Sorting Beans » Christianity

Suffering for the Salvation of Another

Jonathan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:30:20 +0000

Today I am sharing with you a free devotional I get via email through Ephesians Four Ministries. I thought it was a bit moving and said a lot about our love for others amidst persecution.

Persecution is going to happen, but when it does, how will you and I respond?

Enjoy the article and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.” – Matthew 5:11

Recently, a friend told a true story about one of his closest friends who experienced great suffering for the soul of his persecutor. This man worked on a cargo ship. His boss was the captain. This friend was a committed Christian who shared his faith with others and was a good worker. One day the friend led the sea captain’s girlfriend to Christ. The sea captain already hated and ridiculed the Christian worker because of his faith in Christ. When his girlfriend came to Christ, she stopped sleeping with the captain. The captain blamed the Christian man for the change in his girlfriend. One day he entered the restaurant where the Christian man was having lunch. He walked over to his table and began hurling obscenities and began beating him. The Christian man simply tried to defend himself but did not fight back. The captain kept beating him until eventually the man lay on the floor bleeding.

Two men entered the restaurant and saw what was taking place. They jumped the sea captain and took him outside and began beating him. The sea captain was beaten so badly that he needed immediate medical attention. The Christian worker saw the condition of the sea captain, came to his aid, and began helping him. The sea captain was so moved that this man could do this after he had literally beaten him bloody that he began to weep, not understanding what could move a man to have such love in the face of being beaten. The sea captain accepted Jesus at that moment.

The Bible tells us that while we were yet sinners Christ came and paid our penalty so that we might live eternally. Many in the workplace have never known the love of Christ. You might be the only one they ever meet who can introduce them to this love. Ask God to show you how to love the unlovable in your workplace today.

Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Living “Right”

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Going to Church

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Being a Christian: It Means More Than Going to Church

Jonathan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:02 +0000

Guest article written by Demian Farnworth, keynote blogger at FallenandFlawed.com.

There are two people in the world: Those who go to church and those who don’t.

Let’s talk about those who go to church.

We all know a man who never misses a Sunday morning service–not because he wants to be there… But because it’s his duty.

Dad would roll over in his grave if he didn’t.

A duty he symbolically checks off his list as he kisses his shaky, silver-haired mother on the cheek and then slips out the door, never to give church, God or Christ a second thought.

This man “goes” to church.

On the other hand, we have the man who manically drags his family to church every Sunday only to break down midway through the sermon, struck dumb by the conviction of the Holy Spirit on some secret sin holed up in his heart.

Fortunately he eventually pulls himself together and rejoices when God reminds him of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

But this man’s not done.

Throughout the week he nurses that tension between conviction and joy–his thoughts always hovering between shame from sin and pride in Christ.

Yes, he goes to church. But as you can see, he’s manifestly different than the first man and church doesn’t define him. What gives?

The truth is really very simple.

And it’s found in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Here we have one man who goes to the temple. He tithes perfectly. Fasts frequently. He’s the poster child for sublime obedience to rules and regulations.

And he lets you know it.

The man, in reality, is someone we all look up to–and admire.

We gush: “You fast how many times a week? I wish I could do that.” We brag: “Have you heard how much money this guy gives? It’s unbelievalbe!”

He can’t go wrong.

Then stumbles in the tax collector. His shirt is untucked. His children are loud. He forgot his checkbook. He loathes fasting.

But his heart is broken. Not over what you think. No, his heart is broken over his so-called infidelity toward God.

Funny thing, we tend to avoid this guy. And his children. Instead, we crowd around the Pharisee, hoping he’ll invite us to tea.

What’s not so funny is that this man is the tax collector who Jesus said is justified. The reason? The Pharisee exalted himself while the tax collector humbled himself.

Here’s my point: God’s got the tax collector’s heart, but not the Pharisee’s, because the tax guy wants to obey God while the Pharisee wants to impress man with his feats of asceticism.

The Pharisee’s got it all wrong.

God wants obedience over sacrifice. He wants the heart and not the ritual. He wants humility and not self-appointed pride.

More importantly, he wants an empty vessel. One he can fill with Christ. F. B. Meyer said, “The only hope of a decreasing self is an increasing Christ.”

We have abundant examples of Christ-like humility: Jesus said “learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart” (Matt. 11:29). Christ also said I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:27).

