Ron couldn't stomach that. He and his girlfriend fled to
Canada, then migrated west and ended up in Portland, Oregon, where Ron got his
first legitimate job, working in a metal shop. His coworkers were
Christians, and through their influence Ron eventually became a Christian too.
With that his values and character began to change. His
girlfriend became a Christian, and they got married. They had a little
girl named Olivia. Ron became a model employee, an active church
participant, and a well-respected member of the community.
But something kept gnawing at him. Even though he had been
reconciled with God, he hadn't been reconciled with society. There was
still a warrant out for his arrest. True, the police had stopped looking
for him and he probably could have spent the rest of his life in Oregon without
getting caught. still, he felt that the only honest thing to do would be
to give himself up and face the possibility of 20 years in prison, away from
his family.
Otherwise, he said, he'd be living a lie. And as a
Christian, he decided that simply wasn't an option.
I was there when Ron appeared in criminal court. Amazingly,
unlike the other defendants, who were trying to wiggle off the hook, Ron looked
into the judge's eyes and basically said, "I'm guilty. I did it.
I'm responsible. If I need to go to prison, that's OK. But
I've become a Christian, and the right thing to do is to admit what I've done
and to ask for forgiveness. What I did was wrong, plain and simple, and
I'm sorry. I really am."
I was blown away! When somebody takes a costly step like
that, you know it must be prompted by a faith that has radically transformed
him or her from deep inside.
And that attracted me. Why? Because we are living in
wishy-washy times, when the national motto might as well be, "Take the
easy way out." So when someone says, "I'm going to do something
not because it's convenient or easy but because it's right," that's
a person I can respect. When you look around these days, you don't see
many heroes. But in an odd kind of way, Ron became a hero to me.
I was so intrigued by what Ron did what I asked him about it.
When he told me how Jesus had changed him from a street gang leader into
a Christ follower, he had my complete attention, and he had a special kind of
credibility. Both his example and his words made a lasting impression on
me. (And on the judge, too by the way. He let Ron go free because
of the incredible change in Ron's life. Today, Ron is using his freedom
to serve young people in a public housing project.)
I had been asking whether there was any evidence outside the Bible
that Christ was real and that the Christian faith meant something. Ron's
changed life sure looked like that kind of evidence."
There's little question that Jesus actually lived. But
miracles? Rising from the dead? Some of the stories you hear about
him sound like just that - stories. A reasonable person would never
believe them, let alone the claim that he's the only way to God!
At the conclusion of his journey whereby he closely investigated
the accuracy of biblical claims about who Jesus really was, he drew up a series
of conclusions. I will include a few here:
IF ...
|
Then ...
|
Jesus
is the Son of God ...
|
His
teachings are more than just good ideas from a wise teacher; they are God's
own insights on which I can confidently build my life.
|
Jesus
sets the standard for morality...
|
I can
have an unchanging foundation for my choices and decisions, rather than
basing them on the changing values of what seems to gt me ahead in a
particular situation.
|
Jesus
did rise from the dead ...
|
He's
still alive today and available for me to encounter on a personal basis.
|
Jesus
conquered death...
|
He can
open the door of eternal life for me, too.
|
Jesus
has divine power...
|
He has
the supernatural ability to guide me and transform me as I follow him.
|
Jesus
personally knows the pain of loss and suffering...
|
He can
comfort and encourage me when things go wrong.
|
Jesus
loves me as he says...
|
He has
my best interests at heart. That means I have nothing to lose and
everything of gain by committing myself to him.
|
Jesus
is who he claims to be...
|
As my
Creator, he deserves my obedience and worship.
|
Lee Strobel, educated at Yale Law School, was an award
winning with the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981. He is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Valley
Community Church in Lake Forest, California.
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