I teach an 8^th Grade Boys Sunday School class. I’m often encouraging them to be able to state what they believe and why without stumbling and mumbling their way through a bunch of clichés and statements that don’t come across as confident, let alone compelling.

It’s the “elevator pitch.” That collection of sentences that you can articulate in the time it takes to get from the first floor to whatever floor you’re going to. A well thought out description of what you believe and why you believe it.

Recently, I decided that I wanted to help them craft what they want to say. It’s got to be something that expresses their personal convictions – I don’t want to hand them a bunch of “cue cards” and they just mimic what they hear resulting in something that comes across as “canned” rather than “planned.” After thinking about it, I decided the optimum starting point is to simply given them my “statement” and let that be the equivalent to putting the key in the ignition and see if that doesn’t get their apologetic motors running.

So, here’s my “pitch:”

It’s not a subjective collection of personal preferences or a desperate desire to fill in the philosophical gaps that comprise the human experience that drives me. I’ve had more than ample opportunity to wonder if I’m playing for the right team. At the end of the day, the bottom line is: It works. Without an Absolute Standard, the goalposts never stop moving. Without a Creator, the universe is never sufficiently explained and without a Savior, life is nothing more than a temporary tapestry of highs and lows. Christ wasn’t just a great thinker or a noble sentiment. His business card reads different than any other religious figure in that He didn’t offer commentary about God, He claimed to be God. And He proved it by dying and coming back to life. While that flies in the face of all that’s normal and possible, if He was limited to what can be explained, He wouldn’t be God.

I wasn’t there to shake His Hand when He emerged from the empty tomb. The evidence that validates His Identity from a historical, scientific and philosophical standpoint is compelling, but what ultimately tips the scales in Christ’s favor is the way I’ve been able to test and experience firsthand what He brings to the table in terms of perspective, significance and confidence. He’s God, it works and I’m sure. That’s what I believe and that’s why I believe it.