A Diversion

From time to time I may feel compelled to write something that addresses current news and how it relates to my faith.

Today I ran across an article in the Akron Beacon Journal entitled: "Stairway to Heaven is Easier to Climb" Subtitle: "Study: Most Americans don't feel their faith is only way to eternal life." Frankly, this is no surprise. In our seemingly tolerant, pluralistic society people think that to believe that there is only one way to heaven is narrow minded and bigoted. It is sad that so many people are deceived, but we need to remember that Matt. 7:13 says: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it."

The alarming thing to me was that the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life reported that: "57 percent of those who attend evangelical churches said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life...". Whoa! Something is terribly wrong. Either people are not listening, people are not reading, people are not studying, people are not being taught or people just don't get it. I mean how can you get around: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me."? John 14:6. Or, "There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus" I Tim. 2:5 This echos what was said in my last blog, Jesus is it...no one else.

Think of it this way. If there is any other way to get to heaven other than Christ and His death on the cross, then Jesus was stupid. I mean, if He knew that I could get to heaven by being good, or by living according to the Koran, or by being baptized and taking communion, or by living the tenents of any other faith, then His death on the cross was unnecessary. If what 70 percent of all Americans believe and 57 percent of what alleged evangelical Christians believe is accurate, then Jesus should have pointed to any other way. He should have avoided His death and said: "Hey, get to heaven by...". But He did not. He knew that the only thing that was going to pave our way to heaven was His death on the cross because "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins". Heb. 9:22. Jesus is it. There is no other way. Unfortunately, 70 of Americans are deadly wrong.

We need to avoid what D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion said: "The survey shows that religion in America is, indeed, 3000 miles wide and only 3 inches deep." We need to dig deeper.