Earlier this week Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responded to Kathleen Parker’s article The quest to sort out competing and comparable religions with his own rebuttal, All Roads Lead to Heaven?—Kathleen Parker Does Theology. Essentially, it’s a debate on whether there is only one way to heaven and if it matters. Yesterday, Mohler tweeted a post by a USA Today columnist who summarized the debate and posed this question,
Would you call yourself a particularist (you need to know Jesus name to take the bridge), a universalist (drive, sail, fly or swim, it’s the same island) or inclusivist (Jesus made access possible even if you don’t know his name)?
The comments are 18 pages long. I can’t read comments on these types of articles for long before I get annoyingly irritated. It always ends up in a ridiculous argument telling who’s stupid for believing what and why. But there was one comment that caught my attention. It said something to the effect of
if Christians really believe Jesus and that he’s all about love then why do they ignore people, keep to themselves, and don’t help people the way Jesus did.
(Here’s my own little soapbox: Jesus is all about love, but he’s also about holiness. People, even a lot of Christians, seem to miss that. Moving on…)
There is a disconnect between our faith and our culture. Christians are seen as foolish people who believe in a God that is either not real or not loving, why then–most ask–would a loving God create a hell? Why waste your time deluding yourself and spending your life serving something that doesn’t exist?
Sure, the Bible says “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18), but I also agree with the atheists. Why align yourself to a radical belief system that tells you to live by faith and not by sight, to follow a man who tells his followers to drink his blood and eat his flesh in order to have eternal life (Jn. 6:54)—and then not live like he did.
Doesn’t that make you a fool?
To go to church, sing songs of praise, drop a check in the offering plate and then walk out the doors to live a life that looks just like everyone else’s.
Only a fool would say they know the way to eternal peace and happiness, but live in despair, division, and discontent.
Only a fool would keep quiet if they really knew what would bring man complete satisfaction.
Only a fool would give money to a building fund and neglect the poor, needy, and helpless.
And so, that is why…
The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
Brennan Manning
We are the greatest hindrance to our own cause. It’s us.
Not them.
Not the world.
Not the church down the street.
Not the crazy cults and denominations with “bad theology.”
It’s us.
We neglect to show Christ–to live and be Christ to the world, because there is a disconnect.
There is a disconnect between what we say we believe and what we actually do. If we really believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is the only way to eternal life and complete fulfillment—then wouldn’t will live like it?
I want to live like it’s true. I don’t always, but I want to that.
Do you?
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