Truth Unites - Christianity’s Best Argument Isn’t What You Think

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Gavin Ortlund reflects on the deep human “ache” of longing and explains why Christianity uniquely speaks to the heart’s deepest desires.Truth Unites (https://truthunites.org) exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth.Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President of Truth Unites, Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary, and Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville.SUPPORT:Tax Deductible Support: https://truthunites.org/donate/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truthunitesFOLLOW:Website: https://truthunites.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truth.unites/X: https://x.com/gavinortlundFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruthUnitesPage/

Have you ever been struck by the beauty of nature and find yourself yearning for something that you can't quite put into words? Or have you ever been listening to music or recalling a nostalgic memory and a deep ache is drawn up in your heart that you don't quite fully know how to understand? For me, I have these feelings sometimes when I'm walking at night and I hear the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees. and I feel as though they're whispering of something immensely exciting, but I can't quite put it into words. Maybe you've felt something like this, maybe in a different context, maybe you know what I mean. For the purposes of this video, let's call this feeling the ache. So the ache is a restless yearning in the human heart for something transcendent, and yet we can't quite put into words what it is that we're longing for.

And in this video, what I want to do is explore how seriously Christianity takes this ache. When we're considering religious questions, we don't just want to look at the logical arguments. We want to look at what they say to the human heart and the human situation and real life. And Christianity has a unique and daring message about the ache in our hearts. And so we're going to compare Christianity's perspective with two alternatives, secularism and Buddhism. And by the end, I hope you'll see why this longing in the human heart might be one of the strongest reasons to take Christianity seriously. Now, one Christian who reflected a great deal on this topic is C.S. Lewis, and he used the German word Zanezuked to describe something similar to what we're calling the ache. But one of Lewis's great insights

is that this wistful, inconsolable longing in the human heart is somehow related to joy. And he described this longing as both painful and sweet at the same time. He said it's painful because it reveals a gap that no created object can fill. But it's also somehow sweet. It carries this haunting aroma with it that just makes you happy in a way that's hard to articulate why. Again, some of the things I'm going to say in this video, you'll only be able to understand if you've experienced it too. And maybe some of you will say, I don't know what that's like. Maybe others of you can do. Let me know in the comments if you can relate to this at all. Most desire is happy when it's fulfilled. For example, if you're hungry, the hunger isn't very fun, but then when

you get food, you're happy. But the ache that C.S. Lewis is describing with the word Zanezuk is happy simply to experience the desire. When this sweet melancholy ache sweeps over you, you almost feel more alive, more yourself. This might feel like the most important experience in your whole life. In one of his novels, a character experiences this longing as a kind of pain describing it as being like a bird in a cage. The other beads, birds are free, but I'm stuck here in this cage. But at the same time, she describes it as the sweetest part of her life. And note this part for the end of this passage in Tillwia faces. She compares this longing to a desire to go back home. That's the best way I can describe this. And the only way you can relate to it is through the

arts and through fiction and through literature probably or music. But think of it like this. The Ake is the longing for a far off country that you have never visited and somehow yet it's your true home. It's where you really belong. Maybe some images can help us relate to this. Imagine returning home to your childhood house at night and you see the lights on through the windows and you feel a strange mixture of belonging and exile. You're home, and yet it's no longer your home. Or imagine hearing a piece of music or a song that you loved years ago, and you know how the songs can do this, it pulls you back to a memory of a time and a place of true

belonging and true happiness when the world felt right. And as you're listening to this song, those emotions come back and yet you realize I can never go back to that. It's irretrievably in the past. or imagine standing at the ocean at dusk and as the sun is setting into the horizon, the sheer beauty of it gives you this sense of something immense, summoning you and calling you, but you don't know quite what it is or how to follow it. I'll give five of these scenarios to try to pull this up.

Here's number four. Imagine you finally arrive upon something that you've been chasing for years, maybe the dream job you wanted, some kind of milestone or goal or something like that, and you pause, and the moment it hits you, where you're able to say, wow, I did it, at that exact moment, underneath that happiness and satisfaction, there's still a quiet yearning where you feel as though this wasn't actually it. I was longing for something more than just this. Or lastly, imagine, just a simple moment in nature. It's a perfect autumn afternoon, golden lights, crisp air, everything just feels perfect for a moment. And then the moment this thought strikes you

that this moment cannot last. And the question comes, what does last? These are just imaginative scenarios. I'm trying to speak to this experience in the human heart that I think, maybe I'm wrong. I'll read the comments. I think most of us can relate to this. Maybe a painting can evoke this. This one on the screen is called a wanderer above the sea of fog by a German romanticist artist. It goes back to 1818. And you can see a man standing upon a rocky precipice. He's gazing down on a landscape covered with fog. And you can see trees and mountains and things, and it seems to stretch out.

