It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere… really?

The second presupposition is that it really doesn’t matter what a person believes as long as he or she sincerely practices those beliefs.

We live in a very pluralistic society today. To say that only one religious belief is right actually makes you sound intolerant, narrow-minded, anti-intellectual, and uncaring. Popular belief holds that what is good and right for me may not be good or right for you, and that is okay as long as we are sincere about our beliefs.

A common thread between Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and almost every major religion is that they have high regard for Jesus. All of these religions see Him as a loving, good, moral teacher. They do not identify Jesus as the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, or the Savior of the world, but they all agree that He is an example of how people ought to live. He is the ideal of love. But according to Jesus, the most loving person, it does matter what you believe. He said,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt. 7:13–14)

Sincerity as the highest value sounds compassionate, kind, and nonjudgmental. But let’s follow that logic into other areas of life. Say you have a very sick child and you go to the pharmacist to pick up a prescription. The pharmacist, with sincere intentions, fills the wrong prescription and your child dies. If the pharmacist had sincerely wanted to help, can you be upset with him or her? It was just a different drug, and it didn’t work. No harm was intended. Who are you to judge the pharmacist?

Or how about if your mate, during an exceptionally hard or busy season of your marriage, gets emotionally attracted to or physically involved with another person? What if your mate walks out on you because of deep, sincere feelings for another person? After all, they are only following their heart and being true to themselves. Isn’t it okay because they’re being sincere? Does feeling sincere and good about something justify it?

We would never allow sincerity to override truth in other areas of our lives. It is all too easy to withdraw when we find ourselves in discussions about God with family, friends, or coworkers, worrying that they will think we are anti-intellectual, narrow-minded, or hateful. But, when you know truth, backing away or withdrawing from the conversation is the epitome of being unloving.

We hide behind sincerity because we don’t want to be rejected. Jesus loved people so much that He told them the truth in love. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Moving past these presuppositions, let’s now look at the evidence behind why I believe the God of the Bible is the one true God. There are seven reasons why I believe in the God of the Bible. Each reason could be a book in itself. In fact, volumes have been written about each of these reasons by experts in the field. But what I hope to share with you is the larger landscape in order for you to grasp a macroscopic view of this most critical topic. I often find that people dig into the details and get caught up in so many specific issues that they lose sight of the major pillars of truth. These pillars support the intellectually compelling conclusion that there is only one true God.

Chip Ingram, Why I Believe: Straight Answers to Honest Questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017).