8/26/18 Cienna and Justin (video) early 20's
The young couple were on their way to visit the park when I
asked if they would be willing to share their beliefs about eternity, and they
enthusiastically told me they had just been discussing that very thing earlier
in the day.
Sienna and Justin both see themselves as spiritual, able to
discern the spiritual truth that is all around us for those who pay attention
to it, but they both had different ideas about what happens to us after this
life. Sienna believes that our souls
continue on to inhabit other living things, while Justin believes our souls
just cease to exist when our body dies.
The obvious differences in their beliefs caused me to ask
whether they think there is a universal truth or reality after death that all
will experience, with some people right in their beliefs and everyone else
wrong, or is everyone right regardless of very contradictory beliefs?
In other words, do our beliefs determine reality, or does
reality exist in spite of what we believe about it?
We had a friendly discussion, I think because we didn’t
focus on debating who is “right” and who is “wrong”, but rather as fellow
travelers trying to help one another arrive at the correct destination. Sienna and Justin both seemed very open to
new ideas, and I was up front that I am pretty set in my Christian faith, so I
eventually shared a few thoughts about the Bible and Christianity that they had
not considered.
I appreciated their openness, but a difficulty about being
very open to new ideas is that one can easily be dismissive of old ideas. Some of the cultural baggage associated with
Christianity over the years can keep younger generations from considering it,
because time has opened it up to criticism and it is no longer seen as
something new and fresh.
In Acts 17, Paul encountered this preference for new ideas
in Athens, where we are told “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived
there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the
latest ideas.” They were interested in
new ideas and philosophies rather than the age-old beliefs that they would have
been familiar with, including the Jewish teaching that the creation has a
creator to whom we are accountable.
In the same way, modern technology such as social media has fed
our desire for the “eye candy” of new and exciting ideas, causing many to
dismiss or ignore the consideration of an established religion such as
Christianity.
Can the Gospel be new and fresh for today’s generation? I believe it can be and must be when received
as the revelation and work of God that it is rather than the manmade religion
we try to make it to be. Just as Paul
responded to the Athenians ignorance of the Creator God by focusing on God’s
existence and attributes, I tried to help Sienna and Justin understand that the
Christian gospel can only be understood as a message and relationship authored
and revealed by God, rather than a set of beliefs we must create and follow
through human effort.
Without Sienna and Justin’s acknowledgment of Gods existence
it was hard to focus much on the message of the Gospel, so I tried to stick to
the basics of who God is and how He relates to us, especially as He reveals
Himself to us throughout the pages of the Bible and Paul’s message about the
existence of God to the Athenians in particular.
I pray Sienna and Justin will reconsider and revisit the
Bible and Christianity on their spiritual journey.
PS – Sienna and Justin
graciously allowed me to record our conversation, which can be seen in its
entirety HERE
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