Who Defines Right and Wrong?
Who Defines Right and Wrong? Why My Faith in Jesus Is More Than Religion
An honest reflection on morality, evidence, testimony, and why I believe Jesus Christ is worth investigating.
A recent conversation began with a simple statement about morality:
“You don’t need religion to have morals.”
I understand the point behind that statement.
I absolutely believe that people who do not believe in God can show kindness, compassion, generosity, sacrifice, and empathy. I have met people from different beliefs and backgrounds who have demonstrated extraordinary love toward others.
So my question isn’t:
Can someone who doesn’t believe in God do good things?
Of course they can.
The question I find much more challenging is this:
Who ultimately defines what is good?
If morality is based entirely on empathy, culture, personal feelings, life experiences, or majority opinion, what happens when those things conflict?
What happens when my empathy leads me to one conclusion and yours leads you somewhere completely different?
What happens when one culture celebrates something another culture condemns?
What happens when the majority sincerely believes something that is actually wrong?
History gives us many uncomfortable examples of societies normalizing practices that later generations recognized as deeply unjust.
That raises an important question:
Is something wrong because society says it is wrong, or can society itself be wrong because there is a standard higher than society?
That question is part of what led me to think more deeply about God.
But I want to be clear.
This isn’t a defense of religion.
In fact, my own journey has taught me that knowing religion and knowing God are not necessarily the same thing.
I Knew About God Before I Knew God
I grew up around religion.
I knew about God. I participated in religious traditions. I tried to be a good person. I knew how to do some of the outward things associated with faith.
But eventually I discovered something that changed my life:
Knowing information about God is not the same thing as knowing Him personally.
For many years, religion was something I tried to do.
Today, I am learning what it means to actually walk with Christ.
There is a difference.
And before someone misunderstands what I’m saying, I am not claiming that I became perfect when I began following Jesus.
Far from it. 😅
I still make mistakes.
I still need correction.
I still have moments when pride, selfishness, anger, or fear tries to lead me.
But something has changed.
The direction of my life has changed.
My desires have changed.
The way I see people is changing.
The way I understand forgiveness is changing.
The way I think about marriage, business, money, purpose, service, enemies, and even suffering is changing.
I believe Christ is transforming me from the inside out.
But an important challenge was raised during the conversation:
“People in every religion have testimonies. How does your testimony prove that Christianity is true?”
That’s a fair question.
And it deserves a fair answer.
My Testimony Is Important, But It Isn’t My Entire Case
My testimony is evidence of what I believe Christ has done in my life.
I know who I was.
I know what I chased.
I know how I thought.
I know the condition of my heart better than anyone reading a Facebook comment ever could.
And I know that something profound began happening when I genuinely surrendered my life to Christ.
That transformation is real to me.
But I also recognize something important:
People from many different religions and worldviews have powerful personal experiences.
People attend motivational seminars and say their lives were changed.
People join recovery communities and experience transformation.
People from contradictory religious traditions can both give sincere testimonies.
So personal testimony alone cannot settle every question about ultimate truth.
My testimony answers one question:
“Why is this personal to you?”
But it doesn’t completely answer another:
“Why do you believe Christianity is actually true?”
Those are different questions.
And I think Christians should be willing to engage both.
Faith Doesn’t Mean I Stopped Asking Questions
Sometimes Christianity is presented as though faith means turning off your brain.
I don’t believe that.
My faith in Christ isn’t based on one Facebook quote, one emotional church service, or simply because someone told me to believe.
For me, the case is cumulative.
I look at questions such as:
- Why is there something rather than nothing?
- Why is the universe intelligible?
- Why are human beings able to reason about the universe?
- Are there things that are objectively evil, regardless of what any society says?
- If objective moral truths exist, what best explains their foundation?
- Is consciousness fully explained by physical matter alone?
- Who was Jesus historically?
- What did He claim and teach?
- Why was He crucified?
- Why did His earliest followers become convinced that He had risen?
- What best explains the origin and explosive growth of the resurrection proclamation?
None of those questions fit neatly into a Facebook comment section. 😂
But they are worth exploring.
Christianity makes claims about reality.
It makes philosophical claims.
It makes moral claims.
And importantly, it makes historical claims.
At the center of Christianity isn’t merely the statement:
“Be a better person.”
At the center of Christianity is a claim that something happened in history.
Jesus lived.
Jesus was crucified.
And His followers proclaimed that He rose from the dead.
Christianity stands or falls on who Jesus is.
That’s worth investigating.
But Aren’t There Thousands of Religions?
Another challenge I often hear is:
“There are thousands of religions. They all think they’re right. Why should Christianity be any different?”
The existence of competing claims doesn’t automatically mean that every claim is false.
There are competing theories in philosophy.
There are competing interpretations of historical events.
There are competing political ideas.
There are competing scientific hypotheses.
We don’t conclude that truth doesn’t exist simply because people disagree.
We examine the claims.
We look at the evidence.
We ask which worldview best explains reality.
And we should apply that same willingness to investigate questions about God.
I don’t believe Christianity is true because there are no competing beliefs.
I believe Christianity is true because, after considering the questions, experiences, evidence, and person of Jesus Christ, I have become convinced that He is who He claimed to be.
That doesn’t mean I have answers to every question.
I don’t.
It doesn’t mean I never experience doubt.
