What about people who don’t hear about Jesus?

This is one of the most frequently raised objections to Christianity. And it’s a good one: Will God judge those who haven’t heard of Jesus?

The answer is two-fold… yes and no! No, in the sense that He will not judge us on the basis of revelation that we have not received. Yes, in that He will judge us on the basis of the knowledge we have.

Romans 1, then, claims that men are without excuse! Paul writes,

“For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that men are without excuse…” (Romans 1:20 NKJV).

In other words, we’ve received enough “revelation” from looking at the natural world to know that there is a God. Although that revelation may not be enough to clearly spell out the life of Jesus of Nazareth– and what He did for us– we can see that God exists, that He is good, and that we need grace.

The stranger thing is that Scripture suggests that people deny this truth! Paul suggests we “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (verse 18) and that “Professing to be wise, [we] became fools” (verse 22).

The word “suppress” is more equivalent to “hijack.” Just as a terrorist may alter the course of an aircraft, we alter the intention of God’s revelation. The way most of us alter it is by becoming “enlightened” enough so that we know we don’t need God (Hence, thinking we are smart, we show our utter idiocy!).

Now, we know that, even in light of this, there were people in the Old Testament who walked with God and were “saved,” even though they had no idea who Jesus was. Noah. Abraham, the Father of the Faith. Moses. Elijah, David, and Solomon. Daniel. Jeremiah…

Certainly, there were people in the Old Testament who were not saved, also. God wiped out a corrupt world, rescuing only Noah and those in the Ark. Fire fell on Sodom and Gomorrah…

So what do we say to this? We must 1) allow God to be God, and realize that we cannot understand everything there is to know, and 2) admit that we know the truth (we’ve been exposed to the total Gospel) so we most certainly will be held responsible! Recall, too, “the assumption of innocence often slips into the question unnoticed. What is often meant is not a perfect innocence, but a relative innocence. We observe that some persons are more wicked that others.” And, “If Paul is correct, the practice of religion does not excuse the pagan but in fact compounds his guilt.” In other words, God is the judge. Not us. And we know that God will be more than fair.

Related articles

• What Jesus actually said about Himself (andrewejenkins.wordpress.com)

Sometimes, being a “good person” has nothing to do with what you believe…

But… beliefs should be based on their practical effects, some people say… So, if people act kind and nice, etc… the argument goes, then we should be OK with whatever it is they believe.

At first glance, this argument might make sense, but it has holes. Big holes. You see, simply because an idea yields some practical effects does not mean that it is true.

For example, if I believe that all people are gods incarnate, and that they will turn on me instantly (striking me with a bolt, a sickness, or whatever fancies them), I will tend to treat them respectfully– out of fear! This is exactly what happened to Paul and Barnabas in Lystra (see Acts 14:11). The people thought Barnabas was Zeus and that Paul was Hermes!

If I believe that people are really monsters masquerading in human form (you’ve seen movies like Species and the T.V. show V and some of the others in which they do this), I will treat people… you got it… exactly the same way! Even though those two beliefs are far apart from each other.

Get this: If I believe that people are beautiful creations created in the image of God, and that God loves them and that Jesus came to show them how to connect with God… yes, I will treat them exactly the same way. The motivation may be different in each case, as is the driving belief, but the practical effect is the same. So are you a god, a monster, or a person in the God loves dearly?

The “practical effect” argument would suggest it doesn’t really matter…

Top 5, week ending 05/19: More residents, a wedding, recycled furniture, first open house done…

Here’s the “before” shot of a sofa we recycled this week. A few years ago we received 8 of them from Christian Service Mission, who received them from Christ Health Center when they bought their property in Woodlawn to renovate. The former tenant had been using them. So… scroll below for the “after.” A few coats of Valspar’s Cherry Red enamel, some deep cleaning, and into the updated lobby…

It’s been a month since a “top 5″ for the week post. I assure you, it’s not because we don’t have anything “top 5″ worthy. Rather, we’ve just been so incredibly busy- including a 9 day stretch for vacation.

Here’s the most current top 5:

We’ve had a quick boost to our attendance roster / housing list at The Village over the past few weeks. Much of this has to do with networking through drug courts and other agencies, a lot of it has to do with word of mouth. Either way, it’s humbling that we’re able to help more people. Each one is a person the Father loves, a life that matters… and is someone who will move beyond the past and do incredible things.

The wedding. Brian and Maggie are officially married. They came to The Village months ago. Then ended up serving. Then ended up serving more. Eventually, they worked themselves into staff positions. They’ve been together for ten years and have a few beautiful kids. This week, after clearing some old legalities, they got a marriage license. I signed it, did a quick ceremony, and they moved in together on the family hall at The Village. We’re doing a larger wedding with family, friends, cake, pictures, etc., on June 2 (a Saturday) at The Village.

