Jesus came to earth to save everyone, not just Christians
One of my daughters went to church on a Sunday, had a good Sunday School Class and worship, and returned home to send me an inquiry about salvation. She said, “Dad, when we were younger, I asked you about salvation and you quoted Jesus as saying, ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6 NIV). She continued by saying that she worked with all kinds of people and wondered if they were all lost unless they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Wow! She does know how to pull my strings.
First of all, I commended her for having a good lesson which made her think and pointed out that questions are the door to learning. Then, I proceeded to go where even the angels fear to tread.
Theologians have always considered God as a Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. While distinct from one another, they are the same. I admit that such thinking is hard to grasp, and would also note that the issue has been debated for centuries. But when they are considered as One, there are no problems; when they are considered separately, there almost always is controversy — which one has the most power (boss). The “God is Dead” theology, the Charismatic Movement emphasizing the Holy Spirit over the other two, and the conservative Christology which says that Jesus is preeminent are historical examples of how the Trinity has been misaligned.
Today, the emphasis is upon God the Father. I think it is safe to say that a tremendous number of people today firmly believe in God, but are very hesitant to believe anything else. Often, such perspectives classify this dichotomy as “spirituality versus religion,” but when translated this simply means “God versus the church.” Many people today eschew the church while claiming a strong faith in God. This is true in law enforcement, and I suspect among military personnel where it is almost impossible to find someone who does not believe in God. The church and the role of Jesus within it is not favored by a lot of people today.
While every civilization has had some form of religion, humanity also has had as many different personal beliefs and lifestyles as there are people. Simply put, that is why we have so many different religions, church denominations and independent expressions of religion. The separation issue is actually how far apart the people are in their thinking and experiences and whether or not they can agree to disagree. Some people cannot be ecumenical in their faith; others want to work with one another to promote unity in accomplishing more to help others.
One of the biggest difficulties separating religious people today is the confusion over a biblical plan for salvation versus different lifestyles. Thus, I asked people to consider in one of my social gatherings if it were possible for someone in a liberal church who accepts Jesus as their Savior to be saved. Or, is it possible for someone who has a different sexual orientation to be saved if they have committed themselves to Jesus? You can bet that raised a lot of questions, but the fact remains that the way of salvation as taught in the Bible is not contingent upon one’s lifestyle or church membership. It clearly rests upon one’s relationship to Jesus who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26 NIV ).
I like what the main character in the book (or movie) “The Shack” discovered when he queried Jesus about some Christian theology. Jesus replied that while the theology was okay, he did not understand all this about Christians. He pointed out that he did not come to earth just to save Christians; he came to save everyone.
And so, daughter, I guess that’s where I am today. It’s a cop-out to claim belief in God and to ignore both His people and their work through the church. All vocations, including religions, need the discipline provided by contact with others in the same field. As I said earlier, raising questions is not a sin; it is the gateway to learning, and the process of learning never ends. Is everybody going to heaven (universalism)? I seriously doubt it, but that is a question best answered by God, not me. Does God love everyone? That I can answer. Of course, He does! And aren’t you glad that includes us?