Jesus is the Way

Do you realize many people in the world, and even some people who call themselves Christian, consider Christianity a very divisive religion? You may even hear it said, Christians are filled with too much hate.

Why would this be? Why would people think this of a group of people called to love as Jesus loves?  

Christianity is seen, by some, as a very intolerant religion because we believe Jesus is the only way to Heaven. There are more passages than this, but this is a very common one,

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, CEB)

I came across this quote, from Mark Driscoll, the other day. He describes this in a different way, but it makes sense.

In all of creation the most tolerant place is Hell, everyone is welcome there. 

Heaven, on the other hand, is the least tolerant. 

Unless you accept Jesus and follow Him, you will not be welcomed into heaven.

Let’s be clear. Every Christian that I’ve met would prefer everyone to go to Heaven. There is no part of this conversation where Christians are getting together to say “who do we want with us?”  

This comes back to the gospel message. Christians understand there is sin, and this world is not fully as God wants it to be. I truly believe this is a gift of Christianity, to be able to understand the terrible headlines we see.

Sin is not ignored.

The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, CEB)

Jesus, and His work on the cross, is the way for our sins to be forgiven. We are given the gift of salvation, an invitation to be made new, and we’re adopted into God’s family.

7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins. (1 John 4, CEB)

Jesus is the One who deals with sin. Through His work we are saved. This isn’t a message of division or hate, it’s a message of truth.  

Blessings,

Pastor Matt