Just Believe?
John 14:1-11[1]
John 3:16 may be one of the most widely known
Bible verses of all time. I remember watching pro football games back in the
1970’s, and there was always someone in the endzone, usually squarely in the
middle of the camera when it came to the extra point, with a sign that simply
read “John 3:16.” I don’t know how effective that method may have been for
directing anyone to faith in Jesus Christ, but it was always there. Perhaps
less effective than you might imagine, but more effective than you might think.
I’m not sure how many people ever took the time to even look up John 3:16: “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” But John 3:16 was everywhere.
It seemed like the assumption was that if people would just read that verse,
and just believe it, they would be “saved.”
One problem with that approach is that
whenever you take any verse out of its context, you can make it say whatever
you want. I would certainly say that’s what’s happened to one of the verses
from our Gospel lesson for today, John 14:6. At least in the modern history of
the church, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the
Father except through me” has been treated a lot like John 3:16. Again, I think
the assumption is that if people would just read this verse, profess their
faith in Jesus (like we do), go to church (like we do), and conform to certain
expectations about how they live (like we do), then they can have eternal life.
But then we tend to take it further and assume that if people don’t do this,
they’re rejecting Jesus and they’ve condemned themselves to an eternity in
“hell.” In my mind, that turns this verse on its head. Instead of focusing on
Jesus being “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that the life he brings is
for “all people” (Jn 1:4), we shift the focus to “no one can come to the Father
except through me.” And the result is that a verse that was meant to reassure
Jesus’ disciples gets turned into something that excludes people who don’t
believe (like we do).
Part of the problem is that it misses the
whole point of what Jesus was trying to accomplish. When we look at this verse
in the context of the chapter, and even in the context of John’s Gospel as a
whole, some things should stand out. First, we should recognize the opening
verses. They’re used in most memorial services. Especially Jn 14:3, “if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so
that where I am, there you may be also.” The whole extended dialogue in John
13-16 is set during Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. And it’s clear that he’s
preparing them for the fact that he was about to die on the cross, perhaps
literally the next day! I think Jesus knew that would shatter their faith. So
he sets about giving them assurance that would see them through that crisis. He
tells them things like “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn
14:27) and “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will
take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22).
One of the central themes of this dialogue is
that all of this was necessary to complete the work of opening the way for us
all to come to the Father. In the process of giving his disciples this
assurance, we see Jesus engaging with them on some pretty serious questions
they had about it all. When Jesus assures them that they all knew the way to
where he was going, Thomas says, “We have no idea where you are going, so how
can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5). And when Jesus tries to assure them that they
have already come to know the Father through him, Philip seems to miss the
point altogether! He says, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied”
(Jn 14:8)! These are Jesus’ closest followers. The ones he would commission to
take the good news to the whole world. And they don’t seem to understand the
first thing about any of it. And Jesus responds to their struggles by meeting
them where they are and helping them work through their questions.
That’s quite different from what passes for
evangelism in too many cases these days. The standard approach is to throw a
few isolated Bible verses at someone and then pressure them into “just
believing” like we do. I know, because I had to learn that approach for a class
on evangelism in seminary. That phrase, “just believe” reminds me of what Jesus
said in response to Philip: “Just believe that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me” (Jn 14:11, NLT). But that can be a tall order! Just
taking what that verse says as an example, I’m not sure any of us really
understands how it is that Jesus of Nazareth could be “fully human” and “fully
God” at the same time. Perhaps that can help us recognize that much of our
faith will always remain a mystery that defies explanation. That may be one
reason why some people are slower to believe than we may think they should be. They
may just have a hard time wrapping their heads around the message of the gospel.
It seems to me that we should be a lot more
hesitant about making assumptions regard the faith of those who are “outside”
the church (or their lack thereof)! If we can’t wrap our heads around this
basic affirmation, that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him, how
can we judge anyone for their so-called “lack of faith” in what we may think is
the simple “truth” of the Gospel? It’s so easy for us to assume that everyone
“should” believe like we do. But you may have heard that phrase that I used
earlier: “like we do.” I used that phrase on purpose. It’s easy for us to
assume that everyone “should” believe “like we do.” But people come from all
kinds of backgrounds. And those experiences shape how they view faith. I’ve
known people who’ve been deeply hurt by their own church family, and they never
returned to church because of that. Others simply approach faith differently,
and the “just believe” line doesn’t work for them. Some people can’t get past
childhood trauma they may have experienced. When you dig deeply enough, you can
usually find that someone who doesn’t believe (like we do) has some pretty big
reasons for their struggle with faith.
Beyond that, it seems to me that it’s not our
business to judge other people based on what we perceive to be their “lack of
faith.” It strikes me as really quite unkind and disrespectful to assume that
we know the condition of another person’s relationship with God because we
think that they “lack” faith. At least that’s the way it felt to me back in the
day when I was the one trying to “fix” someone’s “lack of faith” by “throwing”
Bible verses at them and expecting them to “just believe”! More than that, if
as Paul reminds us (Eph 2:8-9), faith comes to all of us as a gift from God,
then perhaps we should be more empathetic with those who may struggle to
believe. Perhaps we should follow Jesus’ lead in dealing with his own disciples
and try to meet people where they are. When we take the time to actually listen
to their story, to really hear their questions, and to understand their
challenges with faith, we can demonstrate God’s love for them by the way we
treat them. That’s not a very quick method for “winning souls for Christ.” But
building a caring relationship with them can become the foundation for sharing
our faith in a way that they might just be able to hear and take to heart.
Different people respond to different approaches to faith. Maybe this is one we
should consider when dealing with some who have a hard time coming to faith.
[1] ©
Alan Brehm 2026. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 5/3/2026 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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