Spiritual Emphasis Recap: More Questions than Answers

Last week, the secondary students enjoyed Spiritual Emphasis Week with guest speakers from the Ravi Zaccharias International Ministries (RZIM). RZIM is a highly-praised apologetics group that encourages people to ask the hard questions of life. Our School Spiritual Formation Coordinator and Bible Department Chair, Mr. Tim Totten, has written a reflection on last week’s opportunity.

Enjoy,
Sharon C. Brobst, EdD
Director

Why does God do the things that He does? Why doesn’t He put an end to COVID-19? Why do families fall apart? How do I know that God is real? If He is real, why does He seem so distant sometimes? Isn’t Christianity just a way to make people moral? Isn’t it all about following a bunch of rules? What happens to people who die having never heard of Jesus? What about little kids who die before they could understand the gospel? What are Heaven and Hell really like?

I could ask questions for days. Sometimes, God seems like a mystery, and sometimes, He really is one. I’ve been following Jesus for over 20 years, experiencing highs and lows while journeying closer to our Creator. There have been times where I really thought I understood God well, and there have been other times where I’ve felt like it was impossible to know much of anything about God. I’ve had my doubts. I’ve wanted to give up. Thankfully, by the grace of God, this hasn’t happened. 

The more I pursue God, the more I know Him. The more I know God, the more questions I have about Him. I guess this is what happens when following an infinite being.

Asking big questions about life, faith, and God is something we challenge our students to do on a regular basis at ICSV. Last week, we were privileged to host a team of speakers from various parts of Europe for our middle and high school spring Spiritual Emphasis Week. Most of our guests are currently doing PhD work in various fields, and they are all connected to Oxford and a well-known apologetics ministry (RZIM). They ran workshops for students during Bible classes and led daily chapel services centered around some of the big questions many people have about God. Students had opportunities to ask tough questions and discuss big issues throughout the week.

SEW concluded with an event known as Reboot, where Professor John Lennox, renowned speaker and author of several books on science, philosophy, and religion was the keynote speaker. We partnered with RZIM and Vienna Christian Center to put this on, and we saw around 500 young people attend, including many of our students.

Even after a week like this, our students still have unanswered questions. But who doesn’t? We had some incredible conversations and saw God working in the lives of many people. Faith is a journey, and people are further along on that journey now than they were before. We praise God for that.

And you. You might have more questions than answers. There’s nothing wrong with that. 

I do too.

Tim Totten
Spiritual Formation Coordinator
Bible Department Head