THE KINGDOM, THE POPE, AND JESUS

It seems that the Pope is a modern-day religious pluralist, who believes that there are many routes to heaven. Responding to a list of published questions, Francis wrote:

·       “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.

·       “Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience.” http://www.truthandaction.org/pope-says-dont-believe-god-go-heaven/2/

However, the Pope’s words are at great variance to those of the One he is supposed to represent. Jesus’ teachings fail to extend the Pope’s glad tidings. Instead, Jesus insisted that salvation could only come through Him. When asked what deeds had to be performed in order to have eternal salvation, He answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:29), and not merely in their conscience. Even more to the point, He informed the leadership:

• I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." (John 8:24)

Not very politically correct, but consistent with everything Jesus had taught! He also informed His slow-to-learn disciples that salvation could only come through Him:

• "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

And how did Jesus regard those of other religions?

·       Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (John 10:7-9)

In contrast, the Pope claims that salvation is on our own terms, according to our own heart: “God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart.” How reassuring but also misleading!

THE DECLINE OF RELIGION, By C.S. Lewis (and me)

 

Apologist and scholar, C.S. Lewis, had foreseen the dire fate of the Church even in 1946:

·       The ‘decline of religion’ so often lamented (or welcomed) is held to be shown by empty chapels. Now it is quite true that chapels which were full in 1900 are empty in 1946. (God in the Dock, “The Decline of Religion” (218)

However, Lewis observed that this change should have been anticipated from the writings of the 19^th century where “only secular and natural values are taken seriously,” even though they might bear a strong similarity to Christian values:

·       But if we judge the nineteenth century from the books it wrote, the outlook of our grandfathers (with very few exceptions) was quite as secular as our own.

Consequently, Lewis noted:

·       The religion which has [now] declined was not Christianity. It was a vague Theism with a strong and virile ethical code, which, far from standing over against the ‘World’ was absorbed into the whole fabric of English institutions and sentiment and therefore demanded church-going as (at best) a part of loyalty and good manners as (at worst) a proof of respectability. (219-20)

Lewis believed that this secular shake-up would be good for the purification of Christianity:

·       The decline of 'religion', thus understood, seems to me in some ways was a blessing. At the very worst it makes the issue clear…The fog of ‘religion’ has lifted; the positions and numbers of both armies can be observed; and the real shooting [accurate Christian argumentation] is now possible. (220)

Nevertheless, Lewis thought that the rejection of Christianity, even in its secularized form, would prove costly for the UK:

·       The decline of religion [secularized Christianity] is no doubt a bad thing for the ‘World’. By it all the things that made England a fairly happy country, are, I supposed endangered: the comparative purity of her public life, the comparative humanity of her police, and the possibility of mutual respect between political opponents. (220)

Lewis predicted that the marginalization of the Christian faith, albeit secularized, would prove costly. However, he doubted that this would negatively impact the true Church:

·       But I am not clear that it makes conversions to Christianity rarer or more difficult: rather the reverse. It makes the choice [between the World and Christ] more unescapable. (220)

The light of Christ shines brighter in the darkness than in the light. However, Lewis was insistent that the Church must also provide intellectual light:

·       If the intellectual climate is such that, when a man comes to the crisis at which he must either accept or reject Christ, his reason and imagination are not on the wrong side, then his conflict will be fought out under favorable conditions. Those who help to produce and spread such a climate are therefore doing a useful work. (221)

This principle of providing an intellectual climate conducive to salvation is seen throughout Scripture:

·       And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Acts 17:2-4; ESV)

Lewis believed that cycles of interest in Christianity, followed by acceptance, rejection, and persecution are as inevitable as forest fires, which renew the forest:

·       At first it is welcome to all who have no special reason for opposing it: at this stage he who is not against it is for it. What men notice is its difference from those aspects of the World which they already dislike. But later on, as the real meaning of the Christian claim becomes apparent, its demand for total surrender, the sheer chasm between Nature and the Supernatural, men are increasingly ‘offended’. Dislike, terror, and finally hatred succeed. (222-23)

What does this suggest for us? We must not be overly concerned about these inevitable cycles. We must not follow them, cater and pander to them, and give ourselves over to our fickle culture. We cannot forget our first vocation to love the Lord our God with all our being.

