Going Along With the Program

Who gets to live forever?

Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:10-12

John makes it clear that believing in the Son is the key to eternal life.  If we fail to believe that God came among us to save us from death, we call God a liar and don't deserve life everlasting through Christ.

Clear enough, right.

Believe or else you are damned.

There is a problem with that, isn't there?  It reminds me of my youth, when fear of punishment was the motivator to keep me on the right path.  If I didn't get caught, I could do what I wanted and not be afraid of reprisal.

If I choose to believe out of fear, am I really a believer, or am I just going along with the program?

Which do you think was more important to Jesus, that we understand who he was, or that we learn to love one another as he taught?

If I claim to believe, but I treat people poorly, do I really have the testimony of God in my heart?

For centuries, we Christians have taken the approach that spreading the Gospel meant beating the fear of God into people who didn't know Christ.  Believe what we believe, or you will die.

Perhaps we were doing that out of love, wanting some to be saved as we felt we were saved, but if we were doing it for any other purpose, if it was a means of gaining control over others or to build ourselves up, what did we accomplish?

As children, we were really good at uncovering discrepancies in action versus doctrine, especially in our own families.  The "Don't do as I do, but do as I say" dictum was how we saw our parents at times when they acted against their own words.

And I think that is the point.  We become believers not by decree but by faith.  And that faith leads us, through our love of God and love for each other, to share what we believe so others can find the joy and serenity we have found in Christ.

If we come at it any other way, we run the risk of battling our way through doubt to claim souls, as if we are playing some religious video game with a goal to win over as many others as possible.

I would rather invite the world in, share the love and see where the conversation leads.  If we can come to love one another, more than half the battle is won.

But what about the everlasting life business?

Perhaps we can talk about that over coffee.

More to come...