During the long checkered history of humanity, most of us have learned that tolerance of varying points of view is generally a good, positive thing. The great American ideal of religious freedom and equal treatment under the law has permitted many brands of religious faith to flourish. The persecution of this or that sect or denomination by other groups, or by the government, has all but vanished from our culture.
However, only the very naive will insist that competition between religious viewpoints has ceased to exist. The fact that all religions (excepting those that promote the victimization of people) are equally tolerated in our land, has unfortunately led some to the mistaken notion that all religions are, therefore, equally valid in their truth claims.
To give an obvious example: One religion claims that its primary historical figure was not only a great teacher and prophet, but God incarnate, the second Person and Son of the true, triune Creator...
...While a competing religion denies that this same man was divine, and insists that the Creator has no “Son.”
Such a contradiction makes it impossible for both viewpoints to be equally valid. No matter how the question is resolved, sadly, somebody is wrong. To be wrong need not be a terrible problem, so long as both adherents are willing to honestly examine the available evidence and possibly change their mind.
What makes it a terrifying problem is when somebody claims that whether someone is right or wrong makes no difference, but matters not at all! When people begin to say that contradictory truth claims can all be “right” depending on the whim of each claimant, that is when we have passed through the proverbial looking glass into a land of absurdity.
A land in which Jesus can be Lord and God in the world of person A, and not Lord and God in the world of person B. In the real world, the objective world of reality, either Jesus is who Christians believe Him to be, or He isn’t.
When it comes to spiritual things, there are far too many folks walking around feeling instead of thinking. People who are content to “feel” what must be true, instead of facing hard facts and reasoning things out. I might feel like it would be great if I could travel through time in a sports car a la Back to the Future. But reality makes such travel impossible. Imagination might create all kinds of alternate realities for us to pretend in. But objective reality is quite different.
I strongly suspect that many of these “feeling”-type folks live in their make-believe world where right or wrong beliefs don’t matter, simply because, for them, they genuinely don’t matter. They have come to the conclusion that objective spiritual/religious truth doesn’t exist, and that God the Creator, Redeemer and Judge might not exist either, so why sweat the details?
But the Bible clearly teaches that all people, regardless of how they feel, or what they think, will one day stand before their Maker and face ultimate judgment. According to this Book of books, Heaven and Hell are realities that one day will no longer be deniable.
To put it realistically, I am a sinner against a holy God who will one day have to “face the facts.” And according to His word, I will need a Savior on that day to plead my case. Do you have One to plead yours? Read His word and find Him now.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate reality.
MNA
2/7/2021
