Too far gone

It was my selfishness, arrogance and rebellious heart that nailed my Jesus to the cross. I was born this way but that's no excuse. I also chose this way.  Because I cared more about my own feelings and status in life, God was an afterthought or an inconvenient truth I tried to ignore. 

When Jesus set His eyes on the cross, He was motivated by love:  His love for the Father; His love for me; His love for you.  He didn't have to do it but He chose to die the most horrific death so that I could be restored in my relationship to God the Father through Him.

In the last hours before Jesus died on the cross, one of the men crucified next to Him said two things. Firstly he said to another criminal being crucified with them "We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" and then turning to Jesus he says "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."  This man who knew he'd done wrong and was being justly punished, turned to Jesus.  And Jesus response? "Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'"

In this, my last blog where I discuss reasons to not believe, I address the question of someone feeling they're not good enough to become a Christian, or that they've done too much bad stuff, or maybe just one really bad thing for which they feel like God hates them and would never forgive.  The awesome news from the Bible is that no matter what you've done, no matter how low you've stooped or how far you feel you've fallen, in Jesus it's not about your performance, it's about Him.  When he went to the cross and died for your sins and mine, that included anything and everything.  The Bible puts it this way:

For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves.
Now, who of us would dare to die for the sake of a wicked person? We can all understand if someone was willing to die for a truly noble person. But Christ proved God’s passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly!
And there is still much more to say of his unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in my sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God. So if while we were still enemies, God fully reconciled us to himself through the death of his Son, then something greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, and because we share in his resurrection life, how much more we will be rescued from sin’s dominion!
And even more than that, we overflow with triumphant joy in our new relationship of living in harmony with God—all because of Jesus Christ!

Jesus' interaction with the criminal on the cross next to Him shows that even someone who considers themselves the worst in the world, are just one step away from forgiveness and a new life if they will just reach out to Him.  I've heard it preached a few times that no matter how far you feel you are from God, He's right there with you and all you need to do to get to Him is to turn around.  That's not "turn your life around," that's simply turn around to face Him.  Look to Jesus and He will give you full forgiveness and restoration. No-one is ever too far gone.

Different Paths to God

So, when I posted my list of 10 Reasons Not to Believe, I called this one "All Paths Lead to God."  I've changed the title a little to say there are "Different Paths to God." I think this conveys the idea better; that we don't all find God the same way but have different pathways that get us there. Now I'm going to say something controversial for an orthodox Christian, which is that I think individuals do follow different paths to find God.  But before I get burned at the stake for being a heretic, please let me explain...

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:

1. The path to God is narrow and not a lot of people look for it and find it.
2. Jesus is the final gateway to God.

So, you may go through different pathways in your search for meaning and for God, but ultimately the only way to actually find Him is through Jesus. My prayer for You is that you do seek Him and that you find Him.

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
    and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Hypocritical Christians

OK, hang in there as I'm up to #8 in my 10 Reasons to Not Believe series...

In this post I'm going to try to tackle the strangely ironic reason why many people are put off following Christ, which is the actions of those purporting to be His followers.  I say it's ironic because Christ Himself said His followers should be "salt and light" and that "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." So what's going on?

A friend recently posted this video on Facebook in which Graham Allen talks about an interaction with a "Christian" woman that exemplifies the problem.  The woman makes the mistake of judging Graham by his tattoos rather than who he is and what he does. It's a sad example of a distinct lack of love and lack of grace. That's certainly not Christ-like.

I've been fortunate to not experience this type of attitude very often. Almost all the Christians I know, and have known, balk at the idea of judging people by appearances or lording it over anyone from some weird sense of moral superiority. We recognize we're filthy rotten sinners saved by grace.  If you need chapter and verse let's go with Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Now, don't get me wrong.  We're all prone to hypocrisy; me included.  Sometimes I judge people without really knowing them and I'm sure I offend people without hardly trying.  But that's part and parcel of being a fallible human being.  We all mess up. As Christ followers we can confess this, ask for forgiveness and start over.  By God's grace and not anything good in me, I can start over. I'm not better than anyone and much worse than many.

Some Christ-followers - along with non-Christians - get fed up with Christian hypocrisy and want to denounce all religion and shun the church.  Unfortunately Jesus doesn't really give us this option if we want to be true followers of Christ.  He loves the church, so much so in fact, that He died for it.  The scriptures describe the church as His bride. If we reject His bride, how can we say we love Him? So what do we do?

