9/15/12 Harley, about 50
With all the
rioting of religious extremists in the headlines, it is tempting and easy to
disassociate from them by agreeing with the conventional wisdom that "all
religions are pretty much the same anyway". I talked to Harley, a "good ole'
boy" type whom I ran into as he and a friend met on the sidewalk. His friend had a case of beer and they were
set to go on a beer-drinking binge, but Harley was very interested in talking
about his religious convictions. He told
me he had grown up with a Pentecostal mother and Catholic father, and the
resulting Protestant/Catholic arguments had caused him to ask and research
religious questions for himself. His
conclusion? "God is like a mountain
that has many paths to get to the top. All religions are basically the
same" he said. With that mindset, I
knew that it also means that peaceful Christians are lumped together with the
violent Muslim extremists, so it was hard to insist on the uniqueness of
Christianity without sounding like one of these zealots. Instead, I started by pointing out that,
morally and ethically, the major world religions do indeed have much in common.
Why?
"Since the fall of Adam into
sin and rebellion, all people have been given a conscience - the knowledge of
good and evil. We know right from wrong
yet all too often choose to do the wrong thing anyway. A just God demands consequences, and religion
is man's attempt to get back into a right and just relationship with a holy and
just God. The disagreement is basically over
the correct way to do so." At this
point, Harley's friend, who wanted to go and party rather than stay and listen,
finally convinced him it was time to get going. Oh how I wanted to complete the story of how
and why we can only have a right relationship with God through Christ, as Paul
wrote in Galatians 2:21 "...if righteousness
could be gained through the law (or other religion's rules), Christ died for
nothing!” Though I couldn't
finish the conversation, I believe I got Harley's attention and fanned his curiosity
to read what I gave him, a small book by Mark Cahill called "The Second
Greatest Lie Ever Told" which deals directly with this subject. (Available
at a low price for mass distribution on his website at www.MarkCahill.org) I have my name and number written inside the
book - please pray that Harley will read it and call me back so we can finish
our conversation!
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