I believe there is a huge dilemma in our post modern American culture especially as I talk to more and more people along with what I see in the media. There is this assumption that any faith as long as you have it is a good thing. Whether it be faith in your church, god, organization, aspiration, or anything else. The atheist or agnostic may tend to disagree with me, but I will admit that they have more faith (well blind faith) than I do. To believe that nothing created everything or to say "we don't know what or where creation came from" is to deny common and in depth evidence to the claim of biblical Christianity and a Creator God. To me that takes a huge amount of blind faith to think anything otherwise could be responsible when there is no such reliable evidence. It is nothing simply more than rebellion and an excuse to justify sin.
The truth is, is that faith in the wrong direction is deadly. No one will admit that different religions are wrong anymore. There is this assumption that if you disagree with someone regarding their religion and be accepting or even embracing of it then you are being loving. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying one is to go on a witch hunt persecuting those with different beliefs. Before I get deeper into this please realize this blog is for those who call themselves Christians. Acceptance is a tricky word and please don't take it out of context when I use it in the way I did. Can I accept that someone is an atheist and converse with them, yep. Can I eat lunch with a Buddhist and be friendly and generally care for that person, of course! What I am talking about by acceptance in the above is the kind of acceptance that you accept that their religion will get them to Heaven or is okay for them as long as they are happy. You accept that you don't have a responsibility to share with them the one true way despite the repercussions on your relationship because their religion works for them. That is the acceptance which I don't think a true Christian should ever have.
If we call ourselves Christians and don't realize that Christ is the only way then examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way. Contrary to what other religions and sources say you have to know the Son to know the Father. That is comforting for me, but scary because there are so many out there who don't. Do you not realize this? If you do then ask yourself what are you going to do about it? Are you going to sit back and accept the fact that someone is literally on the highway to hell or are you going to share the greatest news that saved you from hell? If you have no desire to share the gospel then there is either a lack of true love for people or you yourself may not be saved. This is a huge deal.
I have written about this before, but find a good biblical gospel tract. www.livingwaters.com has great ones. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone about the gospel you can hand one to them or put it in a place you know they will find it. You can even witness to people on the internet! Being Christians we need to go out and share the good news, biblically. It is a shame and makes me question many peoples salvation when they claim they are saved by grace, but have absolutely nothing to show for it except maybe a nice demeanor about them. Several religions have the works based outlook backwards while modern Christianity for the most part has none. Good works are the evidence of our salvation, not the means. Please, I beg of you to go share your faith because anything outside of the repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, leads to hell, an everlasting torment and punishment for sinning against a holy, loving, righteous, just God who provided a way for you through His Son.
I believe there are 4 reasons why people don't share the Gospel.
1. They are selfish.
2. They aren't confident in what they believe.
3. They don't know how.
4. They are scared.
#1 and #2 may reveal that one may not even be saved to be begin with if those are true. #3 is an excuse that can be easily overcome and #4 really ties in with #1 if you think about it. There are plenty of resources, including the best one of all, the Bible, on how to share the Gospel. If you have questions about it shoot me an e-mail and would love to talk to you and help you out.
I got off topic a little bit, but let me reiterate that all paths do not lead to Heaven. They do however lead to God...and judgment. Being a good person will not save anyone because there is not one who is good, especially me. Just having faith in anything will not save you. It doesn't matter what one believes, it matters what is true. Belief never creates genuine truth, however truth creates genuine belief. And that one truth is God's Word revealed in the 66 books of the Bible, not a church, person in power, "religious" figure, organization or any other "religion" for that matter.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." - Matthew 7:13
The narrow road that leads to life is Jesus Christ. It's what He died for and 11 of His 12 disciples and many, many, many others are martyred today for.
God bless you and yours.
In Christ,
Joey Acker
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