Going to Church

There are a lot of reasons to go to a church. One might go because the doctrine and theology of the church is appealing. One might go because the music is good or the pastor preaches well. One might go to meet people or because of family ties. One might go out of a perceived duty or obligation.

He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. -Luke 4:16

Why did Jesus go?

Choosing Hell

Hell is something that most people don't talk about but when they do they typically fall into three camps: people who believe that a loving God will not send anyone to hell, people who believe that God allows people to choose hell, and people who believe that God condemns people to hell. The distinction between the latter two appears at first to just be spin. After all, who would choose to be tortured? It is like saying that criminals choose jail by committing a crime. Most prisoners would jump at the chance for freedom but have been condemned to prison and must be guarded so they don't escape.

I don't think "choosing hell" is meant in the same way as a prisoner "choosing jail." One doesn't have to look to far to find lots of people who choose of their own free to be chained and tormented. These people don't need to be guarded; they don't want to escape. Living long enough in this world makes it easy to convince me that in the next world, Hell will have no walls or guards.

The Pessimistic Christ

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. --John 2:23-25

Jesus loved us to the extent of dying for us and there is no greater love than that. But He also saw things as they really are. The same Christ that taught us to love men also taught us to beware of them.

Contradictions

For some reason today I remembered a particular evening when I was dining with a group mostly consisting of strangers. I don't remember much about the conversion aside from a conversation which I overhead parts of but that I wasn't involved in. Toward the beginning of the evening, before the food had been brought out, a man was talking to several women about how Christians aren't bright enough to see the contradiction that a loving God would send people to hell. What kind of Father would torture his children for anything that they did wrong no matter how wicked? Everyone seemed to agree that this was plainly unbelievable.

Then out came food and I stopped listening in on the conversation. After the meal had completed and the dishes had been cleared, I heard the same man talking again to the same group of ladies. This time he was talking about another silly Christian belief. He was saying that Christians believe that if Hitler genuinely repented in his heart on his deathbed he could be in heaven right now. How can God be just and yet allow a single act of contrition to erase an entire lifetime of evil? Everyone again seemed to agree with his point.

Christianity is paradoxical in many ways but it is not contradictory like atheism. An atheist can despise God before dinner for sending anyone to hell and then despise God after dinner for not sending enough people to hell.

Needs

If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' " -Mark 11:3

I find it absolutely amazing that Jesus Christ, God incarnate, could need anything, much less a donkey. Moreover, the donkey was even prophesied about hundreds of years in advance. If a donkey can play such a role in God's plan for the salvation of the world, what plans might he have for us?

Mercy, Judgment, Redemption

I'm fascinated at the way God handles sin. There seems to be three phases and I'll use Adam and Eve as an example. The first phase is the mercy phase. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit the only change was that their eyes were opened to evil. But they were not expelled from the garden and they did not "surely die." The only thing that happened to them was a change in their character. The second phase is the judgment phase. After God confronts Adam and Eve and they refuse to acknowledge their sin they are expelled from the garden and cursed. The third phase is redemption. We all know how that came about.

I see similar phases with me and lots of people I've known. First God allows us to sin with apparently no consequences whatsoever. Then, after a time, judgment comes. Finally after suffering enough we find redemption by turning back to God.

Significance

Even in the early church, dating back to the time of Paul. severe doctrinal differences crept into the church. Many of these heretics are called out and condemned by name in several of the New Testament books. We don't live in an ideal world but I do wonder how much different things would be if so many people were not so disposed to use any means necessary, including lies, to achieve worldly significance.