Is Christianity wise or foolish?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 4 “Explore God” – Is Christianity too narrow? (WATCH HERE)
Why is it challenging to accept one way to heaven?
If you are a Christian, perhaps you find it hard to understand why someone would find it challenging to accept that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven.
But for many others this premise is challenging to swallow and even for some Christians it is hard to stand with confidence that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Why is that?
The reflections today are not meant to be an exhaustive list, but at least put some on the table.
First, it’s popular to be pluralistic. To be pluralistic is to be one that allows for many pathways to God that are equally valid and equally saving. This line of thinking has been around for centuries, but in more recent history there has been an adversity to making someone to be or to feel wrong. If there is only one way, that means the other ways are invalid and false. Who wants to tell people they are wrong? Actually the wrong person in today’s culture is the one who tells someone else they are wrong! Truth has become relative and so has people’s belief in God.
Second, to speak with conviction that Jesus is the only way to heaven can seem arrogant and judgmental. “Who are you to claim you have all the right answers?” “Well, that’s pretty judgmental to say you are the only right way.” No one likes to be called arrogant or judgmental (even though labeling someone as judgmental seems judgmental in and of itself!). But most people don’t want to be labeled this way because culture today doesn’t celebrate right over wrong, it celebrates tolerant over intolerant.
Third, to acknowledge Jesus is the way to heaven would mean one would have to submit to the ways of Jesus. Satan’s original temptation to “be like God” is still a very appealing temptation today. If I can dismiss any one God or allow that I can be God, this is much more comfortable as then I can determine for myself what is right or wrong and live according to my standards and simply define God by what works for me rather than by what he says is right.
The reality about these three reasons is they all appeal to human reason. It seems “accepting” and “loving” to allow anyone to believe what they want to believe. It seems sophisticated and wise to present one’s self as open minded to multiple valid pathways to God. It seems natural to want to be free from standards and be the one who defines what is real for us. Yet, while on a human plane it may make sense, the reality is the message of the cross and the exclusive nature of it are going to sound like foolishness to those who build their thought on human wisdom and philosophy. This is not new as the Apostle Paul wrote to those in Corinth in the first century:
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
To find resistance to Jesus’ claim of being the only way to heaven is a normal thing. Stand with conviction and don’t give in. The pathway to hell is paved with human philosophy. The pathway to heaven is paved by the wisdom of God and work of Christ.
Apply: What makes it challenging for you to stand with conviction that Jesus is the only way to heaven?
Prayer: Lord, continue to work in my a stronger conviction that Jesus is the way and a bolder courage to speak this truth in love to those who think otherwise. AMEN.
Is Christianity the only way?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 4 “Explore God” – Is Christianity too narrow? (WATCH HERE)
Is Christianity too narrow?
This is the time of year that people find apple orchards and pumpkin patches to enjoy some fall fun. One of the fun fall activities that some farmer’s create are corn mazes. These mazes are intricate trails that farmers carve out of their corn fields to let people wander to find their way out once they enter. A good corn maze can lead a person on a challenging trek, often interrupted by a dead end that looked promising, but does not lead toward or out the exit. Finally amidst the maze of paths is the way out. There is only one way out…even though there are many paths within.
Perhaps the religious landscape sometimes feels like a fall corn maze. We enter the fray of religion only to find ourselves overcome by many different ideas and many different theologies. In the frustration of the complexity, we settle that what we believe or in whom we believe are not as important as just believing in something. We’d like to think that every pathway in the corn maze of religion lead to the same ending.
However, here’s the truth:
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
The corn maze only has one way out.
Sometimes people get lost in a corn maze and one of the staff have to go in and lead them out. It would be nice to say, “Just take any path. They all lead to the same place.” However, the truth is very different. They don’t lead to the same end. So, when a staff comes in to direct a lost participant out to safety, that is a loving thing.
So it is with faith. The truth is their is only one way to heaven. All the others lead to death, spiritual death.
So it is a loving thing to lead people to know THE way to heaven. This was Jesus’ heart for each of us that we would know the way to where he was going. Here’s what Jesus said:
John 14:1-6 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The way is through Jesus, but there is no limit to those who can follow Jesus to eternal life. This week we will unpack more how and why we can make the claim, but also have the confidence that Christianity is the ONLY way to heaven!
Apply: What makes it challenging for you to share why Jesus is the only way to heaven? What makes you question this statement?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for showing me the way through the maze of life to heaven through Jesus. AMEN.
Will my suffering last forever?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
It won’t last forever.
Is this a comforting phrase when you are in the middle of a season of suffering…especially when there is really no answer or end in sight? People who offer these words we may dismiss as petty, not really understanding our situation, or unrealistic optimists.
But is it true?
Will suffering last forever?
Unfortunately, the Bible is clear that for those that have rejected Jesus as their Savior will perhaps long for the suffering they experienced in their lifetime because their eternity is marked by an eternal suffering separated from God. The wages of sin is death. The consequence of sin is hell. Without Jesus there is no “better place,” but rather a much worse place and experience waiting for people. We don’t like to talk about this. We would like to think that ANYONE who dies after a life of suffering is “in a better place” or “without pain” or whatever other picture of comfort we conjure up. But the BIble does not teach relief from suffering for those that have rejected Jesus as Savior. Jesus himself teaches:
Matthew 25:31-46 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” . . . Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
But an eternity of suffering is not Jesus’ desire who wants all people to be saved and enjoy the eternal joy of heaven with no more crying or pain. For the believer in Jesus, there is an eternal answer to suffering from the one who entered this world to suffer the consequence of sin for us. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus’ work:
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Trusting Jesus as the way to heaven assures the believer that suffering truly does have an end. Even when suffering ends in death, here is God’s promise to his children:
Revelation 21:3-5 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
When we are gifted this perspective, we can truly endure whatever pain or suffering on this earth because we have confidence that a time of no suffering is coming:
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
So why does God allow pain and suffering in this world? Perhaps it’s simply to remind us that we live in a broken world because of sin, but we have a Savior who has overcome sin and promises us a home in heaven where pain and suffering will no longer be a reality. Look forward to that day!
