Preparing your answer to “Why do you believe?”
“But why do you believe?” The question can come up at a family meal, by the coffee machine, on a car ride. It can be curious, skeptical, aggressive or tender. If you have never thought about it, you may be left speechless or answer beside the point. This quest invites you to think it over ahead of time, calmly.
What it looks like in your day
Take ten minutes with a sheet of paper. Write your answer in five or six sentences, as if you were talking to someone sincere. To help you, here are three possible angles, from which you will pick the one that is truest for you:
- The angle of experience. “I lived through something specific.” A moment when God met you, an unexpected peace, an answered prayer.
- The angle of the person of Jesus. “What touched me is the way Jesus treats people.”
- The angle of meaning. “Faith gives my life a meaning, a direction, a hope that I didn't have before.”
Then, a few rules for your answer:
- Start with “I”. You are talking about your path, not other people's.
- Keep it simple. Avoid church vocabulary.
- Stay honest. You can say: “I don't have all the answers, but here is what convinced me.”
- Leave the door open. End with a question: “And you, what keeps you going?”
You can practice in front of a mirror or with a believing friend. If you are short on time, remember three key sentences. If you are shy, learning your answer will give you confidence. If you are new to the faith, you also have a story to tell: it may be recent, but it is true.
What the Bible says
Paul doesn't hide, even in suffering:
“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
“I know whom I have believed”: his faith rests on a person, not on a theory. He doesn't say “I know everything”, he says “I know whom”. This phrasing can inspire your answer. In Athens, in front of people who don't share his religious culture, Paul starts from what they already know:
“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”
He doesn't attack them: he spots what is going on in them (their religiosity, their altar “to the unknown God”) and uses it as a starting point. You can do the same: first listen to what the person you are talking to believes or doesn't believe, then answer in a way that fits. And Peter urges us to always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in us, gently and respectfully (1 Peter 3:15).
Pitfalls to avoid
Turning the answer into a debate. If the person is looking for a fight, don't be dragged in. You don't have to win an argument, you have to give an honest testimony.
Claiming certainties you don't have. If you have doubts, that's human. You can answer: “I have questions, but here is what has kept me going so far.”
Having an answer for everything. Faced with a difficult objection (evil, suffering, contradictions), don't bluff. Saying “Good question, I'll think about it” is a sign of honesty, not of weakness.
Criticizing the other person. Avoid sentences that make them feel they are in the wrong: “You should believe too.” Let them move forward at their own pace.
Reciting apologetics. It is useful to study, but your strongest answer will always be personal: what God has done for you.
Today, write your answer to “Why do you believe?” in five sentences. Reread it, simplify it, then say it out loud.