But if we really want an example of humility, we look to the cross: “He humbled himself and became obedient to death.”

That’s the secret of redemption.

So what does it mean to be a Christian?

It’s not owning a Bible, being nice, “believing”, or living “right”. Nor is it simply going to church.

Being a Christian begins and ends with humility. As Augustine said, “What is the first thing in religion? I should reply: The first, second and third thing therein is humility.”

So, in the end, much to the Pharisees surprise, he who humbles himself is actually the one who will be exalted.

It’s a stunning paradigm that turns our world on it’s head. As it should be.

Editor’s note: We’ve been through a challenging series of “Being a Christian” and I would love to hear your feedback. That means the good and the bad. Has this affected you in some way? Has your understanding of what being a Christian is been challenged? Please tell us in the comments below.

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Being a Christian: It Means More Than Living “Right”

Jonathan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:00:49 +0000

Guest article written by Daniel C. Wilson, keynote blogger at DesireSpiritualGrowth.com

There is no one so useless as the one who is lukewarm, content, comfortable, and safe behind a buffer of outer holiness.

Trying to remedy this by focusing on living “right” can feed this unusable stratagem. When we focus on living “right,” we inevitably miss out on a passionate pursuit of Christ.

Not only that, but our pursuit of right living empties our life of the spiritual power that ought to be filling our life.

What are you zealous for?

Do you lack zeal for prayer? For missions? For church? For Bible study?

If so, the problem is not a lack of information or focus on those activities.

We tend to define our purpose in terms of what we do, but that hamstrings us because the only way to be filled with a proper passion for prayer, missions, church, and Bible study is to have the heart of Christ.

We get the heart of Christ not by focusing primarily on those activities, but by focusing on Christ Himself.

As Tim Dearborn wrote,

“The church does not exist for mission. It exists for the Lord Jesus Christ. To set mission before the church as its essential reason for existence is to risk focusing devotion on an idol…we dare not make something we do the justification of our existence. Lack of interest in mission is not fundamentally caused by an absence of compassion or commitment, nor by lack of information or exhortation. And lack of interest is not remedied by more shocking statistics, more gruesome stories or more emotionally manipulative commands to obedience. It is best remedied by intensifying people’s passion for Christ, so that the passions of his heart become the passions that propel our hearts.”

Even something as noble sounding as prayerful, missional living is useless apart from Christ.

It is a show, sham, and shame when Christians – me included – act as if there is a magical list of activities to master in order to be super spiritual.

Focusing on the result rather than the reason is as senseless as a bride prizing her ring above the groom himself.

Right living vs. Right loving

It is this passionate, whole-hearted love that sets the Pharisee and the believer apart. The Pharisee mastered right living but was not filled with love for God.

As Paul wrote in Philipians 3, the Pharisaical lifestyle is rubbished compared to gaining Christ as our righteousness.

Don’t neglect the mission or other elements of Christian living. But they are not what it means to be Christian⎯they are only an outpouring of the relationship a Christian monopolizes in his or her life.

The Effect of Sanctification in Christian Living

We can’t change who we are by changing what we do…but when the gospel changes who we are, it does change what we do.

Get focused on behavior without a heart change, and you’re stuck in moralism/legalism.

Get focused on salvation with no works…then your faith is dead, grace looks cheap, and there’s the mythical justification without sanctification.

The essence of our salvation is life-transforming union with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

As the bride rivets her eyes on the groom, so we, the Church, must lock our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. The rest of our life flows from that holy union.

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Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

Being A Christian: It Means More Than Owning a Bible

Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

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Being A Christian: It Means More Than Owning a Bible

Jonathan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Guest article by Don Dudley, keynote blogger at YouSeeDryBones.com.

I own books. Let me explain.

I own a history book. I can look in it and learn all about the people who lived in the ancient Sumerian culture. There are early samples of their writings like the epic known as Ishtar’s Descent into the Netherworld. How awesome is that? In the appendix it shows how cuneiform evolved into Hebrew and later Greek.

However, I am not an ancient history scholar.

I have a diet book. It’s all about getting good abs. It shows me how to eat correctly and what exercises I can do to have a sweet upper body. It has a special chapter devoted to building “explosive” speed by correctly developing my muscles.

Judging by my waistline, I am not a body builder.

