I recently encountered a skeptic who attacked Christianity with a statement along these lines, “If your religious system requires you to die to experience the best it has to offer (i.e. heaven), then your religion is a scam.” This statement reveals a serious misunderstanding of Christianity.
For centuries, Christian apologists have said this is “the best of all possible worlds.” The best world imaginable would be one characterized by love and goodness. True love only exists as the result of free-will actions. Thus, in the best of all possible worlds, free will must exist. Where free will exists, the potential to do both good and evil must exist. God created this world in perfect goodness, yet He also populated it with free-will beings – humans – beings that ultimately chose to do evil (Genesis 1:31; 3:1–24). Even though sin entered this world, and with it suffering, it could not be a better world than it is. To take away evil, God would also have to take away free will, which would eliminate the potential for real love. That price is too high!
Back to the skeptic’s statement: not only is this the best possible world, but Christianity offers the best possible life in this world and in the life to come. Surrendering to God in Jesus Christ does not merely secure a better life in eternity; it provides the Christian with a blueprint for living in this sin-broken world. The Beatitudes are a great example of this already-but-not-yet tension (Matthew 5:3–12). Christians suffer, but so do non-Christians. Yet, when Christians suffer, we have a connection with “the God of all comfort,” a family to lean on, and we know that suffering can be a tool for glorifying God (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:3–5; Romans 5:3–5). No, life in Christ is not a scam. It is the abundant life. It is the best possible life now and in eternity.
Clay Leonard
