"That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable"

The title is from that soundbyte I quoted in my last entry here, from the DC Talk song, What if I Stumble?

I reference it because in the last week or so I was in a conversation with someone who has some rather interesting ideas about the nature of the Christian religion. Recently she read my blog (my other blog, where I posted the recent Youth Group talks on the Beatitudes. She gave a very skewed interpretation of "Blessed are the poor in spirit" which basically ended up contradicting the entire Gospel message of Christ's death being our Salvation, and that He is the only way.

So I challenged her point of view, and she took it extremely personally. So much so that unless I get an account at LiveJournal, I can't make further comments on her LJ. So, in that regard, I'm offering one last rant on it, and shaking the proverbial dust from my sandals!

Now, let's get something straight. I tend to be a rather logical fellow, when it comes to theology. My theology teacher told me I had a knack for carrying ideas to their farthest logical conclusion, and thereby demonstrate the logical consistency or inconsistency of argument. I did that for this person, and it ticked her off, royally. But that isn't my fault. If you believe something, and are never willing to examine it and think it through, what are you going to do when someone challenges you? Well, in my experience (both personal, and witnessing it in others) you get defensive, rather upset and angry, and then run away from the discussion. Tends to go over real well in discussing the issues and possibly persuading someone!

But this is the nature of someone insecure in their belief system. As such, I kinda pity Vero (whom I'm sure we all know that I was talking about, and if you didn't, it's 'cause you probably don't know her...either way, I'm sure name-dropping won't cause any harm--and as she said on her LJ, it is my blog!). It's gotta be really hard to be searching for your identity, and to maintain a certain "mystique" or "esoterism" to it all. But when you reject or reinterpret the claims of Christianity and the Bible so that they don't say anything at all, then you've set yourself adrift on an endless, often stormy sea with no port in sight.

But the part that gets me, the part that really infuriates me, is the fact that she can talk about her being a Christian, reading the Bible, going to church, etc. out of one side of her mouth, and then talk about the evil, terrible, oppressive institution that is the Church--and that somehow all these secret revelations from the Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's "faction" (where the "fact" content is more fictitious than the fiction!) constitute a "truer" Christianity. Personally, I can take it if someone isn't a Christian. I have many Muslim friends whom I respect greatly. I've shared my faith with them, they've shared theirs with me, and we've gotten along great. Will I ever convert? No! I believe that Jesus was telling the truth when He said He was the only way.

But when someone tells me that they are "Christian", and yet believe that paganism, witchcraft, gnosticism, and whathaveyou are compatible with the Christian faith, and that I'm closed-minded for disagreeing, that pisses me off! And as a friend of mine used to say, "Don't be so open-minded that your brain falls out!" You cannot believe in two entirely contradictory notions. It is impossible!

So please, make up your mind! Either be a Christian, and rejoice in that, or be a pagan and rejoice in that (if you can)! Just stop lying to yourself, and to the world, that you somehow love and revere Christ when you refuse to listen to anything He has to say!

Is Jesus the only way? Think about it this way: If there was any other way, do you think that God Most High would have chosen to suffer like He did?