George Washington said, “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
We start using excuses very early in life. Maybe as a student, you discovered the well-worn classic that has been used by generations: “The dog ate my homework.”
As the years go by, you start getting new excuses to rationalize your behavior, such as “Everybody was doing it.”
Then, as you get a little older, you discover other excuses like “The alarm didn’t go off,” “Traffic was really bad,” and “The check is in the mail.”
People also come up with excuses as to why they don’t come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. They call them reasons and might even classify them as questions. But when you get down to it, they are nothing more than excuses.
Maybe you know what it’s like to share the gospel with someone who barrages you with a mass of arguments and difficult-to-answer questions. However, there is only one reason that people aren’t putting their faith in Christ. It isn’t because they’re necessarily struggling with the gospel message philosophically or intellectually. Nor is it because they’re skeptics or agnostics.
It is not about whether there are contradictions in the Bible. Instead, these are excuses. They’re attempts to cover up the real reason, which is this: they love darkness and don’t want to change.
Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:19–20).
Deep inside they know that becoming a Christian will require change. So, they hide behind a well-worn excuse. They don’t want to turn from their darkness. They don’t want the wind of the Spirit to blow into their lives and bring about change. They don’t want to be born again.
Notice Jesus said that “people loved the darkness more than the light.” It is not only that they tolerated darkness or lived in it. They loved it. And there are people today who love sin as well.
What is the worst sin a person can commit? According to the Bible, it is unbelief. Unbelief is a choice. It is hearing the facts of the gospel and saying, “I’m choosing not to believe that. I don’t want to believe that.”
This is not to say that people don’t have legitimate questions. There are people with skepticism about the Christian faith. Yet Jesus always will reveal Himself to the genuine seeker.
However, some people think they can continually put off coming to Christ. But they need to know something. There comes a point of no return in the human life. And if they continue in a pattern of rejecting Jesus Christ, they can go beyond that point.
We can’t change the fact that people love darkness. We can only pray that they will see their need for Jesus Christ.
