That may seem like a bold statement and I would just like to say that before I continue, please, don’t in any way think that I am calling any of you out or hold myself as perfect. I sin constantly, I stumble daily, but this is something that I have been convicted about.
While sitting in the body shop waiting on my car’s oil to be changed, I happened to be perusing Newsweek and came across an article that read, “U.S. Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu”. I have linked to the article here: (http://su.pr/7cKjTs), I recommend reading it before continuing on because I reference many points in it.
In a nutshell, the article states that Americans are drifting away from a belief in God as the only way to eternal life and are instead engaging in a “divine-deli-cafeteria” form of religion that basically assumes that whatever works for you will get you to heaven.
Essentially, you believe what you will and I will believe what I will, and we will all meet up after we die in heaven where we will live eternally.
Let’s break this down scientifically (and I hate math by the way):
- 76% of the population of our nation of 304,059,724 (Source: U.S. Census Bureau: http://su.pr/2evBjb) claim to be Christian.
- This comes out to roughly 231,085,390 American Citizens.
- 65% of the population of our nation believe that many religions can lead to eternal life.
- This comes out to roughly 197,638,820 American Citizens.
197,638,820 U.S. citizens believe that there are MANY religions that can lead to eternal life.
Now, I could go into a hypothesis about how that means that there is a minimum certain percentage of U.S. citizens that claim to be Christian that also believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, but that is not the overall point that I am trying to make here.
The point that I am trying to make here is this:
There are currently a minimum of 197,638,820 U.S. citizens that are seriously in need of a strong awakening that a belief in Jesus is the only way to obtain eternal life.
This is a cry of conviction. One that has stirred within my own heart thanks to God and this Newsweek article. A conviction within my own life as well as one that I want everyone else that I know to share.
If you believe in God, know Him, and follow Him, then I ask you to read this:
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (http://su.pr/2ucQUr)
If you are a Christian, before you dare even think that missions work is something that only takes place overseas in Africa and any other country before the U.S.; if you believe that you have to travel to some distant continent to share God’s love and truth; don’t be fooled, there are at least 197,638,820 people that are lost in the U.S. alone. As Christians we are called to be ambassadors of God to these people, this is irrefutable.
Please note though, if you feel God calling you to go to Africa or anywhere else then by all means go, I didn’t write this to stop you.
If you do not believe in God or are having doubts, then I ask you to read this:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. -John 3:16 (http://su.pr/25M9Hg)
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6 (http://su.pr/1zhmQn)
A belief in God isn’t just another part of the religious buffet line, where we can choose to take and believe what we want and discard the rest. There are not many paths to God, there is only one. And it is through a belief in Jesus Christ.
I found myself consistently needing to refocus my thoughts because I had so much to write on this subject. If you want to talk about it in detail, feel free to message me .
Please leave a comment letting me know what you think about this.
"that so flippantly pass off many of his directly irrefutable and immutable commandments."
For every commandment that you see other Christians having trouble believing, there are a handful of other parts of the NT that you and your own ignore as well.
Women shouldn't cut their hair or wear pants, slavery is OK as long as you beat the slaves correctly. Oh no, they didn't mean it in the obvious way, *THIS* is what they meant…..
To be completely honest with you, it is a mindset like the one that could have written this article (you) that has driven me away from the church that I loved and to go so far as to call myself a simple Diest. The second half of John 14:6 simply cannot be accurate.
I am terribly sorry that no one has replied to your response Jimmy. Thank you for your honesty and willingness to share your true thoughts. I pray that these technicalities of scripture interpretation, as well as the brokenness of people as a whole, has not drove you too far from God and his everlasting love.
I am not looking to bash you or tell you that you are a horrible person for feeling the way you feel, but I hope that you will take the following to heart and think over it. You must realize that the NT we read today in our Bibles is not the original text as it was written by it's authors. It is all translated from language to language, which means no one can completely understand the authors fine details without looking at the original text. (Hence the saying "lost in translation") As an example, I have found a rather lengthy, but good explanation of the scripture that most believe instructs women to not cut their hair.
http://www.actseighteen.com/articles/uncuthair.ht…
I believe it does a great job of taking the ORIGINAL text and breaks down the words more thoroughly than what is written in our translated Bibles today to explain what is meant.