Envisioning the coming apostasy, Paul’s counsel to Timothy was very clear:

·       Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

We too must do the same, no matter how discouraging the times, knowing that even hell shall not prevail against the Church of Christ.

SHOULD A CHRISTIAN NOT CHALLENGE OTHER RELIGIONS, IDEOLOGIES, AND PRACTICES?

Many Christians believe that we shouldn't challenge the faith and teachings of other religions but, instead, just live out our own faith.

While living in accordance with our Christian faith is commendable, our faith ALSO requires us to be vigilant against false teachings, teachers, and religions. The Israelites were repeatedly warned against these:

·       “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)

Such warnings are no less prevalent in the New Testament. While Jesus never warned His disciples about their physical health, He often warned them about their spiritual health and their intake of spiritual food:

·       “And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”” (Mark 8:15)

Our loving Jesus often used harsh words to correct His opposition:

·       ““But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in...Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:13, 15)

In fact, Paul cited the ability to refute false claims as one of the qualifications for eldership (Titus 1:7-11). In the "Book of Revelation," Jesus castigated several churches for not challenging false teachings (Rev. 2:14-16; 20), while He commended the church at Ephesus for challenging false teaching (2:2).

Paul also warned against false religions:

·       “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ...Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind...These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:8, 18, 23)

Such examples are so numerous that they hardly need emphasizing, but they are so important that they can't be ignored. Life depended upon recognizing their threat:

·       “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

All of these warnings indicate that the way to the soul is through the mind - what we believe. We are liberated (John 8:31) and enslaved (2 Tim. 2:24-26) by what we believe. Consequently, this is where the battle rages:

·       “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

We are surrounded by worldviews that must be challenged for the sake of the Gospel. One common meme holds that Christianity is no different from Islam. Should this lie be exposed? If we don't, then we, the church, are guilty of failing to rescue others from deception. Therefore, I just replied to someone who claimed that Christianity is just as violent as Islam:

·       "There is nothing about the Christian faith that encourages violence. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of Surah and Hadiths that instruct violence. Consequently, Islam has been termed 'The Ultimate Killing Machine.' Where are Christians beheading or raping? Which Christians are teaching to take over the world? Instead, our hope is focused on the next life."

We are required to expose the darkness by the light:

·       “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

No one wants to be exposed, but expose, we must.

Israel’s Rejection of her Messiah

I pray that my Jewish people would reconsider their rejection of their Messiah. There are several reasons for this reconsideration. For one thing, according to the Prophets of Israel, Israel has almost always turned their back on their God. Take the Prophet Isaiah, for example:

• Isaiah 1:3-4 Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care— but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them.  Oh, what a sinful nation they are— loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

This denunciation is uniformly found among the Prophets. How should these indictments affect the us? We should at least ask, “Are we still so blind and rebellious? How can we know whether or not we are still incurring God’s displeasure?”

Is it possible that our promised Savior, the Messiah has already come and we have missed Him? We claim that “When the Messiah comes, there will be world peace. Jesus didn’t bring world peace. Therefore, he cannot be the Messiah.”

However, this is to ignore the many prophecies that indicate that the Messiah will first come in humility, as many of our Rabbis have noted:

• Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.

By anyone’s reckoning, the prophecy of Daniel has been accomplished by the coming and humbling unto death of the Messiah:

• Daniel 9:24-26 “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times. After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end. 

Most tragically, we have rejected our Savior. (This should not surprise us, since we have repeatedly rejected our God.):

• Isaiah 53:3-6 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 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. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

• Psalm 118:22-24 The stone [the Messiah] the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

• Isaiah 8:14 and he [the Messiah] will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.

• Isaiah 49:6-7 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." This is what the Lord says--the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel--to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation [of Israel], to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

However, I feel that I need to place these verses within the context of the entire revelation of God, lest anti-Semites manipulate them for the purpose of hate and the denigration of Israel. God’s rejection of Israel is only temporary:

• Zech. 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they [Israel] have pierced, and they will mourn for him [the Messiah] as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

This will be followed by forgiveness and the restoration of Israel. As the New Testament affirms, “God’s gifts and calling are without revocation” (Romans 11:29). According to Paul, all Israel will be saved:

• Romans 11:25-27  I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ.  And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say:

• “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.   And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.” (Paul quoting Isaiah 59:20-21)

There are just so many prophecies that promise that God will not permanently abandon His people Israel:

• Hosea 1:9-11 Then the Lord said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God." Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited...