 

New foyer. This week a few guys laid hardwoods in the lobby. Ministry is about people- not places. But, it helps to have a nice place to serve the people. They built a new front desk counter.. and recycled some old couches (in the pics on this post).

Prayer walks. The Prayer Force United Walks cranked back up last weekend (May 12) in Centerpoint. The walks are on a quarterly schedule, now.

Open House- first one down, more to come. The first Open House went great! We had a few hundred people come to the new place from the neighborhood, from partnering organizations / ministries / from churches across town. The Open House is once every four months, and is simply a hassle free, easy way for you to “come and see” what we do. We cook out, have staff on hand to answer questions, have people ready to take you on tours, and have plenty of time to talk. The event runs from 4:30 – 6:30 pm, and is a “come and go” thing. The next one is scheduled for July 7, 2012.

Grace to you,

AJ

The illogic of telling someone they’re arrogant for giving you good advice

Is Christianity the only way?

Despite the exclusive claims of Christ, most people object to the notion that there could only be one way to God. Let’s look at the most common objections that are raised one at a time. Today I’ll start with this one: It’s arrogant and intolerant to claim that!

Certainly, it is easy to adopt and arrogant attitude when one possesses the truth, or is on the winning side, but Christians (even though we do sometimes do that) should not. After all, the ground at the foot of the Cross is level…

We need to clarify, though, that the exclusive, “intolerant” claims made by Christians are not original with the Christians themselves, but are, rather, claims Jesus Christ made about Himself (which we have come to hold as true).

Consider this…

Is it arrogant of a waitress to warn you that the plate is hot, that you shouldn’t touch it, lest you burn yourself? Or, do you say, “Thank you! Thanks for showing me something that will help me not harm myself?”

When you learned your multiplication tables and took the test at school… and forgot that 9 x 7 = 63 and put 62 instead… Did you go to the teacher afterwards and say, “Wait! It’s 62 for me! You’re being intolerant and arrogant by insisting I make it 63!” No, truth exists outside of us. We respond and react to it. And it judges us, not vice versa.

The fact is that we make distinctions between right and wrong all the time.

If a blind/deaf man was standing at the edge of a busy intersection and asked, “Please, will you show me the way should I step… push me in the right direction…” Would you lead him into oncoming traffic? Certainly not, would you, somehow, communicate to him that “I really shouldn’t say that any way is better than another”? Of course not…

I had a friend whose mother has been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer (the Lord healed her, by the way). Imagine, though when she sat in the doctor’s office…  and the doctor will broke the news to her. Do you think she wanted to hear, “You have a malignant tumor spreading throughout your body. I think I know how to cure it, but to say so seems arrogant and I risk being narrowminded in regard to other options. So I think it’s best for me to say nothing at all”? Or, do you suppose she will want to know 1) her situation, and 2) the best remedy?

In light of this, consider Christ’s claim to be– and to show us– the Way.

All religions- yes, all of them- claim some degree of exclusivity

People often talk about Christianity being “intolerant” of other points-of-view. Here’s a little known theological tidbit: all religions claim some degree of exclusivity. This is the point that we often forget– or that we are not told. As Lee Strobel records in The Case for Christ:

It’s important to understand that Christianity is not the only religion that claims exclusivity. For instance, Muslims radically claim exclusivity– not just theologically, but also linguistically. Muslims believe that the sole, sufficient, and consummate miracle of Islam is the Koran. They say, however, it’s only recognizable in Arabic, and that any translation desacralizes it. And it’s not just a basic understanding of Arabic that’s required, but a sophisticated knowledge of the language.

As for Buddhism, it was born when Guatama Buddha rejected two fundamental assertions of Hinduism– the ultimate authority of the Vedas, which are their scriptures, and the caste system. Hinduism itself is absolutely uncompromising on two or three issues: the law of karma, which is the law of moral cause and effect, so that every birth is a rebirth that makes recompense for the previous life; the authority of the Vedas; and reincarnation…

Hinduism allows you to practice any religion so long as you buy into their notion of truth, which is syncretistic…

As for Sikhism… it came as a challenge to both Hinduism and Buddhism. Then there are the atheists– they reject the viewpoints of those who believe in God. And even Baha’ism, which claims to be a cosmic embrace of all religions, ends up excluding the exclusivists!

Ravi Zacharias suggests, “The statement that Christians are arrogant by claiming exclusivity ignores the reality that every other major religion does as well. So when people talk about arrogance, this cannot be a logical attack they are making.”