Exclusivity is Missing the Point

I know this “Exclusivity of Jesus” thing has drawn battle lines for some time now between the “evangelicals” and the “post-moderns”. I hold both categories, by the way, very loosely. Then there is that vast sea of “Christians” who land the plane somewhere in the middle around “I’m not sure”, or “Why does it matter?”. Those are honest answers, but those who hold these opinions are pretty much thrown in the postmodern camp regardless of how they would classify (if they even did) themselves.

Most of the conflict revolves around what is “the truth.” Far be it from me to go down that rabbit hole of objective vs. subjective truth, so for now, I’m going to set that argument aside to focus on what I think is the more major point in the conversation. To do that, I’m going back to 2003 when Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo wrote a book entitled, “Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel.” This book came out just as the “Emergent Church” movement was gaining traction. It, along with McLaren’s earlier work, “The Church on the Other Side,” fueled the ire fire of the more fundamental Christian right, and gauntlets were thrown along with a lot of name-callings.

I’m not going to get into that tussle either, but I am going to quote from McLaren to start the discussion. In the first chapter of Adventures… entitled “God”, he makes this statement:

“If you had asked the apostle Paul, ‘If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain that you would be with God in heaven?’, I’m certain Paul would have said yes. But he probably would have given you a funny look and wondered why you were asking this question because, to him, it missed the point.

To Paul, the point of being Christ’s follower was not just to help people be absolutely certain they were going to heaven after they died. Paul’s goal was to help them be fully formed, mature in Christ, here and now — to experience the glorious realities of being in Christ and experiencing Christ in themselves.”

Wow, thanks, Brian. You see, this article is not about me trying to change those of you who hold a belief system on the exclusivity of Christ. It would be futile. I’m also not going to try to convey to those of you with an alternate attitude of “anything goes, and whatever you believe is ok.” that you can’t learn something as well. Let’s see if we can somehow all exhale for a moment and adopt a more “maybe” perspective.

It's hard for some of us, I know. But it's doable if you want to.

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus was centrally focused on us experiencing Him, and thus, we experienced The Father simultaneously. To me, that promise is the good news. It’s worth sharing. It’s worth believing that it will make a difference in the here and now and for eternity. Sign me up…

Here’s a couple of bible passages to ponder:

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Compare this to (and I’m only going to pick on someone specific this one time, but I know that a lot of you would echo his sentiments):

“Many [Christians] shy away from stating unequivocally that the Bible is truth and all other religious systems and worldviews are false.” –John MacArthur

So, let me ask you, which one(s) do you think better reflect(s) the heart of God? Would you rather spend your time in conversation talking about tasting, seeing, goodness, happiness, security, triumph, winsome aroma, and “knowing Him”,

or, well…the alternative?

You see, none of you has to give up any of your currently held beliefs; just change the focus. It’s not about “turn and burn you sinner!”(you don’t need to remind anyone that they sin-we get it all on our own), but about “come, experience God and Jesus in the most profound way I know of. Oh, and by the way, we’ll do it together.” Not a focus on “the only way there is.” Let God show the individual experientially that together with Him is better. You can’t shove it down someone’s throat under the guise of “Sorry, it’s the truth. I did my job(evangelizing), the rest is up to God”. Sort of like a “throw mud on the wall and see what sticks” approach.

What a cop-out.

Just introduce them with the intent of showing them abundant life, not salvation from damnation, which is what you get if you believe anything else. Somehow, I see this as the kind of perspective the early church had before the Augustinian theology of the fourth century crept in.

Christ, as the only way, doesn’t even need to be part of the equation. If someone either doesn’t want to come along with you or does and then, at some point, it does not resonate with them, what are you going to do? Threaten them with the “truth,” that any other path is false and that they are going to burn in hell for eternity? At that point, a conversion is a concession and is either fire insurance or, as Bonhoeffer put it, “cheap grace”.

An “I’m in” is the starting point, not the finish line.

You want someone to develop a life of faith like this: Gal 5:16, 22–26

“My [Paul] counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit.”

“[And] what happens when we live God’s way (animated and motivated by the Spirit)? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard — things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”

Can I just drop the mic now?

Please, let’s turn the swords into plowshares and propagate this incredible abundant life in Christ that is just there for the taking. The longer we keep this bickering up, the longer it will take for the redeeming Spirit to transform the world, irrespective of when the end times will come. Let that take care of itself, as Jesus said. If you really believe that faith in Christ matters, then live it, invite it, relish in it, and struggle with it, but for everyone’s sake, let’s stop missing the point of it.

Which is that “… God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to know the truth fully.” I think deep down, we all want the same thing.

Namaste…