Over
the last twenty to thirty years or more, our society has become
pluralistic. We celebrate our
diversity. We highlight all the things
that make us unique and different. We go
out of our way to show that it is our differences that make us special. Today, personal aspects, once thought to be best hidden
from the masses, are paraded with pride.
We
have learned over the years that differences in sex, race, creed, and sexual preference do not
make anyone better or worse than another.
That is a positive change in our attitudes.
We
have also learned that taken to the extreme, this idea can be just as harmful
as the extreme at the other end of this pendulum. I once watched a news report about women
attempting to join a big city fire department.
One of the tests that all fire fighter candidates had to pass was the
ability to throw a one hundred and fifty pound dummy over the shoulder and
carry it to safety. Some women
candidates had sued the city citing that this test was sexist and meant to keep
women off the fire fighting force. One
of the supporters of the women’s suit was asked if it wasn't a fair test to see
if a firefighter could carry someone out of a burning building. This supporter, a famous editor of a women’s
magazine, commented that carrying someone over the shoulder was not the only way
to get an injured person out of a building.
She then went on to explain that the person could be dragged from the
building by the legs and that was a better test for women wanting to be
firefighters. As she was finishing her
comments, I was struck by the image of someone being dragged down a flight of
stairs with their head bouncing off of each step as they went.
I
am one that likes to think that in most cases, when there are two opposing
views to something, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
I
suppose that this shows that I am a child of this process that we have
undergone in our society. But we must be
careful when we let secular views blur our understanding of God and salvation.
The
New Testament is clear on this point, Jesus is the way to salvation. When we indulge the idea that salvation is
possible through other means; another savior, works, or self, we weaken our
witness and devalue the scriptures.
Jesus
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me.” John 14:6. If we are
willing to overlook this scripture we cannot stand on the validity of any
scripture.
Salvation
through faith in Jesus is the overall purpose of all the scriptures found in
the Bible. From Genesis 1:1 we are
provided not only with the history of the people of Israel, we are also given
insight into God’s plan to reunite his creation with himself. Salvation through faith in Jesus is that plan
and we see it working with the people of Israel from the beginning. We see the importance of faith in the story
of Abraham and are given a glimpse of God’s plan to sacrifice his son in the
story of Abraham and Issac. “My
son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Gen 22:8
To
accept the idea that there is salvation in another form also eliminates the
need for Christians to witness their faith in Jesus. If Jesus is not the only bridge to God, why
then do we need to be concerned about others?
And yet Jesus was clear in his ministry that concern for others was of
the utmost importance. Many of his
parables included the aspect of caring for others. Jesus comes to us in the scriptures in the
image of a servant and a shepherd. These
are images in which the need to care for others cannot be denied.
More
importantly, if there were other ways to salvation, the cross would have no
significance. It would not have been
necessary. There would be no meaning to
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
I
have friends who are of differing opinions.
I have friends with different faiths.
I can respect their belief systems without denying my belief that Jesus
is the only way to salvation. It is my
desire to live a life that witnesses Jesus Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds. I want to share the good news of Jesus in a
loving and caring atmosphere with patience and understanding. I try to always remember that sometimes I am
planting, sometimes watering, and occasionally witness a harvest.
I
know that there are unanswered questions:
How could a loving God condemn those who never had the chance to know
about Jesus? What about those who died
before the birth of Jesus? Is it
possible to worship God without knowledge of the Bible? Is it possible to see God in nature and the
world? Questions on top of questions that go unanswered or partially
answered. These are questions that I
could only give a partial laymen’s opinion. Perhaps these are questions that I
will ask when I get to heaven, because they are questions that only God can
answer.
What
God has chosen to reveal to us about God's love, God's Law, God's Grace and God's Will
for us is found in the Bible and in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the greatest revelation of God the
Father. And Jesus says, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John
14:6.
This essay was written in 2004 as a project for the Penn West Conference of the United Church of Christ Lay Academy's Systematic Theology class.
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