And this painting is often interpreted as an emblem of contemplation of life's path. You note that he's not looking at us. We're looking with him on this landscape. And this, you know, simple moments, sometimes the ache comes into your heart in a simple moment. It's not some grandiose thing. It's just a quiet, random Tuesday afternoon or something like that, or often out in nature, when all of a sudden you're contemplating, what is this life? What does it really mean and what is it here for? Most of us have moments like this. I certainly do. Here's something that is worth considering that we'll tackle in this video. Whatever religion

or worldview or life path we choose, the ache in our hearts is going to be relevant to that decision. What makes a worldview deeply satisfying isn't just that it can make logical sense out of the structures in the world around us, important as that is, but also that it can make emotional and intuitional sense of the deep longings in the human heart. And so that's just a way to invite us to ask, you know, what are some different ways of interpreting the ache? And we'll consider three here, Christianity, secularism, Buddhism, but these are not exhaustive. There's just three of the more visible options for many of us. First, the Christian perspective on the ache is pretty thrilling. I use the phrase embarrassingly happy to describe the consequence of Christianity for those who

embrace it and come to know Jesus. If it is indeed true, it's hard, the way I often put it is, you couldn't invent a happier religion even if you tried and had infinite power. Because essentially what Christianity says is that this ache exists because we were made for communion with God, that communion has been broken and severed, but we still retain the imprint of that on our nature. It's like we're in exile, but there really is a home to which we can return. And so, according to Christianity, the ache is telling us about that. The ache is a little clue about the meaning of everything. The ache is whispering to us about the very reason we exist as we do in this world. For example, many Christians have taught that the human body is what it is so as to be

ultimately ordered to the beatific vision in heaven, the sight of God in heaven. If you want to know more about beatific vision, I have a video on that. You can check it out. At the very beginning of his famous confessions, Augustine gives us a passage, this famous passage that helps us understand this. He's describing how humanity has this instinctive longing to praise God because God created us. And then, of course, you've heard this great quote. Read it in context and read the whole confessions. It's so good. You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

And of course, the great news about this, the best news about this and why we love Jesus infinitely is because our situation is not homeless. We can get back home. That homesickness can be answered. infinite joy, infinite possibility are there because of Jesus. And his death on the cross, it's restored us to God as we trust in him. And therefore, that deep, deep longing, the ache can be fulfilled forever. Think of it like this.

This ache is not a deception. It's telling you the truth that you do have a home. You're in exile, but you can get back, and that's why Jesus came. So summarizing, this is going to be a lot of simplification for conceptual clarity here. so I'll give me some rope here as I contrast these three big picture options. In Christianity, the entailment is that there's a fulfillment of the ache. Second, for secularism, it's very much in the opposite direction. The ache is not a clue.

It's actually a kind of deception because, and what I'm thinking here is more specifically a thoroughly secular worldview that allows for nothing but naturalistic explanations. The word secular is a little broad, but that's more specifically what I'm targeting here. And on this kind of perspective, nothing outside nature, this deep ache in our hearts is explained, along with everything else about us, as the product of our evolutionary psychology, nothing more. And so it's there because it helped our animal ancestors survive, but there's nothing ultimate that it corresponds to. It's a byproduct of evolutionary happenstance, like a posable thumbs or liking sugar. It's not a clue about anything ultimate. So therefore, devastating,

like a hammer, smashing you to bits. The ache is like hunger in a world without food. There's no food in the world and yet you're hungry. That's the ache. In a strictly naturalistic worldview, I'm simplifying, but I think that's a fair big picture simplification. Now, why is that such bad news? Sometimes we have to slow down. Pascal used to speak of diversions. We use diversions and distractions. I want to do a video about those two categories in Pascal, so we don't really attend to these things. But let's slow down to think why this is so devastating.

Why do I say it's a hammer smashing the heart? Because if there's nothing beyond nature, then the ache ultimately will be frustrated. And what that means is there really is no ultimate happiness. Because experience teaches us that non-transcendant goals, like just getting a lot of money or having a lot of fame or success or pleasure really don't satisfy the ache in the human heart. And so the summary we can put is that if Christianity entails the fulfillment of the ache, a secular framework entails the futility of the ache.