However, debating over scripture is a waste of our time spent here on Earth. We could argue back and forth about what a piece of scripture "really means" until we are blue in the face, and in the end neither of us would be the wiser. So I have two things to say:
1.) If you believe that the scripture truly does say for women to not cut their hair, then by all means please, do not allow your daughters or wife to cut their hair. No one will call you a sinner because your wife and daughter do not cut their hair, and that way you are confident you are following Christ's commandments.
2.) However, even if that IS what the scripture is saying (that women should not cut their hair), then the sin that a woman commits by cutting her hair is no worse than any other sin that we all (You and I included) commit all the time. So simply because we as Christians are not perfect, is no reason to turn your back on the church and deny that Christ is our savior.
This applies to all the examples you mentioned. Wearing pants, owning slaves, or whatever it may be. None of these will change the fact that God sent his Son to die on the cross for us. In fact, that is the very reason he sent Christ to this Earth, because we are broken people who all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Christ has washed us clean of all of it, and we should rejoice in that. Not run away from the church because we misinterpreted a piece of scripture, or because we are not perfect.
Enough of my babbling. I pray that God will open your eyes and your heart, and bless you. Thank you Matt for this post. Keep up the good work, and thank you for glorifying God with the gifts he has blessed you with.
First I want to thank the writer of this wonderful article, second I want to let Jimmy know I am praying that he sees the truth of God's love for him and finally, I want to thank Stephen for responding to Jimmy's comment' very well shared.
Many blessings to each of you!!!
Satin is the accuser and there is no better tool he uses than get one Christian to judge another (to play God!)
Matt your heart is for Jesus and is to be commended. God will love you for all you do regardless of unintentional misinterpretation which we have all been guilty of and will struggle with at times. We are all learning and growing and none of us are finished with that.
My understanding is that we entered a new covenant when Jesus died bringing us under Grace not Law as we were incapable of keeping all the Law. That doesn't give us licence to do as we please though. But it was to rid us of the trivial and get us to work through relationship with a living God. Jesus asked us to keep His commandments and there were (2)He made it simpler for us.
YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
If we focus on this God will be so close to us we will walk straighter, hear Him and do his will more, interpret the word more correctly and love one another more and more. We must stop judging one another, arguing over the Law and encourage each other to seek a stronger relationship with the God we share. Our time is running out and we have work to do. Reach out to those who are hurting, show who Jesus is by reflecting His personality in us and our lives. Don't scare people away from a rule-bearing God when he is only interested is reconciling himself to his children and using them to reconcile as many as possible (more urgently now than ever before). Doing this we will follow the commands of a God that knows better than us and hates religion.
Agape….I agree with you that, if we all love God and serve Him as we are commanded, we will not go around nit picking others. Most of us have a full time job staying close to Him. I do believe one should teach and preach the whole council of God. God is so much more than love. I believe we must understand and teach all His characteristics. God loves, hates, chastizes and condemns. It is God's job alone to condemn and not ours. I will say here that we are to hate what God hates. Let me say too that, if we keep our eyes on Him and not other people we will never be disappointed.
I forgot to say I agree with you about your concern. most Christians are focused on religion rather than a close relationship with Christ. I have found that other Christians will come out of their closet and draw closer to the lord if WE set an example of faith without fear replaced with witnessing how God blesses obedience. You can influence more by showing them how to delight in the Lord rather than His rebuke. (Sometimes needed but not as often as we think).
May God bless your journey and your efforts to save his people.
