We can prepare in our heads how we might share the Gospel with someone. This might be taking them straight to the cross, sharing a specific passage of Scripture, or sharing part of your testimony. But what do we do when, after we’ve shared, a series of difficult questions comes up? Why does God allow suffering? How can I believe what the Bible says? Why is Christianity true and not other religions?
We can get really anxious about these questions, and sometimes the fear of having to answer difficult questions stops us from sharing the Gospel. But the Bible shows us how to answer them through Jesus’ answers.
When people asked Jesus challenging questions, He frequently responded with parables, illustrations, and stories. Rather than just winning an argument, Jesus wanted to share the Word of God, highlight the condition of the heart, and invite people to see the truth of the Gospel. We see this in Mark 4:33. “With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them as much as they could understand.”
As Christians, we don’t always need to start with philosophical arguments or complex explanations. Sometimes the best response is to tell a story that Jesus told. By doing this, we follow Jesus’ example straight from the Bible.
‘Why does God allow suffering?’
We face this question regularly as Christians. Jesus told parables that help us understand suffering from God’s perspective. One is the parable of the weeds, which Jesus tells in Matthew 13:24-30 and then explains in Matthew 13:36-43. In this parable, an enemy sows weeds among a farmer’s wheat, and when the servants ask if they should pull the weeds up immediately, the farmer tells them to let both grow together until the harvest. Jesus teaches that evil and suffering are not part of God’s good design, but the result of a fallen world in which God’s enemy is at work. Yet God does not remove all evil at once because, in His wisdom and patience, He is accomplishing purposes that we cannot always see. His delay is not indifference but mercy, giving people opportunity to repent and come to Him. The parable also shows that God has not lost control; a harvest day is coming when justice will be done, wrongs will be righted, and evil will finally be dealt with. God sees the pain of this world; He is actively at work within it, and He promises that suffering and evil will not have the final word.
‘How can I believe what the Bible says?’
As Christians, we’ll likely be asked this question at some point. When addressing this area, Jesus focused on responding to the Bible. In Matthew 7:24-27, in the parable of the wise and foolish builders, Jesus compares two people who both hear His words. The difference is not that one hears more evidence than the other, but that one trusts and acts upon what he has heard. Jesus teaches that His words are a foundation strong enough to withstand life’s storms, while every other foundation ultimately proves inadequate. As people encounter Christ in the Word, they discover that God’s Word consistently proves trustworthy, shaping lives, transforming hearts, and providing hope in every season. The challenge Jesus presents is not simply, ‘Can you trust God’s Word?’ but ‘Will you build your life upon it?’
‘Why is Christianity true and not other religions?’
This is another common question Christians are asked. Jesus did not tell a parable specifically about other religions, but in Luke 13:22-30, The Narrow Door, Jesus is asked whether only a few people will be saved. Rather than discussing religion in general, He pointed people to Himself as the way into God’s kingdom. His message was that not every path leads to the same destination, and that knowing God requires responding to the way He has provided.
All the questions above are difficult to answer, and many helpful apologetic resources online can help us answer them. But the most powerful tool we have to answer these questions is God’s Word: what Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, said. We need to remember the power of God’s Word: it’s more powerful than anything we can say. We need to point people to Jesus through God’s Word.
Let’s also remember that we are not sharing the Gospel and answering these questions in our own strength. We need to depend completely on the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit for help and guidance as we share the Gospel with those in our lives. How people respond to the Gospel depends not on our answers but on the condition of their hearts, as the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-23 shows, and on whether they are willing to let the truth of the Gospel penetrate deep into their hearts.