Have you ever argued with God? Especially when it comes to witnessing? Have you ever thought, “You can't possibly want me to share the gospel with that person! Are you out of your mind?” I had one of those arguments during the Antique Extravaganza in Lancaster County earlier this year, when God asked me to share the gospel with a man whose booth consisted almost entirely of Hindu and Buddhist idols.

As I walked by the booth, it was impossible to ignore the hundreds of elephant heads, multiple sets of waving arms, and sea of bestial appendages. As I took it all in, a wave of irrepressible sadness spread through me. Everywhere I looked was a different god, with a different shape and a different purpose. Some were small enough to fit into my pocket. Others were large enough to fill the corner of a room. I could imagine altars filled with these idols, with their worshippers kneeling before them, bringing their requests to these lifeless pieces of metal, wood, and stone. I watched as the attendees moseyed by and picked up the idols, casually turning them over, ooohing and aaahing as if they were nothing more than Far Eastern works of art.

The dealer working the booth fit right into the scene. His wild hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his eyes had that glazed, distant look of wariness, cynicism, and, just possibly, one too many bouts with a substance foreign to the human body. He walked among the pieces but was not part of them, as if they were nothing, just trinkets for an insatiable American culture. And yet, he seemed to respect the idols, not for what they were, but for what others thought them to be. I sensed that this was a man who thought himself to be deeply spiritual, who likely knew the gospel, but who had chosen to reject it and the culture it represented. He was so far from God, yet thinking himself close, steeped in his own theology.

Just Do It

As I watched this scene, sickened at heart, I felt the unmistakable nudge to share the gospel with him.

“What? Are you nuts?” I said to God. “No way! This guy is hostile to the gospel through and through. Talking to him would be a complete waste of time. Besides, my husband would kill me. You couldn't possibly want me to talk with him.” At the time, my husband was wandering around the other aisles, scouring for deals on antique fishing equipment. If he were to see me talking with this, frankly, very scary looking man in a booth full of Hindu idols, he'd be furious.

But there it came again. “Do it — I'll take care of your husband.” Fine, I thought. I'll do it. But it will be a complete waste of time. This guy is going to blow me off in two seconds anyway.

The dealer, whom I'll call Parker, saw me hanging around the booth and came over to talk with me. “Can I help you?” he said.

“Sure,” I replied in my most innocent-sounding voice. “I just have a question. Do people really pray to these statues and think that they will answer?”

He smiled warily, as if he knew what was coming. “I don't think so. I think it's more of a cultural thing.”

“I think it's just a shame,” I replied. “No offense to your profession or anything, but it makes me sad that people would even buy idols when we have a real and living God who wants to have a relationship with us.”

“I agree,” he said.

“Really? How so?'

Christian Zen-Buddhism

To my surprise, he began to share with me his thoughts on God, eternity, and man's relationship to his creator. His theology was a blend of Christianity and Eastern thought, centered around man's “oneness” with the creator of the universe and His creation. When I asked about Jesus, I got the typical answer — Jesus was a prophet like Mohammed, a wise man, empowered by God to teach us the path toward enlightenment.

“That's funny,” I said. “Because that's not what Jesus said.”

Parker smiled again, that condescending smile that says, poor girl, she's just deluded, like all people who believe the Bible. “Jesus never claimed to be God,” he said. “That's a mistake that many people make. He came to show us the ways of God. It was only His disciples that portrayed him as divine. He was just a humble servant, inspired by God, but he, himself, never claimed to be anything other than human like us.”

Now it was my turn to smile. “That sounds great, but again, it isn't what Jesus said.” I shared verses with him such as “I and My father are One” (Luke 10:30) and “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him” (John 14:7). “Jesus claimed to forgive sins, something only God can do,” I said. “He claimed to have the power over death, which He proved when He raised Lazarus from the dead, and later, by raising Himself from the dead. He claimed to be the only way to heaven, `I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me' (14:6). He said clearly and specifically that He, Himself, was the narrow gate through which we must pass in order to get to heaven.”

“I agree with you,” he said, “and those are all Eastern concepts. The Eastern religions have long taught the oneness of man with God and His creation. Man is made in the image of God, so His likeness can be seen in us. Prophets like Jesus came to show us how. Only by being like Jesus can we attain that level of spirituality that allows us to be one with God and the universe.”

“Again, that isn't what Jesus taught,” I insisted. “Jesus taught that we are forever separated from God by our sin: `For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God' and `For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of eternal life is through Christ Jesus our Lord.' Only by confessing our sins and asking for Christ's forgiveness, and making Him Savior and Lord, can we be reconciled to God.” I went on to say that this salvation comes through belief in the risen Christ, and His redemption of our sins by His death on the cross, not by simply learning His ways or emulating His teachings. For Jesus said, “Unless a man be born again, one cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

“How do you know what Jesus taught?” Parker challenged. From the tone of his voice, I knew that he had something in mind.