Apply: How does the promise of heaven help you in a time of suffering today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to endure suffering for us and do all that was needed so that I might avoid eternal suffering in hell and rather look forward to the eternal joys of heaven. AMEN.
Rejoice in our sufferings?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
Is pain and suffering bad?
Our knee jerk reaction is, “Yes. Yes it is.”
Of course, very few of us would seek out pain and suffering and invite it into our lives. Most of us seek to avoid pain and suffering and help others do the same. When pain and suffering do occur, our natural reaction is to cover it so we don’t feel it, or try to end it so we don’t have to continue enduring it. And we often ask God to be the one that does that for us.
I am the same way.
But when the pain and suffering don’t cease immediately, it is easy to turn inward to self-pity or turn outward to blame and anger.
However, what happens when we turn to the Lord and don’t just ask, “Lord, take this suffering away from me,” but ask, “Lord what do you want me to learn from this suffering and pain?”
When we ask the second question, we open ourselves up to the work of God’s Spirit to form and strengthen our faith instead of following Satan’s wishes to question and abandon our faith.
So, what might the Lord teach us in a time of suffering?
First, he teaches me to rely on his power and his grace.
The Apostle Paul had a “thorn in his flesh.” He pleaded three times for the Lord to take it away…but the Lord chose to allow the “thorn” to continue. However, it was not without cause. What the Lord used the “thorn suffering” for was to keep Paul a) focused on the grace of God and b) relying on the power of God. This is recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In times of suffering, we can be 100% confident that the ultimate suffering for sin was completed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. As a result we will NEVER have to suffer forever in hell, separated from God. Seasons of suffering remind us we are mortal and not all powerful. As we rely on the power of God, it also leads us to rely on the grace of God to affirm in us that our biggest problem is solved at the cross and empty tomb (where Jesus suffered for us!).
Second, the Lord uses suffering to mold and develop our faith and character.
Suffering is not always the end game of an event in life. Suffering may just be the catalyst by which spiritual growth and tenacity occurs. Paul again writes:
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Rejoice in our sufferings? Hard to do, but when we realize that God allows and uses suffering to strengthen our faith and convictions in him, they become reasons to rejoice. For when suffering produces perseverance, so it develops our person, our character. As our character as a follower of Christ develops, our confidence in the hope God gives grows. We may be disappointed because our plan for life was interrupted by a season of suffering. But the hope that God gives through seasons of suffering moves us away from the temporal to find hope in the eternal. (We’ll finish the week with that thought tomorrow!)
Apply: What development has the Lord taken you through as a result of a season of suffering?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for working in all things to mold me as your child…even in a season of suffering. AMEN.
Can a loving God allow suffering?
This week’s devotions are based on the Week 3 “Explore God” – Why does God allow pain and suffering? (WATCH HERE)
How can a loving God allow suffering?
In the message on Sunday, the second point was this: Suffering and pain challenge our perception of God, but it does not change the nature of God.
How do we reconcile God, who is loving with suffering which is no fun.
Does God’s nature of love prevent every type of suffering one may encounter?
For those of you who are parents, let me ask this, “Do you ever knowingly allow your children to suffer?” Or maybe put it another way, “Do you ever knowingly allow your children to go through something THEY perceive as suffering, but you know is for their benefit?”
If a child goes through a period of suffering, might they blame their parents for allowing it?
Does a child going through a period of suffering change the love the parents have for them?
Often, when I try to sort out the way God deals with me, I consider how I as a parent deal with my children. The analogy is not always perfect, but it can help.
Here’s a few scenarios.
As a parent, you warn your child not to hang out with those who are drinking and doing drugs. You child makes a choice to do that and they are arrested. You don’t bail them out but allow them to serve the time in jail. They accuse you of not loving them. Their perception does not change the reality. Your love led you to warn them of the dangers of hanging out with the wrong crowd. Your love allowed them to suffer the consequence of their sin (see yesterday’s devotion) so that, you would pray, they would never make that same choice again and thus avoid future suffering as a result. Love drives a parent to do what is best, not what is easiest for the child.
Your child is failing a chemistry class. The reason isn’t necessarily because they are not able to pass, but they are not putting in the time to pass the class. Again, you encourage them to do their homework, you offer to get help or tutoring, but they refuse. When the semester grade comes out and they have failed and are being asked to take the class over again, they want you to step in and talk to the teacher and get them a passing grade. You refuse. They accuse you of not loving them, not wanting them to succeed, etc. Their perception of you changes, but the essence of your love for them hasn’t.
Parental choices that choose to allow a child to go through a season of suffering are tough. We want to “save” them from any challenge. However, you as a parent know that there are times where a child has to address a situation or deal with a situation on their own and at times suffer the natural consequences to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.
Is it possible God carries a similar approach to his love? Yes. What he allows is always the perfect thing we need. Sometimes our perception may be negative about God’s motives, but our perception does not change the heart of God who loves us as children and allows just what we need to grow and develop as a child of God.
Hebrews 12:5-7 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
Sometimes what we perceive as suffering is the Lord allowing it to happen, not to question his love for us, but to realize he loves us enough to draw us closer to himself.
Apply: What suffering in your life have you been able to see the hand of a loving God behind?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for not just doing what I want, but always doing and allowing what you know is best for me. AMEN.