Will You Take Pascal's Wager?

Even those of us who may not do a very good job of it acknowledge that it is wise to plan ahead for our financial future. We know there will be a time when our earning capacity will be diminished or gone, we know there will be a time when large amounts of money will be needed for our children’s education, we know there are many reasons to plan ahead for all kinds of various circumstances.
Wisdom would dictate that we consider those ‘knowns’ about our future as we live our lives today. Rather than being foolish and betting our financial futures on winning the lottery, we try to ‘hedge out bets’ and invest for the future.
I recently received an email that reminded me of another argument dealing with ‘hedging our bets’ in planning for our future. This argument deals with believing in the existence of God, and it was put forth by the 17th century French mathematician and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). It is called ‘Pascal’s Wager’.
As somewhat of a philosopher, Pascal did not believe it was possible to prove the existence of God (despite what Romans 1:20 says). But he believed it was much more reasonable and logical to believe in God than to not believe in God. (And he was referring to the belief in the ‘Christian God’, not just ‘a god’ or ‘Allah’, etc.)
The argument of Pascal’s Wager went something like:
1. God either exists or he doesn’t exist (the only two options).
2. If God exists and you believe in him, your eternal rewards will be great.
3. If God exists and you don’t believe in him, your eternal damnation will be great.
4. If God does not exist yet you believe in God, you have not lost anything.
5. If God does not exist and you didn’t believe in him, you gain nothing.
Thus, from a self-preservation standpoint alone, it is only logical to believe in God. God has to either exist or not exist. If God doesn’t exist, belief in him (or not) doesn’t really have any consequences. However, if God does exist, whether or not you believe in Him is of utmost importance.
So, even if someone thinks the likelihood that God exists is small, they have much more to gain by believing in him than could possibly be lost by not. Logic would therefore dictate that one believe in God.
Philosophy was never my strong suit as I am much more of a concrete thinker. And I don’t think anyone can use Pascal’s Wager to convince a non-believer to believe in God. But, I do think that Pascal’s Wager is a great tool to use to open up dialogue with those non-believers in our lives who don’t think it reasonable to believe in the existence of our God.
For someone to bet their financial future on the lottery, their odds of winning are one in 25,827,165. But, under Pascal’s Wager, regardless of the ‘probability’ someone attributes to God’s existence, the odds of whether or not God exists are still 50:50 – He either exists or He doesn’t. If He does exist, the odds are 100% that one will go to heaven by believing and 100% that one will go to hell by not believing.
The odds would seem to require that one seriously consider God’s existence.
Maybe Pascal’s Wager can open up some interesting conversations with your non-believing friends.
And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT)