“Here’s the thing. If atheists or other non-believers are wrong, they’re spending eternity in hell. But okay, even if Christianity ends up being wrong, either I’ll get reincarnated and get a second chance or nothing happens after death, and that’s the end. And either way, I’d have lived a moral and charitable life, so it’s a win-win, right?”

UNBIBLICAL ULTIMATUM

I have heard that logic parroted an uncomfortable number of times over the past several years. I’ve heard it used as a defense for the faith and an explanation for someone’s commitment to Christ. There was even that one afternoon of campus outreach when the fellow next to me confidently used it as a trump card to persuade the cute cheerleader to accept Christ. Even in the absence of explicit words, that attitude of carefully minimizing losses permeates Christian culture. It’s a paraphrase of Pascal’s Wager, a theory based on probability that says a belief in God gives the best balance of future gains and losses. It’s a good theory — mathematically, it makes sense, and it’s generally a good rule to weigh your options and cover your bases.

Too bad it’s not biblical. Rather than proposing a plan to cut his losses, Paul spits gospel fire saying just the opposite in 1 Corinthians 15: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith … If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” In the absence of a valid gospel, our lives should not be just morally admirable — ultimately, they should be pitiable. If Christ is a lie, the years we spent striving to understand scripture and the lengths we went to preach the gospel should be nothing less than pathetic. If Christ is a lie, it should be pathetic to acknowledge all the money we gave to the church and the people we alienated and wept over because we would not compromise Christ.

FAITH IS NOT A "CONTINGENCY PLAN"

Don’t worry, church; should the gospel be false, you still have at least 98 percent of your income — oftentimes more, if you are not part of the fraction who tithe. Don’t worry, most of you don’t have to worry about those hours spent at church every week — only about half of you go, and that is on a good day. Don’t worry, should the gospel be false, the vast majority of you didn’t waste time telling people about Christ anyway.

Christians, if you call yourselves that, stop treating your faith like a contingency plan. You are not called to cover your bases; you are not called to pursue a win-win situation with eternity. The very core of our belief system hinges on loss and sacrifice — the sacrifice that Christ gave on our behalf, and his call to us to do the same. In the gospels, Jesus says over and over that whoever wants to find his life must lose it for the sake of Christ. I pray that our lives display that kind of all-encompassing dedication to the gospel, a dedication evident in our relationships, time, career choices and finances. Live a life of priorities and choices that are inexplicable and indefensible apart from Christ.