Yes, there will be alliteration. It's a three-point sermon, as usual. But just to illustrate this before we go to Buddhism, have you seen Jim Carrey's speech at the 2016 Golden Globe? awards. I love Jim Carrey. He's my favorite comedian and he's such an interesting person. This is so funny. Just watch this and then we'll talk about it. I am two-time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey. You know, when I go to sleep at night, I'm not just a guy going to sleep. I'm two-time Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey going to get some well-needed shut-eye. And when I dream, I don't just dream any old dream. No, sir. I dream about being three-time Golden Globe-winning actor Jim Carrey. Because then I would be enough. It would finally be true. And I could stop this terrible search. For what I know ultimately won't

fulfill me. But these are important, these awards. I don't want you to think that just because if you blew up our solar system alone, you wouldn't be able to find us or any of human history. with the naked eye. But from our perspective, this is huge. So something about this scene is so interesting to me, how surreal it feels, because on the one hand,

he's in this very bright, happy, celebratory environment. Famous celebrities are all dressed up, and the lights are shining, and the camera is rolling. And everyone's laughing right on cue all throughout these comments. They're just eating it up. So you've got this very bright, happy exterior,

and yet the actual content of what, Jim is saying is very serious and very sobering. He's actually plunging us down into the biggest question of all concerning the ache in our hearts. And the juxtaposition of the brightness and the cameras and the laughter, on the one hand, with the gravity of what he's saying, on the other hand, is so poignant. Just think about these words. He says, then I would be enough. It would finally be true. And I could stop this terrible search for what I know ultimately won't fulfill me. The words I there, don't rush too quickly past that adjective terrible. This terrible search, in my heart, I understand what he is saying there. What he's getting at there is the fundamental human condition

to ache in your heart, the fact that we're searching for something, but we don't know what it is. We're grasping, we're longing for something more. And it's hard to put into words exactly what it is. That's the ache that we're trying to describe in this video. But what I put in red is the really brutal part is that what Jim is hopefully reminding us of here, and I think he's telling us the truth, is that mere fame and money and success doesn't actually answer the ache. You can be a billionaire or a celebrity, and it's still going to be there in your heart unresolved, and that's why it's a terrible search. Most of us know that. Most of us sense that, right? So that's secularism. If there's nothing beyond nature, you're in a frustrating situation. What about other religions?

Here's what I would like to submit respectfully and with supreme love for people of other religions who will disagree with me, and not even making a thorough case a suggestion here. What I would submit is that Christianity has a somewhat unique perspective among religions on this ache in the heart. I often say that Christianity's view of what the afterlife is is almost as unique as its view of how to get there. because we believe in this incredibly unique method of salvation. A triune God, one member of the Trinity becomes a man. You've got the incarnation. Then he gets crucified.

Then he bodily raises from the dead. This is a very unique religion. But what we also believe is that the final consequence of that, our final redemption in the new heavens and on the new earth will also be unique. Some other religions do, of course, have ideas of heaven and kind of final happiness. But even there, Christianity has some unique. unique points. I mentioned the beatific vision. Bodily resurrection is a somewhat unique point. I trace those kinds of things out more thoroughly in this video, which is also linked in the video description,

on seven neglected aspects of a biblical doctrine of heaven. But here let me emphasize this point for this video. In a surprising number of world religions, especially Eastern religions, the explanation for the ache is ignorance or illusion or misalignment, not exile from God. and therefore the ultimate answer is not the fulfillment of desire, but relief from that desire. And let me give some perspective to this by contrasting Christianity and Buddhism. And this is useful because it will involve some broader contrasts between eastern and Western ways of thinking to some extent. And I have tremendous respect for Buddhism.

I find it such a fascinating religion. I hope Buddhists who watch this will find my comments respectful. And yes, again, there will be necessary. simplification, Buddhism is incredibly nuanced, and there are different schools of thought. So give me some rope here to summarize some of the big picture claims. Some of the key metaphysical claims in Buddhism come in the first several of the four noble truths, where the human condition is described as one of suffering, fundamentally, and the cause of this suffering is identified as craving or attachment, and the solution to this

predicament is then letting go of craving and attachment. Again, much more nuance we could explore. Part of this letting go of craving and attachment, I'm using those terms deliberately, is the Buddhist doctrine of anatman, which means no self. And there's lots that is involved in this idea. But among other things, this doctrine means that there's no permanent self or soul or ego to the human being. We're more like a stream of consciousness. A human being is more like a river that's constantly moving or a candle that is constantly flickering. And so in classical Buddhism, the ache is not a sign that something is missing, which should then be fulfilled. It's the result of craving. And the goal is to end the craving. The eightfold path culminates in nirvana,

a kind of extinguishing of the passions and cravings within. And, And so what you have here is both Christianity and Buddhism addressing this fundamental human situation. They're both taking seriously the desires and thirsts in the human heart on the one side, and then the suffering and futility and transients of this world, on the other hand, and the tension and ache that results from that, but they have opposite responses. Classical Buddhism seeks to dissolve this tension by transforming or extinguishing the craving itself through enlightenment.