Another awesome book I own is called The Blair Handbook. It is an extensive volume to help writers know the grammatical rules. This book includes sections on how to notate academic papers in MLA and APA.

Despite this, I can barely spell my own name and homonyms trip me up.

Oh, I also own a Bible.

I can count 12 Bibles in front of me. I have Bible Works 7 software on my computer so I can look up those Greek words I don’t know, and I have Logos on my iPod Touch.

I love to read my Bible(s). There are great things in there about history, dieting, and if you have a King Jimmy, you have access to a beautifully written book.

Not only do I have more than a dozen Bibles, I have books to help me understand the culture in which they were written, the original languages of the authors, and the correct ways to exegete text to enable proper hermeneutics.

I have numerous books about the Cross, the most beautiful thing ever to happen in human history.

I have books containing maps, dictionaries, and several books by John Piper.

It doesn’t mean jack.

It all counts for nothing if I don’t understand that the true meaning of the Bible is Jesus. It is Him who changes hearts and lives.

We can have libraries of books and speak in “Christian-ease,” but who really cares if we have not been radically regenerated by the Holy Spirit?

A professor of mine went to the Congo on a long-term mission trip. They brought a Bible crudely translated into the language of the natives at the lowest common reading level (that of a 10-year-old). It spawned a revival like we have not seen since that of the Great Awakening.

That’s because it affected their hearts.

If it stops at your head, you will probably choke on it and die. I hope.

So many think owning a Bible and boldly reading it in public makes Jesus love us.

As a result, our path to salvation comes through as being an over-bearing pain in the… sorry, I thought this was my site. I won’t finish that last sentence. [editor's note: Thank you, Don]

The Bible has no magic powers and it is NOT a book of spells.

Just owning it does not make us a little Gandolf who can run around speaking in words we don’t even use any more (seriously, I know a person who has used “mortification of the flesh” in their day-to-day speech as if everyone in the room knew what they were talking about. FYI, John Owen has been dead for years, people don’t talk like that anymore…sorry, soap box again).

The Bible is not a history book or a diet book. The intent and purpose of the Bible is not so we can live the easy life. It is not, I repeat, NOT a self-help manual.

And for the record, it is not a rule book, but a book about the One who rules.

The Bible is God’s word.

Owning a Bible and reading it does not the Christian make (yea, I went Yoda on you, what of it?).

The Bible is a book which tells us of God’s redemption of all humans despite the fact they continually reject Him.

The Bible penetrates our hearts by breaking them for the King of the World who was crucified because we have porn addictions and beat our wives.

The Bible is the very acts of God recorded by the power of the Holy Spirit in a story of love, mercy, and liberty. A true story of anger, wrath and judgment. A story of a savior who loved us so much He would die in our place on the Cross for our sin.

It is the very words of the Son of God, who came into human history as a man so we could shove a spear in His side, but who saves us in spite of this.

It is a living book, an active book. By reading it, we are privileged to learn about the God who wants to be in close relationship with us, the way He designed it before man screwed it all up.

Hotel rooms have Bibles. Some of the most intelligent atheists in the world own and have read a Bible. If all it took was owning a Bible and reading it, the world would be a different place.

It takes the saving power of Jesus, by grace alone, through the Holy Spirit to draw us unto God the Father.

Praise be to God. Amen.

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Being a Christian: It Means More Than “Believing”

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Book Review: The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

Jonathan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:23:43 +0000

Today I review a book through BookSneeze, an extension of Thomas Nelson, The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns.

Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S. In his book, he writes of his journey through faith and how the corporate world took a toll on it.

In his introduction, Stearns clearly defines the perspective at which he is approaching in his book:

“we are carriers of the gospel—the good news that was meant to change the world. Belief is not enough. Worship is not enough. Personal morality is not enough. And Christian community is not enough. . . . When we committed ourselves to following Christ, we also committed to living our lives in such a way that a watching world would catch a glimpse of God’s character—His love, justice, and mercy—through our words, actions, and behavior” (3).

Quickly after he begins to tell his life story of how he has missed the Gospel message and how it “should” have affected him. This was the seller for me. I always appreciate when someone is openly honest about his or her life when writing to others about how they ought to live. Stearns does this well. And because he did this so well, I was bought into the book by the first two chapters.

