Scripture Reference: Romans 1:16; 1 Timothy 1:8-14

Needs

There is a second reason why we don’t need to be ashamed of the Christian faith. It fulfills our most basic human needs. Though you could list a variety of “basic needs,” someone has said that all humans have three basic needs . . . to be noticed, nurtured, and needed.

A popular movie star was quoted as saying that all their life, they had wanted the whole world to know who they were, to be love by all, and to be affected by their audience. While she may not know it, she was saying, “I need to be noticed, nurtured, and needed.” We all do. The Christian faith does meet all these needs, and more.

Carl Sandburg, the writer and editor, once said, “We all want to play Hamlet!” Perhaps he overstated the case, but it’s true that we all want to be recognized. The cross of Jesus Christ is the single most poignant statement of our significance to God. When Jesus died on the cross it was as if God Himself were saying, “You’re somebody special!”

Remember the nursery rhyme?

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty took a great fall;
All the king’s horses
And all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Who can put Humpty Dumpty back together again? A contemporary song asks, “Where do broken hearts go?” Where do they go? The Christian faith says, “Come to God the Father through Jesus Christ!” I’m convinced one of the reasons that the poor, brokenhearted, and disenfranchised people came to Jesus with such openness and joy was because they felt He understood their condition and would help them put their lives together again.

Shakespeare had one of his characters say, “Life’s . . . it is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing.” Is that the absolute truth? Perhaps for some, but, the Christian faith gives rhyme and reason to our living. By living as Christ lived, sharing words of hope where there is hopelessness; ministering to lives broken by sin, suffering, and disease; and offering love to the loveless, faith to the faithless, and strength to the powerless, we may hold our heads high, confident there is purpose, meaning, and goodness in all of life lived after the fashion of Christ Himself. The Christian faith answers our need for significance, sympathy, and service.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.