The Angry Man

Written by Tim MacGowan

I was listening to “This American Life”, an NPR story telling show, and one of the vignettes caught my attention.  A man named David Dickerson told the story of how his Christian faith was shipwrecked when he attempted to prepare for ministry by studying religion at college.  His faith and experience had no answer for the withering biblical criticism that such programs often utilize.  Dickerson became a zealous advocate for shredding the faith of others by intellectual arguments designed to undermine any belief in the Bible’s veracity.  By his own admission, Dickerson had become a “jackass” and “obsessive”.  There seemed to be little joy in his life and even less grace. 

The radio story chronicled an encounter he had with his father, a man who had become a Christian as an adult.  Dickerson had come home for a visit and was looking for an opportunity to prove to his believing family all the errors of the Scripture.  One day while sharing a meal with his unsuspecting father, he looked for a chance to pounce.  When Dickerson senior mentioned his interest in serving as a missionary to Spain, the younger man unloaded.  He spewed a polemic against the Bible, evangelism, evangelical Christians as whole, the church, and so on. 

What followed was amazing.  Rather than become defensive or upset, the father patiently heard his son to the end.  Then he put down his drink and said something like this.  “Son, I’m proud of you.  You have a great interest in reading and learning and that is great.  But let me tell you what I know.  Before I became a Christian, I was so miserable I wanted to kill myself.  Your mother and I were planning to get a divorce.  When I invited Jesus into my life, that all changed.  When I first met the Christians at our little church, I thought they were crazy.  But I couldn’t deny that they loved each other and that they were happy.  I told God that I would do anything to have that kind of life.  And now I do.”  Dickerson relates how he was caught completely off-guard.  He could deal with intellectual sparring but he had no answer for a man who didn’t try to change his mind but simply related what he knew to be true from his own life. 

I’m grateful for people of faith who wrestle with difficult issues in the Scripture but I’ve never met a skeptic who was won over by debate.  Someone who has experienced God won’t be distressed by a person with a problematic argument.