After the first two chapters, Stearns begins to talk about how he was challenged to leave the safety of his high income job at Lenox, America’s fine tableware and gift company. It was a call to be president of World Vision. And not until about half way through the book does Stearns get into the meat of his message. But when he does, it’s pretty good.

What I liked

I love the fact that Stearns talks about Christians being much about doing, and not just being. Stearns brings out statistics on rich, poor, child deaths, sickness, disease, and others. He not only reveals them, but shares what World Vision is helping to alleviate some of these problems, but not without a call to action to his readers. And he does it well.

Stearns reveals intense truths about the world around us, the world that those of us who are comfortable do not notice very well. And herein lies the problem: that the Gospel we profess ought to be a Gospel that causes us to move into social action on behalf of these afflicted people. The “hole” in our Gospel, says Stearns, is a Gospel that does not move into social action (paraphrase). The “whole” Gospel, though, is one where we take responsibility for the poor and show them the Gospel by our action so that in response they would turn to God (121-22).

Overall, I think Stearns gives a healthy treatment on the condition of many of us Christians who profess a message, yet do nothing to authenticate, or make known this message in social action. If anyone is qualified to give this sort of message, it is certainly Richard Stearns.

What I didn’t like

What I’m concerned with is his interpretation of some Scriptures. He is certainly no theologian, and I do not hold him to that standard. But I know how easy it is to make Scripture seem to mean what you want it to mean when you have an agenda to push. And most certainly this book has an agenda. But it’s an agenda I agree with.

So for that, I will give this review a healthy 4 out of 5 stars. The reason I don’t give 5 is because of some of the theological elements. I don’t think that social action is always a part of the Gospel. I think there should have been a distinction between the Gospel and “Mission.” Not that they are separated, but that the Gospel message always includes words, mission does not.

So the old saying “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words” is off the mark. Words are always needed when preaching the Gospel. Always. But words aren’t always needed in Christian mission. And the Gospel drives the Christian mission, not the other way around. In spite of this, my rating stands firm. A healthy 4 out of 5!

If you want to check out the book for yourself, you can here on Thomas Nelson’s site.

Or, you can help a brother out and make your purchase through my affiliate site by following this link.

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Book Review: Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century

Moral Obligations in a Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Being a Christian: It Means More than “Believing”

Jonathan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:29:25 +0000

How long before you actually followed Christ did you say that you “believed” in God?

I can speak for myself here. It was for all my life. I’ve always “believed” in God.

But I didn’t trust in Him. I didn’t love Him. I didn’t worship Him.

There have been numerous people with whom I’ve talked and have told me that they believe in God. Of course, this used to satisfy my inquiry. But not now.

Now, however, when someone tells me they believe in God, I ask them, “Oh yea? That’s great!” And then follow with, “What do you mean by that?”

So why does it take more than just believing?

Whoever follows Jesus knows his voice. They discern from the voice of the enemy, and the voice of their Savior. To put it plainly in the words of Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

But what does it mean to follow Jesus? I suppose we could write a book about this, but this article does not afford the time and space. So I will break it down into two things for now that are most protuberant: Loving God and Loving Others.

This comes from Jesus’ response to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36-40:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love God, and love others. Sounds simple enough, eh? I’m not sure that this sounds simple, but what it does sound like is trusting, worshipping, and doing.

James gives us a good picture of what having faith in Jesus is largely about. He points out in the second chapter of James that believing must be tied with doing. In other words, loving your neighbor:

“But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” (James 2:18-20)

Basically, if a professes to be in full support of something, yet does nothing to show his or her support, then this person has no ground to profess such a thing.

To illustrate: If I claim that I love my wife, yet ignore everything she is about and seek out other women for my relational needs, I’m a liar and deceiver and do not love my wife no matter what I say. Rest assured, though, because I do love my wife.

In this way profession is supported by application.

What about salvation by faith alone? Sola fide!?

The Jehovah’s Witnesses try to use this verse in James to mean that your works alone justify salvation, but this is untrue. Works alone truncate the Gospel message.

It is not by works alone, but by faith alone one is saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). But this faith is supposed to produce works in us (Eph. 2:10). And that’s why James extends this onto saying that faith without deeds is useless, because that is one of the very things faith is supposed to produce!

Faith produces works, works do not produce faith. Works is a byproduct of faith, not the other way around.

