11/11/15 Danny, Andy mid 20’s
As Christians, we
understand the exclusive claims of Jesus, that He is the only way to the
forgiveness we need to be in a right relationship with God. But are some non-Christian beliefs closer to
biblical truth than others? For example,
two young men I reached out to with the Gospel in the last two days were at
very different places in their beliefs.
Danny,
28, told me he is a pagan, which involves reverence for nature and the worship
of many “gods”. The other man, Andy,
about 25, told me he is agnostic, admitting he has no idea what happens to us
after we die. Which of the two are
closer to the truth of the Gospel and to God?
It might seem that Danny, at least, has some sort of belief system,
while Andy has none. But I actually
congratulated Andy for the wisdom of admitting ignorance. “We don’t know how we got into this world, so
who are we to think we can figure out where we will go when we leave? Outside of a revelation from God, one would
be wise to admit they just don’t know.” I told him.
Danny, however, believes he can create his
own beliefs. He even admitted he goes beyond
the beliefs of paganism, inventing more beliefs to suit his own religious
tastes. Although Danny has gone further
down the religious road than Andy, it is the wrong road, and the way to truth
for him involves turning around and going back to the fork in the road where he
made the wrong turn. That fork was the
place where he had to decide if truth is something God reveals to him or
something he could invent on his own.
My hope for Danny is that he will turn around on the wrong road he has chosen, and go back to the right path. Andy, however, simply hasn’t made it past that first fork, and my hope for him is that he might hear the timeless truths revealed by God through scripture that I and others have shared with him. Long road or short, those who are lost are in fact lost, and they all need someone to show them the way to truth. They can’t invent it on their own.
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