• Isaiah 49:14-17 But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your sons hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.

Rejecting Uncomfortable Truths

Quoting from Deuteronomy 8, Jesus informed the Devil:

•   “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mat. 4:4)

This means that Jesus’ faithful follower has been deprived of the luxury of picking-and-choosing what truth to believe. Instead, we are to live by all of God’s words. If we leave any out, we might find ourselves trying to navigate a plane with only one wing.

It’s like doing math. If you leave one term out of an equation, your answer might be radically different. For example, let’s look at this equation:

1000 + 5000 x 0 = 0

If we leave “x 0” out of the equation, our answer is “6000” – very different from “0!” It is also possible to do the same thing with our theological calculations and derive a very different worldview by simply omitting one teaching.

This is just what is often done in many “seeker sensitive” churches. Certain doctrines are omitted because they are offensive, for instance the “depravity of man”:

• The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jer. 17:9)

• “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands;   there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

On top of this degrading picture of humanity, Scripture makes modern humanity even more uncomfortable by its radical distinction between the saved and unsaved:

• The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:14-16; Rom. 8:5-8; John 3:3)

Such truths present both an obstacle to what we see and how we wish to live our lives in our professional settings. We look at the outer man and not the inner man. Consequently, the unsaved look virtually the same as the saved.

However, even more problematic is the “us vs. them” (saved and unsaved) distinction, separating us from the world we so esteem. Brian McLaren, a key writer of the Emergent Church movement, charges that:

• Christians have been taught to see in "us vs. them" terms for centuries, and it will take time to reorient faithful people in a new direction -- "us with them," working for the common good (Huffington Post Religion Blog, 2/19/03).

In support of his indictment, McLaren cites two like-minded students:

• “People don't want to have to side with the church and against their friends who are Buddhist or Muslim or Jewish or agnostic." 

• “We can't find a church that doesn't load a bunch of extra baggage on us. We tried, but they all had this long list of people we had to be against. It's just not worth it.”

McLaren is right that this teaching tends to set us apart, creating discomfort and interfering with social and professional engagement. But perhaps this cleavage is biblically warranted! Since McLaren argues his case in terms of the costs of this biblical doctrine, it is justified to also weigh the benefits. This doctrine of the radical distinction – believers vs. unbelievers - serves as a lens enabling us to see reality clearly and to navigate its waters. Consequently:

1.     We will not become disillusioned when the world rejects our best efforts (John 15:18-20).

2.     Understanding the depths of human depravity, we will be less inclined to be influenced by naïve, costly utopian schemes to change the world.

3.     We will be on guard against the world’s hatred of the light (John 3:19-21; John 16:1-4). 4.     We will be on guard against the sinful influences of the world and how it affects our thinking (Mat. 7:15; Mark 8:15). Paul warns against the possibility of being cheated out of our reward (Col. 2:8). 

4.   We will be more apt to protect the teaching ministry of the church (Titus 1:7-11; 2 Tim. 2:24-26) and to correct those we need to correct (James 5:19-20).
6.     We will be less inclined to compromise our faith and our relationship with our Lord (John 15:7-14) and to be joined with those who will undermine our faith (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

7.     We will not reject the Bible-believing church as an ignorant obstacle to unreservedly joining hands with the world. For many the church has become an embarrassment, like a deranged sibling who we keep locked-up at home.

8.     The rest of our understanding of Scripture will be subverted by the addition of a doctrine that doesn’t fit (Gal. 5:9). For one thing, it will undermine the warranted praise that the Lord should receive for rescuing us out of our contemptible depravity, producing in us gratitude.

We cannot leave any of God’s teachings out of the equation without great cost. The Apostle Paul affirmed this principle during his final visit with the elders of the church at Ephesus:

•  I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. (Acts 20:26-27)

More than anything else, we need to know that our lives are pleasing to our Savior. Paul affirmed that we could not have such assurance if we have systematically left out portions of His teachings.