And in this way, being a Christian means more than believing. To an extent it means doing. But remember, the doing is a result of the believing (Eph. 2:8-10). And this “doing” never leaves believing—it is a doing that requires faith (John 6:27-29).

The desire to “do” is given at the moment of regeneration.

This is key. I used to believe that if one was doing “good” works, it proved his faith in Christ. Which, to some extent is true. But not entirely.

The works one does are grounded in the reasons he does them. In other words, are you working—doing—to gain merit with God, or are you doing because you love God and want people to praise your Father in heaven? (Matt. 5:16)

The evidence of a regenerated heart is a change of desire—the desire to please God… to trust Him… to worship Jesus.

And as a result, this works of a regenerate heart are reflective of worshipping Jesus.

Being a Christian is much deeper than believing. It’s trusting, loving, and worshipping Jesus.

What does loving Jesus look like in your life? How has your faith in Jesus produced a change of desire in you? What do you think it looks like to others? Leave your comments below.

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Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Keeping God in the Spice Cabinet

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Being a Christian: It Means More Than Being Nice

Jonathan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:49:31 +0000

I have been known to do personal surveys from time to time.

Not the kind where you have a seat and fill out a form, but the kind where I would just ask specific questions to random people as I encounter them usually about the topic of faith.

Some of the surveys I have done have been

Asking people why they wear a cross

Asking people why they believe in God

Asking people why they believe in Jesus

Asking people what it means to be a Christian

Asking people why they believe whatever it is they believe

There have been more, but these are the ones I have done the most. I especially enjoy asking people why they wear a cross or what it means to be a Christian.

And honestly, people have been quite offended by these questions. I suppose it is because they had to give a reason for something they were unsure of.

But do we really understand what it means to be a Christian?

When I have talked to many people about Christian identity and what it means to them, would you really be surprised at the multitude of different answers?

Answers have been as numerous as there are hairs on my head. Well, not really. But they have been many.

Yet, a few answers tend to creep up from time to time.

That I believe in Jesus

That Jesus died for my sins

Treat others the way you would be treated

I don’t think any of these answers are right on. And one of them is far off.

I think the most popular answer is the third: do unto others as you would want then to do unto you.

Being a Christian is not simply about being nice to others. It’s way more.

Actually, I would rather the word “nice” be replaced with “kindness.” Because “nice” is an adjective used to describe a gesture or behavior, it is not of the same caliber of kindness. Kindness has to do with the nature of an individual.

And sometimes, Jesus calls his “kind” followers to stand for things that are offensive to the world.

Which, by the way, is not always “nice.” For example: the cross of Christ is offensive. It’s an exclusive statement manifested in divine action.

It’s a bold proclamation that states “This is how you will be saved: by humbling yourself, repenting from your sins, and believing on me [Jesus].”

~~Christianity~~ Jesus proclaims that He is the only way to God.

But again, is this nice? No. Following Jesus goes way deeper than simply being “nice” and finds its deepest meaning in the love of God.

Being a Christian means more than being nice. It means being a child of the loving God. And while this is not always a call to be nice, it is always a call to act out of love (1 John 3:23-24).

Whether this would be sacrificing your time to minister to the underprivileged, to preach or witness to people about Jesus, to lead your family in Biblical truth, or to lead your single life in the purity of which you were called, it is always anchored in the love of God found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Is this new to you? How have you thought of being “nice” vs. being “kind?” How have you been called to love in your followership to Jesus? Leave your comments below.

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Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Don’t Miss Out On These

Moral obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

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Don’t Miss Out On These

Jonathan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:39:09 +0000

For this Friday I thought I would provide you with a list of articles that you would do well to read.

In fact, if you read them you will gain access to the most protected knowledge in the world.

That’s right, these articles will make you super smart—smarter than all your peers and spiritually superior. . .

Okay, maybe not. But they are good articles! And you should read them!

So here they are. Read them all!

From SortingBeans:

From Friends:

Extended Staff:

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Moral Obligations in Pop Culture. Make Sense?

Jonathan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:00:20 +0000

Popular culture can have a tendency to wear on the Christian so as to fade his or her colorful faith that most evidences itself—I think—in his or her visible moral framework.

Moral Framework and Christian Identity

Please understand that I do not suggest here that moral framework alone constitutes for Christian identity, but a Christian identity necessitates a moral framework.