Hello, I have watched your youtube video's and looked at your site. Simply put , I can respect YOUR thoughts and beliefs , And like you I would not,Could not, Have no desire to change them , They are yours. I was born and raised Catholic ,I do not believe in any organized religion for a myriad of reasons, #1-There are over 100 of them, #2-Every bible of the 108-Variations were copied and copied and re-copied, No one could know the exact meaning, Or in fact WHO has written the bible{s}. Here is an example: Since birth parents, people, church's, have TOLD you things or PROGRAMMED you /us into certain beliefs….If since day 1 You were taught that a Car was lets say a fork, And the general population where you were raised said that a Car was a Fork…A car would be a fork, Woulent it?..I'll say this..The IRAQI's will get their virgins, That is True for them. 'WE CREATE OUR OWN REALITY"…Just think about this~!, Thank's for sharing your beliefs, Peace,Steve
Matt,
I struggled with many aspects of Christianity before I became a believer. Everything from the teachings/interpretations of the Bible, the hypocrisy of many Christians, to the thought that only Christians are saved. But I became a believer through the Baha'i faith. There is a God. One God. And he has continued to send his message and will through his messengers/mirrors/manifestations – through Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad even Buddha and Krishna. God will never leave us alone. He continues to upgrade His message as humanity evolves and its capabilities (both individually and as a whole) increase. Of course there are mistakes/mis-interpretations of books written thousands of years ago. Hence God advises of those mistakes/mis-interpretations with the next manifestation and provides us with further guidance to lead humanity to the next level.
Right, enjoyed the article, but some of the arguments here deserve to be challenged. I will just argue the main points rather than be picky
1)Steve – "Every bible of the 108-Variations were copied and copied and re-copied"
I see your point. Since Bibles today are from a long time of being reproduced by hand, it does seem your argument is correct. But, there are over 5000 manuscripts of the Gospels, this is generally accepted that the 4 gospels have a solid foundation and they can be taken as reliable.
2)"WE CREATE OUR OWN REALITY" I dont agree with this, i can say look there is a horse over there, but that doesnt change the fact it is a cow."Car was lets say a fork" I really dont see how this is reality. This is language. Just because in a language they may use the word "fork" instead of "car" is not changing reality, it is just a difference in language.
I dont think i need to say anymore to this
3)"Women shouldn’t cut their hair or wear pants…" alright, i am unfamiliar of these passages, can you please post a reference? What you must remember is that not all the writing in the Bible is written universally. Some writing (leviticus is a great example) is written for specific people. i.e. Leviticus was the recorded law for the Jewish people, that were the laws that Hebrew society was based on.
Thanks all, look forward to hearing your responses
Caleb
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
You take this as meaning that everyone must convert to your version of Christianity or go to Hell. This is NOT what this says, and in fact, this statement can be interpreted in many other ways (never mind that we're dealing with a translation, which can also change nuance and shades of meaning.)
I interpret that statement to mean, Jesus, as the personified expression of God, is the way we will all reach God because that's His role…to be the bridge between God and man. Not as an edict, i.e., you must be a Christian or else, but as a hand reaching out.
Now, you claim you are fundamentalist in your views of the Bible, saying that we must adhere to the Bible exactly, and claiming you don't pick and choose what to believe in. But are you actively following the commandments in Leviticus or not? Do you shave your bead? Wear clothing of mixed fabrics? Dispose of your household mold properly?
I find that many fundamentalist Christians selectively choose those aspects of the Bible they will own as "this is the only way it is" but then conveniently ignore other parts or passages that don't fit in with their particular rigid Christian worldview.
My Jesus and my God will never turn away his children just because they happened to ascribe to other belief systems. In the end, it is that moment of facing God in the "hereafter" where the soul will choose whether to be with God or without God ("in Hell").
Bottom line, I do not find your interpretation of what Jesus said to be "irrefutable" by any stretch of logic or imagination. It is YOUR interpretation. Not mine. And frankly, I prefer to believe in a God that is much, much much MUCH more forgiving than you happen to be.
And frankly, it's fundamentalist thinking such as yours that is PRECISELY the reason many Americans are drifting away from Christianity. People like you are one of the MAIN CAUSES of people leaving Jesus. They do not find it at all logical to believe in a God who would be so restrictive and punitive that you MUST believe exactly such-and-such or suffer in Hell. It makes no logical sense, that a loving God would only provide one path to him despite the different cultures in the world. Your rigid "irrefutable" claiming of the truth is precisely why people shut off to Christianity and turn to other, more open-ended spiritual practices. Something to consider.
