AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SKEPTIC

I respectfully submit to you, sir, that the possibility exists that you are right. You say there is no God, no Jesus, no Savior, no need to be saved from sin’s penalty and power. You say the Bible is not to be believed, that it is irrelevant, and you can even point out what you believe to be its errors and contradictions. Well, perhaps you are right. But… We’ll never know, you and I, at least not until we both pass beyond that inevitable event in out lives called death.

In the mean time, you are free to believe that I am a fool. You are free to believe that my hope in Heaven is in vain. But, you’ll never know for sure, until we both are gone from this world; will you? You see, I know that there will, with absolutely certainty, come a day when each of us will die. It is then, and only then, when we both, you and I, standing at the Gate of whatever awaits us after we die, will find out which one was right, and which one was wrong.

Before then, that is to say, before we both die, you have nothing to gain and I have nothing to lose. We are both free to live however we want... we may believe whatever we want. We can both roll the dice. If it turns out in the end that you were right, I have lost nothing. But, if you were wrong, and I was right...

Rest assured of this: I will never give up… until perhaps after I’m dead. Then, Mr. Skeptic, I will meet you on the sands of that distant shore that separates this life from the next. I will not quit ‘till I have exhaled my last breath of polluted earthly air, and inhaled my first breath of rarefied Heavenly air. Catch up with me there, my skeptic friend. If I was wrong and you were right, I’ll slap you high 5’s and declare you the winner. What a proud moment for you. You can claim braggin’ rights, and we will go do whatever dead people do. But… If I was right, and you were wrong, I will have gained Eternal Life and you will have lost it all. I will have won the Great Wager, and you will have lost everything.

Some will recognize this as Pascal’s Wager. Atheists love to excoriate Mr. Pascal’s great gambit, but to my mind, they do so at their own peril. The Bible declares: A fool says in his heart, “There is no God”, and I’m no fool. My mind is made up. My heart is steadfast. My peace has been made. I am resolute.

The question will remain before us. Time will tell which of us is the winner. I’ll see you on the other side. Until then, “Be well.” As for me, I will not throw away my confidence. It will be richly rewarded. I will persevere. I will not be counted among those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.