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You might be right there...the Pharisees had quite a bone to pick with the Lord..."sinners" seemed to fall at His feet.TreeOfLife said:Sad as this may sound, I have found that sometimes "good" people's "goodness" is a bigger obstacle to them accepting Christ than "bad" people's "badness".
In fact, I'm positive it's easier for the jerks.
(Thank God for that!)
angelwind said:You might be right there...the Pharisees had quite a bone to pick with the Lord..."sinners" seemed to fall at His feet.
TreeOfLife said:Sad as this may sound, I have found that sometimes "good" people's "goodness" is a bigger obstacle to them accepting Christ than "bad" people's "badness".
In fact, I'm positive it's easier for the jerks.
(Thank God for that!)
BarbB said:I agree that it's easier for the jerks, TOL. At least when I finally saw that I NEEDED a savior, I didn't hesitate. My best girlfriend for 54 years is a genuinely nice person who would give anybody her last bit of food or clothing, spends all her time taking care of those she loves. I think she just can't believe that she's bad enough to need Jesus.
TreeOfLife said:Not to get too syrupy, but that was heart wrenching to read. How does one who is truely kind accept the notion that they are not good enough? Only God can do that.
...
Sue,The Lord is my banner said:Mark I do understand your concern, and it's an indicator of the love of God working through you because you care about the lost.
I don't believe they are at any greater disadvantage than anyone else. We do all have an equal opportunity to seek and be found by the true and living God.
I'll explain.
I was brought up that "going to church" was the right thing to do, yet I was rarely taken except for "special occasions," and was told Bible stories as a child, at home and at school.
Interpretations were put upon them, I was fed reasons to not believe them, I was afraid of God, I doubted His very existence. (Funny thing that - we can fear what we don't think is there!)
I saw that religion didn't work for most people I met who went to church, and found other spiritual paths more interesting.
Most people my age in Britain would probably be in this situation, and anyone a bit younger would not even have had much Bible fed to them, since fewer parents now attend church and fewer schools have even a nominally Christian assembly.
I would guess even the very few Brits, (maybe 5% or so - anyone got a statistic?), who have saved parents might still be immersed so deeply in our anti-Christ culture that they'd struggle.
I am astounded anyone makes it at all, but God is so longing to reach all.
He reached me, and it took many, many years for Him to break through my unbelief, fear and religiosity. I am a very slow learner, but He is patient.
Finally I saw that Jesus is God, prayed to Him to rescue me, called myself a Chrstian, but still it was several years before I grasped that I had sinned!
I knew I was " a sinner" but had zero comprehension of my own personal sin. I still thought I wasn't that bad a person!
I prayed for forgiveness without being specific, and didn't face some things until about 5 years after that first prayer. Always knew something was missing, but as I said, I can be slow.
A Muslim or Hindu might even have a little head start over the atheist or the "church-goer" since they at least acknowledge spiritual possibilities.
They may have an awareness of the disatisfaction and limitations their religion, laws and restraints leave them with, and long for reality - the greatest thing Christians have is forgiveness, and they simply cannot find that in their faiths.
In the end, when we all see the full story, nobody on Judgement Day will think God is unjust, and that truth will be acknowledged by all atheists, false faith followers, and religious church-goers who never longed for Jesus Himself but were content with their observance.
God bless, love Sue
Mark2010 said:Sue,
First, I never would suspect you as that bad a person. Far from it!!
Second --- and I am no one's expert here --- but I find it hard to imagine Britain as an anti-Christ culture. Perhaps it doesn't hold the same evangelical fare of John Wesley's days or whatever, but are residents not free to worship as their conscious sees fit without fear of government persecution? If so, that can certainly not be compared to places in the middle east, Africa, China and other parts of the globe where confessing Christianity can lead to death.
I think most of western culture -- and I would include places like Australia, New Zealand, all of Europe and North and South America --- is far different than other parts of the world. And I think those of us raised in this culture tend to underestimate its influence on us.
Can a muslim living in Afghanistan become Christian? Sure, as the recent headlines have reminded us. Is it likely to happen in large numbers? Probably not. Are the chances greater that someone raised in England or Canada or the United States or Australia will be Christian? I would suspect they are. And this is not even touching upon those isolated corners of the world, where modern technologies and communications have yet to be realized, where persons may truly have never heard of Jesus or his story.
I honestly don't know the answer. Perhaps there are multiple roads leading to the same destination. I know what I believe, but am not so arrogant as to proclaim superiority over the rest of humanity. How then does one balance the belief that God loves the entire world with the belief that Christianity is the only path that leads to God and to eternal life?
Mark2010 said:I have often wondered about this. What conclusion are we to make of someone, raised in a foerign land in a different cultural setting, who has been taught from birth that Islam, or Hinduism, or something else is true, and has no reason to question that. They are devout in their beliefs, live a good moral life and do basically the same things Christians do. Yet, to that person, Christianity sounds as fake as we might view the religion of their land.
Are we to conclude that God doesn't accept them because they were born with a cultural bias other than Christian?
TreeOfLife said:So then you yourself are a Christian because you were born into it? That seems to be what you are saying.
Mark2010 said:I think the odds increased tremendously because of where I lived and the culture around me. When I was going through my own spiritual search a number of yers ago, I could see that being a Christian had a lot to offer. Sure, the choice was mine, but no one was waiting to kill me when I made that choice.
I am not saying that people from other cultures and lands do not become Christian. There is ample evidence that they do. Many pay a severe price for their choice.
The original topic was Oprah's statement that there can be more than one way to God. I am simply raising the question of how God views things in light of our built-in cultural biases. It is a question for which I do not claim to have an answer.
TreeOfLife said:Religion does not equal salvation. Neither christian religion, nor muslim religion.
Mark2010 said:Perhaps there are multiple roads leading to the same destination. I know what I believe, but am not so arrogant as to proclaim superiority over the rest of humanity. How then does one balance the belief that God loves the entire world with the belief that Christianity is the only path that leads to God and to eternal life?
Mark2010 said:The original topic was Oprah's statement that there can be more than one way to God. I am simply raising the question of how God views things in light of our built-in cultural biases. It is a question for which I do not claim to have an answer.
Sounds like a plan to me HisgirlHisgirl said:womanofgodwcci....if you want to arrange it to where you're getting on an elevator alone with Oprah...I'll cut the power and you can just clang on the doors with your shoe when God's done using you.Bless her heart. All that money and she doesn't even know how poor she really is.
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