URL Response

I received a couple of urls on strips of paper from a woman on Mill Ave who stated that she is the author of the first one, and believes that everyone should read the second one. According to the article that she says she wrote, her name is Melissa Trible.

http://relijournal.com/christianity/extreme-atheism-and-hypertheism/
http://www.cracked.com/article_15663_10-things-christians-atheists-can-and-must-agree-on.html

So, here’s my response. Both articles are interesting and make some good points, although they seem to lack a full understanding of the core beliefs of Christianity. It’s not about some sort of fight with atheists to determine who is right in the end, or who can debate better. It’s not about us at all, but about the wrath of an eternal, holy, righteous and just Creator upon His rebellious creation . It’s about the danger of hell, whether you believe it or not really makes little difference. Go stand in on the freeway and state that you don’t believe in trucks – your belief or lack of it - is not going to make any difference in the outcome.

As Christians, we care about the atheist, the homosexual, the pagan, the heathen – they are all created in God’s image and all have value. If we didn’t care, we really wouldn’t need to say anything, there would be no “proselytizing” - the clumsy word unbelievers prefer to use. We call it “witnessing” or “evangelism”, but it all means the same thing.

Let’s get a few things straight. First, no Christian is any better than any unbeliever. If there is a self righteous arrogance in a professing Christian, there is a problem and that person is not holding to the Christian belief system that they claim to be holding to and need to check themselves in order to determine if they are truly in the faith or not.

Second, no one goes to hell because they don’t believe in the right thing. God’s moral Law is written on our conscience, and yet there is not a person on the planet who has not broken that Law. Thus every single one of us actually deserves punishment. That is why people go to hell, not because they don’t believe something. They go to hell because that is the punishment God has ascribed to those who break His Law, and it really doesn’t matter at that point what they believe or don’t believe or what lifestyle they choose to live during their short time on this earth.

Third, Christians are commanded to go forth and proclaim the Good News. And that is: Even though we all deserve eternal punishment for breaking God’s Law, He is loving and full of mercy, and He has provided a way to keep us out of the hell that we all deserve. He paid the fine for us, by coming down as a man, living a perfect life and then laying down that life as a sacrifice on our behalf. This leaves us only to repent, forsake and turn away from our sins and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the payment of our eternal fine. There is no other way and no hope other than this one way that has been provided for us.

So, the question arises to all professing Christians: “Do you really believe, that what you believe is really real?” The question may sound silly on the surface, but there is a deeper meaning if you contemplate it. If we truly did believe as we claim, wouldn’t there be more of us out there warning people and sharing the knowledge of eternal life? And doing so in a Biblical manner that glorifies our Lord?