“Through the writings of the New Testament.”

“Ah, but what about all of the other books of the Bible that were never included in the New Testament?” he said. “Did you know that there are many additional scriptures that were rejected from the New Testament that paint a completely different picture of Jesus?”

The "Lost" Books of the Bible

If he was expecting me to be taken by surprise, I wasn't. I did know a little about these books. Collectively, they are often called “The Lost Books of the Bible,” and they are the foundation of false knowledge for those who would dispute the reliability of the scriptures. These books were written more than a century after the New Testament books, often elaborations or fabrications based on the New Testament manuscripts themselves. One claims to be the story of Mary, the “lost” story of the actual trip to Bethlehem and the birth of the baby Jesus in the manger, for example. Another claims to be the early years of Jesus, in which Jesus learns to use and control His super powers, including being chastised by His parents for using them in mischievous ways. Another, The Gospel of Thomas, claim to be the “lost” sayings of the adult Jesus, or the original sayings of Jesus before they were “mythologized” into the New Testament documents.

“Have you ever read The Lost Books of the Bible?” Parker asked.

“No, but I know of them,” I replied. “They are late writings, not accepted into the New Testament canon because of their non-apostolic authorship, their doctrinal errors, and other factors. But, no, I haven't actually read them. But I don't need to jump off a bridge to know that it's not the way to Albuquerque either.” As this last response rolled off my tongue, it sounded terribly lame.

He smiled, as if he had me. “Then how do you know that they aren't true? How do you know that the disciples weren't lying? Or elaborating to make themselves feel better after the horrible death of their leader whom they worshipped? These are all interpretations of what actually happened. Two thousand years later, how do we know what's true?”

I told him that I knew they weren't true because of the historical reliability of the New Testament documents, which were written within a generation of the events they described. I knew they weren't true because they contradicted the New Testament documents, which are written by actual eye-witnesses, or by close associates of eye-witnesses, to the life, teachings, and resurrection of Jesus. I didn't need to read every self-styled “holy” book in the world to know that the Bible is the only source of authority. After all, truth isn't based on opinion. Truth is truth, regardless of whether or not I believe it.

“It all comes down to one thing,” I said. “Either Jesus was who He said He was, or He wasn't. And the amount of historical evidence that we have attesting to His life, birth, death, and resurrection is enormous. If He is who He said He is, then the New Testament manuscripts are the only reliable documents we have that tell His story. Jesus Himself appealed to the veracity of the New Testament documents, saying, `Not one jot or tittle of the law will pass away until all these things be fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).

The conversation was winding down, and I saw my husband, Tom, walking up the path between the antique vendors. As he caught my eye and saw who I was talking to, his steps quickened. He joined the conversation in the wrap-up phase. He looked the dealer up and down, shot a glance at the booth, narrowed his eyes, and said, “Jesus said that He was God, and that He is the only way to heaven. It doesn't matter whether we like it or not, that's the way God designed it.” Then he turned and said that we had to be going.

“I'll pray for you,” I said to Parker, and that was it. To my surprise, Tom wasn't angry with me for talking with him — a little concerned, to be sure — but not as upset as I thought he'd be. God had been faithful to His word: “Do it, and I'll take care of your husband.”

A Challenge for Believers

Parker was not the first person to ask me if I'd read The Lost Books of the Bible, and his challenge to me stuck. Not because I need to read them to be certain of the truth of the scriptures, but as someone who earnestly contends for the scriptures, I felt that I should have a better knowledge of what others believed. Indeed, I recently acquired a copy of The Gospel of Thomas, which claims to be the lost sayings of Jesus. I am in the process of reading it, and next week, I will give my response.

But what was most important about my conversation with Parker is that, for every objection he'd made, I had responded with the words of Jesus. It's great if we do know about the history of the New Testament and other books that challenge scriptural truth, but we do not need to know these things. God's Word is living, and sharper than a two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12), and it is its own defense. For God has promised, “My words shall never return unto Me void, but shall accomplish what I please” (Isaiah 55:11).

Still, this conversation also left me with a stronger conviction of the importance of every believer being grounded in the scriptures, being able to give a ready defense for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). Can we defend the principles of our faith? How do we know truth from error? Do we really know why we believe what we believe? Because sometimes it is only when we are challenged to defend our faith in the midst of opposition that we really understand how important and precious the knowledge of the scriptures truly is.

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