It doesn’t mean I can mathematically prove God in three sentences.
It means I believe there are good reasons for my faith, and I have placed my trust in Christ based on what I have come to believe is true.
What About the Horrible Things Done by Religious People?
This question also came up.
And it needs to be addressed directly.
Throughout history, people carrying religious titles have committed terrible evil.
Abuse.
Exploitation.
Murder.
Sexual violence.
Manipulation.
Cover-ups.
The misuse of power.
I will not defend those things.
I will not minimize them.
And I will not use the phrase “everyone makes mistakes” to describe horrific abuse.
Those actions are evil and should be exposed, confronted, and judged appropriately.
But here’s the question I would ask:
Do the actions of someone claiming to represent Jesus automatically reflect the teachings of Jesus?
I don’t believe they do.
Jesus Himself strongly confronted religious hypocrisy.
Some of His sharpest words were directed toward religious leaders who appeared righteous outwardly while being corrupt inwardly.
So I don’t ask anyone to place their faith in religious institutions, celebrity pastors, priests, denominations, or me.
My faith is in Jesus Christ.
People can misuse His name.
People can build empires using His name.
People can claim to follow Him while living completely contrary to what He taught.
But the failure of someone claiming to represent Christ should cause us to examine what Christ actually taught, not automatically assume that the hypocrite accurately represented Him.
My invitation is simple:
Judge Jesus by Jesus.
Read His words.
Look at His life.
Look at how He treated the rejected.
Look at how He confronted pride.
Look at how He treated the poor and overlooked.
Look at how He responded to sinners.
Look at how He challenged corrupt religious leaders.
Look at how He taught about forgiveness.
Look at how He treated His enemies.
And then decide what you believe about Him.
Jesus Didn’t Just Give Me a List of Morals
This is where Christianity became deeply personal for me.
Jesus didn’t simply give me another checklist.
He showed me a completely different way to live.
He taught me to love people who disagree with me.
To forgive people who hurt me.
To serve instead of constantly seeking status.
To care about people the world overlooks.
To examine my own heart before becoming obsessed with everyone else’s failures.
To pray for my enemies.
To give without needing recognition.
To love sacrificially.
To seek truth while still loving the person standing across from me.
I am still learning how to live these things.
I haven’t arrived.
Following Christ doesn’t make me morally superior to the person who doesn’t believe what I believe.
If anything, following Jesus continually reveals how much I need His grace.
The closer I get to the light, the more clearly I can see the places in my own heart that still need transformation.
So, Can I Prove God?
It depends on what someone means by prove.
Can I put God in a test tube?
No.
Can I produce a mathematical equation that forces every human being to believe?
No.
Can I give reasons for what I believe?
Yes.
Can Christianity’s historical claims be investigated?
Yes.
Can its philosophical claims be challenged and discussed?
Yes.
Can my testimony be examined by watching the fruit of my life over time?
Yes.
And that’s where I want to be careful with my own testimony.
I can tell you that Jesus changed my life.
You are free to question my explanation of that change.
But if I claim to follow Jesus, there should eventually be something visible.
Watch how I love my wife.
Watch how I treat people who disagree with me.
Watch how I conduct business.
Watch how I respond when I’m wrong.
Watch whether I forgive.
Watch whether I serve when nobody is watching.
Watch how I treat people who can do nothing for me.
Watch the fruit.
Not because I’m perfect, but because if Christ is truly transforming me, something should be changing.
My life isn’t the entire argument for Christianity.
But my life should not contradict the message I’m proclaiming.
My Invitation Isn’t “Become More Religious”
This may be the most important thing I can say.
My invitation to you isn’t:
Become more religious.
It isn’t:
Pretend you don’t have questions.
It isn’t:
Believe because I told you to.
And it certainly isn’t:
Join my team so we can win arguments on the internet. 😅
My invitation is this:
Get to know Jesus for yourself.
Read what He actually said.
Study His life.
Investigate the claims surrounding His death and resurrection.
Ask difficult questions.
Challenge your own assumptions, whether you’re a believer or a skeptic.
And perhaps pray one sincere prayer:
“God, if You are real, reveal Yourself to me. Help me know what is true, even if the truth challenges what I currently believe.”
That’s not a magical formula.
It’s simply an honest posture.
Why I Follow Jesus
I don’t follow Jesus because Christians have always represented Him perfectly.
They haven’t.
I don’t follow Jesus because religion has a spotless history.
It doesn’t.
I don’t follow Jesus because I understand every mystery about God.
I don’t.
I follow Jesus because I have become convinced that He is worthy of my trust.
I believe the deepest questions of morality, meaning, purpose, forgiveness, justice, love, and human identity ultimately find their answer in God.
And I believe God has revealed Himself most clearly in Jesus Christ.
My journey began with religion.
But religion could never transform my heart.
Jesus is transforming me.
Not all at once.
Not without struggle.
Not without correction.
But genuinely.
From the inside out. ❤️
So when Jesus says:
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
John 14:6
I understand why someone might respond:
“Prove it.”
I don’t fear that question.
I think it’s worth exploring.
Because if Jesus really is who He claimed to be, then there may be no more important question we could ask.
And if you’re willing to investigate that question sincerely, I believe Jesus is worth looking into for yourself.
Not religion.
Not me.
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