I have a good friend who is an atheist. She's a good, kind person and just happens to be an atheist. Now in the past couple of years she's started to open her mind a little that there's more to life than just the physical things we see. She's starting to grasp that just maybe there's a spiritual element to life too. I have another friend who didn't see the need for God, that religion was the opiate of the people, and who was a humanist atheist. But then he was struck by tragedy in his life in a big way. He now has a softer stance on God. He's by no means a church-going Christian, but would probably describe himself as agnostic now. These are two real-life examples of people I'd say are on the start of their journey to find God.
Now I could give my example of how I came to be a follower of Christ, or I could point you toward other "testimonies" of people seeking and finding God. The story of Nabeel Qureshi is particularly cool (check out the link). There are many, many stories of how people have sought after God, been pursued by God or plain just surrendered to God. All were very different paths.
So it's obvious to me that God uses different means and methods - different pathways, if you like - to get us to Him. But in the midst of these observations, Jesus says two very controversial and troubling things: (1) "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." and (2) "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Now, I need to be clear that these things were said by Jesus. They're not claims made by a religious order after some church meetings, they're not revelations from hours of meditation and self-contemplation, and they're not even the words of a prophet. These are the words of Jesus, the God-Man, who claimed to be God Himself and proved it by dying on a cross and then coming back to life. They're either true or they're not.
The ramifications of what Jesus said, then, are twofold:
- The path to God is narrow and not a lot of people look for it and find it.
- Jesus is the final gateway to God.
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
Nice Post Andy! A very thoughtful post indeed. In my recent return to Jesus, I asked some pretty pointed questions of my pastors. Specifically, I could not follow anyone that would condemn good people to destruction. Both Pastors said that they fully expect to see folks in Heaven that they would not have expected to see. It was good enough for me at the time, as the path of Jesus is certainly the one that is the most familiar and comfortable to me.
ReplyDeleteSince then for me, sans any biblical backing, it has come down to what does "I am the way" mean? Does it mean you have to verbally acknowledge the divinity of Jesus (as is traditional) or does it mean you aspire to see, understand, act, and love as Jesus did? I am not a scholar in this area at all, just an engineer, but for me the latter option seems more like what the love of God would create in our world, and allows a lot of paths to God.
Cheers,
Hi Bruce. Thanks for posting a comment. I have the more traditional view of Jesus for sure.
ReplyDeleteUltimately what’s important is how we relate to God first, and then how we interact with people as a reflection of our love for Him. If He really did come to Earth and die for our sins then we need to respond somehow. Many reject Him for various reasons, some of which I’ve tried to address in this blog, or they ignore Him which is effectively the same as rejecting. I’m not sure if it’s helpful to you but I found this quote from C.S. Lewis helpful in thinking about heaven and hell and the choices people make:
‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.’ (The Great Divorce)