To be sure, Christians are convicted by and large through their moral framework. This moral framework comes from their Biblical worldview, which states that they are to behave though the filter of a transcendent moral framework because they are children of the transcendent God (Romans 8:12-14).

Being a child of God, though, does not come by observing a moral law, but instead by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12-13). What is then produced as a result of this regeneration is then the desire for moral obligation.

Therefore, their sense of awe and gratitude of their salvation gives them a continual reminder that their adoptions as sons and daughters of God had nothing to do with their own efforts or “goodness.”

This gratitude then drives them to the humility of their Savior (Phil. 2:7-9) and the desire to honor Him with their lives. Thus, a moral framework is realized and becomes visible to the world.

Relating this to Pop Culture

Ironically, this is the very same message that Popular culture ought to hear⎯that God is willing to save in spite of one’s own moral condition.

But in God’s willingness to regenerate hearts comes the adherence to a moral obligation transcendent of one’s own preferences.

While moral behavior and regeneration must be distinct from each other, in that the former does not necessitate the latter, it must be clear that regeneration spawns moral behavior.

It may be better understood that once regeneration occurs, God gifts the believer not with behavior, but moral goodness that enables the behavior to follow.

By this moral goodness, the regenerated heart now has the desire to live righteously, which is something it had not possessed prior to regeneration.

Moral behavior or Moral goodness: Yes

Therefore, it is important to teach in a morally bankrupt culture that regeneration spawns moral goodness, but moral behavior alone justifies no one before God. This way the hearer of this message is able to differentiate between behavior modification and Gospel regeneration, as well as understanding the importance of the followed moral behavior.

How has Gospel Regeneration and Moral Obligation made sense in your mind? How do we relate this to our culture? Drop some thoughts below.

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Preaching or Witnessing: That is the Question

Ask, Seek, Knock – An observation found in Luke 11:1-13

Worldview: Christian Theism

Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

Jonathan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:24:41 +0000

**Guest post by Demian Farnworth at Fallen and Flawed.**

Great question. It’s one I’ve often struggled with and felt very awkward at times defending, whether that be with friends or family or strangers.

But what I’ve found is simply this: Jesus is very explicit that he—and he alone—is the only way to God.

Think John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”

How do people who reject Jesus as the only way to God deal with that?

They can’t.

See, if anyone reads the Gospels it’s clear that Jesus thought of himself as God. And also thought of himself as the way to God.

The rest of the letters in the NT bear witness to this.

What this means is that either Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. If he was either of those, then why grant him the status of “great teacher” who is just among many to point us to God. Why trust what he says?

But there’s a third alternative: He is actually who he said he was. He is, indeed, Lord. And in fact, his resurrection validates his claims as the son of God.

So it was Jesus—a man who died and rose again—that claimed he was the only way to God. That’s how I’d explain—clearly, reasonably—that Jesus is the only way to God to anyone who believed there is more than one way to God.

But what if someone says that all religions lead to the same God?

Well, that question deals with how people define God.

Understand, if anyone says that all religions lead to God, then there’s a good chance he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Listen: A close examination of Christianity and any other religion reveals deep differences. Fundamental differences.

Cool thing is, you don’t really need to know what those differences are. All you have to do when you run into someone who believes that all religions lead to God is ask him how he knows that’s true.

Ask yourself, and that person, these few questions:

1. How did he come to that conclusion?

Likely he hasn’t done his homework and has simply adopted the pluralist party line so he can do what he wants and enjoy his life.

In the same vein, people will say “God is too big to be limited to one man—Jesus.” They basically are saying the same thing, that all religions lead to God.

Okay.

2. Ask him what he means by that.

Again, how’d he come to that conclusion?

Ravi Zacherias wrote a great book on this topic: Jesus Among Other Gods. This book is a great introduction into comparative religion that will show you that not all religions are on the same page.

Finally, some people will insist that all truths are equal. Again, baloney. A cannot be both A and non-A at the same time and in the same place. That’s the law of noncontradiction.

Elementary logic.

A great, easy-to-read book you should pick up is Greg Koukl’s Tactics if you want to learn how to answer challenges. Read it and with a few tries you’ll have this apologetic thing down pat.

So tell me what you think? Dead on? Or way off? Got any other ways you answer the above challenges? I’m curious. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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