Wonderful response, thank you for your clear, intelligent, loving thinking.
Hey Matt, you seem like a nice boy. I´m really sorry you are all caught up in religion. It´s a waste of time. it´s all just stories and books. Like all fairy tales it´s just entertainment. if you want to find out what is true and what is not just dig deeper. Be as faithful as you can and read the bible as if it were true. If you do this, you will emerge free of all this nonsense.
Conversion to any religion is a betrayal of your true self. Your just a human being and your mind should be free so you can enjoy your life. Instead your mind was taken hostage and you are now wasting precious time devoting your life to an empty fictional story.
May life be kind to you and let you realize you do not need a god to make you special. You are special because there is only one of you in the whole world, and that is miraculos enough.. and it came to be just because life is amazing.. not because ofsome silly fictional character.
Actually, Suzanna, you can't prove metaphysical truths with empirical evidence. You can have faith in them, or not. Telling us it is a fictional story, takes a lot of faith that it IS a fictional story. Let me rephrase. There are abolutely not philosophically or logical arguments you can make to say God, the Bible, or Jesus are not what they say they are. You can live life as if everything is a miracle, or as if nothing is. – Albert Einstein. You call it a fairy tale, perhaps because of your psychological need to do so (do you have a firm grip on psychology?) but science can not prove or disprove it, nor the "cause of causes." To sum everything up in four words: we are not robots. Having a disciplined practice in your life, full of beautiful art, and magical words such as: Love your neighbor, don't seem to be very detrimental to a person's "true self," which is somewhat of a confusing way of saying "what works well for your values," unless, for some reason, you believe in mass slaughter and anarchy. The argument against Christianity can only be a cultural, and pragmatic one, for ex. "you don't like the elitism and pushiness," etc, which is understandable, but your comments about finding "freedom" point to existentialism, and at the end of every philosophers writing on existentialism (how they managed their schizophrenia) they all say something like, although it isn't completely logical in some ways, the heart always yearns to make a "leap of faith."
A leap of faith, agreed upon, as necessity for the heart, by atheist, existential writers.
As far as interpretations. I agree with Justathought that "It makes no logical sense, that a loving God would only provide one path to him despite the different cultures in the world."
I came here because there is a lot of love with people that don't believe in Jesus.
Maybe he's right. Jesus said you can only get to the Father through Him. Maybe Jesus was just saying that, when we die, if we have gone through the sanctification process, and lived constnatly trying to better ourselves to we could love others, and have a relationship with God, that he will be there to accompany us to Heaven.
The ironic thing is. I DO believe in Jesus with all my heart. However, I know there are very loving holy people out there that don't believe.
Check this metaphor out. A corn field, with tilled soil, is best for growing corn.
However, if a seed was to fall somewhere else, and grow, would we not harvest it, simply because it wasn't in our corn field?
We might say, wow, its amazing!
All i'm saying is. Saying I am 100 sure in my interpretation, means I have no religious tolerance.
However, saying, Jesus might have meant this, and I'll try my best anyway, I think, does a bit more.
Also, beware of emotions. Yes, they validate truths, but, the Devil can use emotions as well.
As Suzanna said, let us all just dig deeper.
Comments welcome. For example, what else did Jesus say that points to we have to believe in what God did, in order to believe in God in a way that we can get to Heaven?
For those that don't believe, it is said that their ignorance won't be used against them. That doesn't mean they can't get to heaven. Let me just say that, perhaps they would listen a bit more to people like us, if we weren't so demanding of our interpretations. Matt you say like half the country is floating towards Hinduism. That means, whatever we have been doing, hasn't been working. We can't say the same thing over and over, and expect every generation to respond the same to it. We need to learn about people, and Love them, like Jesus did. Not sit out here making websites, perhaps, although, I do apologize for being so forward, and I do understand the therapeutic aspects of writing, for ourselves mostly, although we do direct it toward others.
However since I believe in Jesus, for me to turn my back on Him now, would be a serious disappointment, I know.