Evidence that Matters

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” –James 2:18

I have always enjoyed apologetics—the defense of the Christian faith through intellect. One of the books that I enjoyed the most was called “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. In the book, McDowell gives numerous examples for why we can believe that Christianity is true, ranging from the virgin birth to the resurrection of Christ. His philosophy is simple: if the evidence is true, we have no choice but to accept it or to reject it.

I wonder how our impact on our world would be different if we took on a similar philosophy not just with our apologetics, but with our actions. What if our lives gave such evidence of Christ’s transforming work that we left nothing to doubt—either people would have to accept that Christ’s work is true, or they would have to flat out reject it. People wouldn’t have to even hear us speak to know that there was something drastically different about us. They could simply tell by our actions.

What evidence does your life give of Christ? Does it give evidence that demands a verdict, or is it just a little above average? How about the way you treat your spouse? Your boss? Your employees? Your kids? How about the way that you spend your time? Your money? May your life shine this week in such a way that people have no choice but to admit that there is something drastically different about the way that you live.