Let me wrap up this blog with one of my favorite scriptures, written by St Paul to encourage Christians in one of the early churches in Philippi. This is how we should be in the church, I think:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Peer Pressure

I spent some time on this reason to not believe in my previous blog. A primary reason for putting off a decision to follow Christ is concern about what our friends or family will think of us.  I discussed that you need to figure out if it's worth it to you to follow Christ; to "count the cost." In this blog I want to spend a little time looking at this from a different angle, namely taking the courage to break free of the snare which is peer pressure.

Peer pressure is a powerful force. From the schoolyard to the workplace, from overbearing parents to manipulative siblings, we've all experienced coercion in it's various forms trying to get us to comply with what someone else wants us to do. Usually it's a subtle suggestion and we generally don't want to rock the boat or upset anyone. So we just go with the flow.  Other times the pressure is more direct and we're faced with either complying or suffering direct consequences like being shunned by the group, ridiculed by them, or - in the most extreme - facing physical harm.

In our current age of social media saturation, this peer pressure shows itself in new forms that can cause great anxiety as we try to fit in, seek more "likes" and compare ourselves to a wider pool of peers. We want to catch the wave of current feelings in our culture and castigate those that stand against them. The internet has a way of amplifying the peer pressure further out of proportion.

The scriptures call all this the "fear of man" and it says the "Fear of man will prove to be a snare." It seems self-evident that it is for many people.

So how do we break out of the snare?

In the book of Proverbs it says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction." And in many other places the Bible warns against those who neglect to fear God or fear people instead of God. This may sound strange to some, but if you think about the immensity of God and His power plus the fact that He brought us all into being through creation, then a healthy and reverent fear is only right. More important is that fearing God rather than fearing humans puts things into the correct perspective. Jesus put it this way: "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God."

We all will face God at the end. It is better to fear Him than what our peers might think. So, be courageous. Make a stand for God and for yourself.

Maybe Later

I'm just over half way through the list of reasons to not believe.  Of all the reasons I've listed, this one - to say "maybe later" - is perhaps to some a strange reason, but it's also the most personal to me. It's the reason I didn't believe for many years.  Or perhaps I should say it's why I didn't commit to following Christ.  A few years ago I posted a blog that gave my "Faith Story," that is, the story of how I became a follower of Jesus.

As a teenager I heard "the Gospel" at least two or three times, in school (yeah, very radical for my American friends) and at a local youth group. Each time I heard it, it resonated with me and yet I wouldn't respond for fear of what my friends would think. I always thought "maybe someday" but never today.  I'm guessing this is quite common. We worry about what others think which holds us back from doing what we know deep down is right, despite what others might think. Peer pressure is a powerful barrier.  Unfortunately, the scriptures are quite clear. Jesus said "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Even at that time, I knew that I was sitting on the fence and that wasn't good enough.


Turning back again to scripture, one of the radical things Jesus said is "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." In that scripture He goes on to say that like someone considering a building project, or a king deciding whether or not to go to war, would count the cost first and so you too should count the cost before deciding to become His disciple.  He concludes by saying "In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."

In these words He hits us right in the heart. Will we choose to love Him over any other, whether best friends or even our closest family in order to follow Him? That's a tough fence to climb over.


So it isn't supposed to be easy, to choose to follow Jesus.  But if you do, then He promises so much more in return: “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”


One last scripture for this blog, and it's one I pray often for friends and family who've not yet decided to follow Jesus:

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
   
  and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

You can say "maybe later" as I did all those years ago, and perhaps God will be gracious and give you a second, third and fourth chance to respond to Him. But perhaps not, and maybe today is the day to step off the fence and make that decision.
 I pray you will.

An Engineer’s Gospel

I noted in my original post that there is a scripture that says "how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?"  It's logical that you can't believe in something if you've never heard about it. I could get all philosophical about how God speaks to individuals in different ways: through nature; through our consciences; through dreams; through scripture; through other people. Instead I want to take this opportunity to give you, the reader, the Andy Shaw version of the Gospel. "Gospel" simply means "good news" and my hope is that you'll see that Jesus really did bring some very good news indeed. I'm no theologian so you're going to get this engineer's plain and simple version here!