whereas Christianity takes away the impediments to what is desired, resulting in heaven. So the difference is between removing the hunger versus providing the food. I think that's a fair conceptual contrast. Again, lots of people are going to want to nitpick this, but I hope you can see the big picture contrast. I'm trying to draw here. It's Nirvana versus the beatific vision. You take away the hunger versus you provide the food. And so to summarize it like this, going back to this,

schema for conceptual clarity, if Christianity entails the fulfillment of the ache, and secularism entails the futility of the ache, Buddhism entails freedom from the ache. And what that all sort of mushrooms up into is just an observation that if Christianity is true, what an embarrassingly happy religion this is. I don't think you can make something quite so happy is this. And I want to be really clear, when I make this argument, I've gotten used to how people respond, and I understand, appreciate this could be frustrating for different kinds of viewers. Try to follow my train of thought that might help a little. The claim here is not. Christianity is really, really happy, and therefore it's true. It's more what we're trying to observe is if this is true, it's

incredibly happy. And so for those of us who also think it has some good arguments for being true as well. It makes sense, that's what we're saying. The external structures of the world around, but also the hidden longings of the human heart, it's making logical and emotional sense. If you think it's a both-and, then this ache in your heart is going to be a reason to take this religion very seriously. And for the relevance of these existential considerations for when you actually might decide to become a Christian, you can see my video on Pascal's Wager. But for our purposes here, one basic observation is just to say how huge the stakes are with whether Christianity is true. Whatever else you say about Christianity, you cannot call it a half-hearted religion.

This is a religion that steps up to the plate and swings for a home run. I mean, this takes the human situation and the longings of the heart, the way you feel with utmost seriousness. You can see why C.S. Lewis called Joy, the fundamental thing of Christianity, hence his autobiography, of all titles he could come up with is surprised by joy. In my older apologetics book, Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn't, I start off with this wonderful quote from the Roman Catholic theologian Hansers von Balthazar.

The first thing that must strike a non-Christian about the Christian faith is that it obviously presumes far too much. It is too good to be true. Matt Frat has a really good book coming out. I was reading it. One of the characters essentially says something like, the challenge with Christianity is not that it's too hard to believe, it's that it's too good to believe.

There's something to that. So, final thought to leave you with, wherever you're coming from, what if it's true? You know, it's just wonderful to imagine. I mean, even asking what if is like the most powerful experience you could ever have in your life. What if the ache within you is there because you have a home and that homesickness you felt in the most exquisite moments of your life is not a defect. It's actually a memory. It's a memory that you are meant to belong to God in such an intimate union that the reason

marriage exists is to point to this ultimate pinnacle intimacy with an infinite creator. It's about as embarrassingly happy a notion as you can imagine and nothing can be more important therefore than to figure out of this is true. By the way, for people watching this, sometimes we, the crucial turn is always we're watching or reading or considering Christianity, and it's always this thing out there. The crucial turn is when we stop abstracting and start to really take it into our own experiences.

And so if I may be so bold as to just say, if you feel like you're looking in through the window at Christianity, and it's this thing for those other people who are inside the house, the crucial may I just encourage you to say, God knows your name, he knows your ache.

You matter, there's an old quote from Augustine that says God loves each of us, us as if there were only one of us. You matter to God with his infinite love and attention. You, no matter how unimportant. In fact, those of us who feel kind of like the outcasts, you know, who feel like the marginalized, like we're the less important people, the heart of God is especially drawn to those. And so the ache in your heart matters to God. God sees you. He sees your desire. And if you're not sure where to begin, if you're like, well, I'd like to explore this religion, but I don't know. Honestly, the first, the best place to begin is not even

reading, certainly not watching more YouTube videos. The best place to begin is just sincere prayer. And remember, you're talking to a person. He knows what's in your heart. So just like the way you'd like pluck up your courage to go ask a girl on a date, you get down on your knees and you say, hey, God, if you're real, help me to find you. Reveal yourself to me. Help me to encounter you in my life. and then you just keep your eyes white open, and he'll get through to you. For more on this topic, I'm going to put up a picture for the first time of my forthcoming book, which is all about these themes, the emotional sense that Christianity makes. It's called Why Christianity Makes Sense, A Book About Jesus, The Mysteries of the World on the Longings of Your Heart,

releases September 2006. I couldn't be more excited. It's the most important thing I'll ever write. I really believe that. I poured my heart into it, and I truly hope it could shepherd people toward faith in Christ, especially for those of us who know the anguish of these questions. Many of us who are Christians, we are not immune from the anguish of churning through these difficult questions. If that's you, may the Lord bless you. I hope my book could be helpful to you in the process

as well. Thanks for watching, everybody. See you in the next video.