In a world that constantly blares the message "YOU DO YOU" and seeks to make truth individualistic, objective truth has gone WAY out of style...unless you are Ben Shapiro. In his case, objective truth is his weapon ("The facts don't care about your feelings")...but I digress. My thought today is, "how many of those of us who call ourselves Christians realize that our message to the world, provided we are consistent in our thinking, is an objective truth?" An objective truth is a truth that is independent of one's beliefs about it. Whether you believe in Jesus or not, He is coming back - He will judge the living and the dead, and He will crush His enemies and throw them into an eternal lake of fire that we call Hell.
I saw a post on Facebook today and it read, "Where did religion go wrong when gay kids grow up fearing God's wrath, but racists don't?" While that may be a provoking line, it seems to me like it is asking the wrong question. What Bible are people reading that would allow them to excuse their own sin, regardless of what that sin is? I've talked about this before - but in order for God to be the embodiment of righteousness, it has to follow that He absolutely cannot co-exist with unrighteousness. Several times in the Scriptures, it says that God loves righteousness but hates wickedness. Jesus says very directly, "he who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather me scatters." (Matt. 12:30). So whether it is practicing homosexuality, or hating one's neighbor - both are sin. If one does not repent and turn from those sins, they will have the wrath of God on them at the judgement.
In ancient times - when a new king conquered or took power over a new land, typically there was a grace period where non-military citizens of the recently conquered land had an opportunity to declare their fidelity to the new ruler. Your life, the here and now, is your opportunity to bend your knee to Jesus. In his surpassing love and mercy, he has offered this opportunity. The writer in 2 Peter argues the same thing saying, "The Lord is not slow about His promise [Jesus' return, the establishment of his Kingdom], as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) God is love - and yes, He loves you - but the simple, objective truth is that now is the opportunity to embrace His love for you and bend your knee to Him, but there will be a day in which that period of amnesty is over. In that same section of 2 Peter, it says, "but by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly." (2 Peter 3:7) Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, there is a warning. Those who are not following Jesus - those who have set themselves against Jesus and his commands, they will be destroyed - thrown into eternal torment in an un-quenchable fire. Christian - do you believe this?
I was thinking the other day about why the early Apostles were persecuted. When you read about them, they went from town to town healing people and sharing "the good news". Why would that offend people? Jesus says that anyone who would follow Him must take up their cross. I would argue that to carry the true message of Scripture is to carry a very confrontational message. In a world that loves subjective truth, it means carrying a message of objective truth that a lot of people aren't going to like. It makes me think about what love is - is it loving to know that someone is headed in the wrong direction but instead of telling them that, you placate them to try and make them feel like everything is going to be ok? Is it loving to see someone headed towards destruction and not tell them? If my 2-year-old ran out into the street and there was a car coming, would it be loving to just stand there? Of course the answer is no...but some segments of the Western Christian Church seem to be more focused on making people feel better about themselves than they are about getting people to take a serious self-inventory about whether they are actually disciples of Jesus or they are simply members of Church club (aka Converts).
I'm not trying to use this stuff as a way to beat people. Jesus obviously had compassion for people who were broken, in both body and spirit, but he didn't hold back from telling the Truth...which ultimately offered Eternal Hope. I think about the Samaritan woman at the well (see the scene from "The Chosen" series below, so powerful) - who Jesus knows is sinful and broken. He doesn't hold back from telling the uncomfortable truth to her, but it is ultimately about offering hope (living water!). Where my heart is in all of this is in looking around me and seeing my brothers and sisters who don't have well-grounded faith. That sounds judgmental, but I know from personal experience - I know how my previous theology was doing a poor job at spurring devoted discipleship - I was wishy-washy at best, confusing acknowledgement of God's ways for actually following them. I always assume I am not unique - that if I'm struggling with something, more than likely there are others struggling with the same thing. I think part of my issue is that I didn't understand how serious this all is. God takes sin very seriously - and we don't get high marks for "doing our best". Jesus makes it very clear what He is and will be looking for: true faith evidenced by being His disciple. He sent the Holy Spirit to help us do what is impossible for us to do on our own...to lay down our lives, to repent and bend our knee in submission to the King of Kings. Without that - we have no hope. Without the Holy Spirit, we will not make it and we are certain to face wrath on That Day.
"For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life." 2 Corinthians 2:15-16
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