Origins

We live in a universe that had an origin: a first cause. We live on a world that had an origin. Both were made by an intelligence outside of the universe who's all powerful, all knowing and not tied down by limitations of space and time. We call that intelligent being God. God made the Earth and all that is in it. The high point of His creation is humankind. In scripture it says "So God created mankind in His own image,in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." It also says "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good."

So in the beginning God created something that was very good. Scripture also paints a picture of God walking and talking with the first humans, Adam and Eve. In other words they interacted in a personal and relational way. Life really was good...

Bad News

But (you knew this was coming) our first parents weren't content with what they had and were tempted to go for more than God had intended. They wanted knowledge so they could be like God even though God had told them not to. This unfolds in the Bible as the simple act of taking a piece of fruit from a tree, the fruit that God had told them not to.  This act of disobedience soured the relationship between God and humankind and brought a spiritual death to our first parents that's passed on to all generations after them. This willful disobedience to God is still in every human born on Earth. Our relationship with Him is broken.  Beyond our broken relationship with God, the first act of defiance also brought death and devastation to all of creation. What was once very good, is now not so good.

Our continued defiance against God is what the Bible calls sin and one of the earliest examples it gives is Cain and Abel. "Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’" Cain didn't listen and decided to kill his brother. We've been defying God and looking for reasons to kill each other ever since, it seems. Our relationship with God is broken. Our relationships with others are broken. We're lost, we're broken. We need help.

Good News

Into this broken world steps Jesus.  Jesus claimed to be God and proved it by dying and rising from the dead.  In dying on the cross He took on Himself our sins and opened the way for us to restore our relationship with God.  

What Jesus did for us is a free gift from God. It’s not something we can earn through religious activities or by trying to be a good person - or at least a better than the person next to me. It is a gift.  And as with all gifts, you can chose to accept it, reject it or just plain ignore it. If you do accept it, the scriptures say “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Response

Having read this post, you can't plead ignorance as a reason to not believe, but how do you respond and receive the gift God has given?  The scriptures say simply “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Most often this is done through a simple prayer, telling God that you need forgiveness and believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection was sufficient to do so.  Nothing more. Nothing less. No rituals. No good works. A free gift.

The following website includes a simple prayer that can be prayed to make that first step in following Jesus by receiving His free gift: https://peacewithgod.net/

Saving Truth - A Review (also on Goodreads)

Saving Truth: Finding Meaning and Clarity in a Post-Truth World by Abdu Murray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having seen a video of Abdu Murray at an event in UC Berkeley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3PKL...) discussing some of the topics in this book, I was intrigued to read it. I was not disappointed.

Abdu hits the nail on the head in identifying that we live in a "post-truth" culture where personal preferences are more important than the truth. You only need to look at the posts in social media to see we "like" whatever we agree with and fill comment boxes with hateful words for whatever we dislike.

Freedom
One of the most impactful discussions in his book for me is the topic of freedom. Many focus solely on freedom from restraint, which is actually a desire for autonomy. He says:

"Simply put, focussing on freedom from restraint encourages a sort of narcissistic preoccupation on the self and the fulfillment of our desires."

To counter this, Abdu argues convincingly that true freedom is deeper than this, requiring freedom for the greater good and freedom from sin to be added to the mix in order to experience real freedom.

Human Dignity
Later chapters of the book deal with very sensitive subjects including the longest chapter which focuses on sexual identity. Abdu deals with this and all topics in a very respectful and thoughtful manner. If anyone is dealing with these issues and can hold off on their own biases for just a chapter, they will find some kind, gentle and clear discussions on the topics.

Christ Focus
Abdu is a devout follower of Christ with a strong intellect and poetic eloquence. My favorite quote of the whole book is in the last chapter and it exemplifies this well, I think:

In Jesus Christ, we have both the truth who satisfies our quest and the personality who satisfies our need for connection. He is the truth our minds seek and the person our hearts embrace. He validates facts and personal preferences without sacrificing either. His words expose the fact of our sin. The fact of his sacrifice demonstrates his unbounded love for us. And the fact of his resurrection provides us with the joy of knowing our desires can be fulfilled. There they are: joy and knowledge, feeling and fact, coupled together. Putting it all together is how we go about saving truth.

I recommend this book to all Christians who want to speak the truth in love, and to anyone who really does want to seek the truth and discuss it in respectful dialogue.

#SavingTruth and www.AbduMurray.com