Things that Make Me Squirm

I have the unusual personality trait of being able to face things that make me uncomfortable.  I will not back away from anything just because it makes me uneasy.  I would rather look at what's going on inside and ask myself  "Why does this bother me?"  I would rather look things in the eye than turn away.  Wrestling with issues that bother us, in the end, I believe promotes growth. A faith unexamined is not a faith worth having someone famous once said.....sure wish I could remember who that was....

So the current book I am reading "Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream" is just deeply discomforting.  Let me just say it now and get it out of the way.  This book REALLY is a tough read. On so many levels, for so many reasons.  This will probably be the subject of the next several posts- there is just so much here to grapple with....

First difficulty for me is that the author, David Platt, is a young evangelical Baptist of the Southern persuasion.  I have a tough time with the Baptist Church . (I apologize in advance to all my Baptist friends). They have always seemed a bit too rigid to me.  Not my cup of tea.  I dislike their stance on women in the church and their complete inflexibility about the specific nature of baptism (whole body immersion) vs sprinkling of babies, etc has always struck me as just plain silly.  Like God is gonna' punish people due to a lack of sufficient water over the entire body.  Have these people ever heard of the Pharisees and how Jesus constantly admonished them over their rabid legalism as opposed to being adherent to the spirit of the law?  Guess not!

But in the interest of reading with an open mind, I have set this aside.  More or less.  The basic gist of this book is, that if you are a Christian (or if you call yourself one) then it is imperative that you be about God's business in the world of The Great Commission which is to go out and make disciples of ALL NATIONS.  Platt basically believes that in this country, our pursuit of the American Dream is the antithesis of the mission of Christianity.  The  American Dream emphasizes individualism, self promotion, self awareness, pursuit of personal happiness at all costs, materialism, accumulation of wealth, power, and influence.  Contrast that with the mission of Christianity, which is to die daily in Christ, to put the self aside, to sacrifice for the Kingdom of Heaven, to obey God's commandment to go and spread the Gospel to all the world, and to be willing to die if need be pursuant to all of the above.  Are you squirming yet?  You should be!

So why don't we behave like who we say we are?  Lots of reasons, but the one that bothers me the most deals with the whole issue of "pluralism" which dominates the global religious landscape and is the idea that if God does indeed exist, then He has provided many means of salvation for the lost.  If this is in fact so, then there is no urgency to go and make disciples of all nations because we can all get to heaven by lots of different pathways.  Hmmm.....except this isn't what Christ taught.  And worse yet- if this is in fact true, then why was Christ sent by the Father to endure a grueling death on the cross in order to reconcile us to God?  Why did He hang there in agony for over 6 hours dying a criminal's death if we could all just join the Father in eternal life by any ole' means convenient for us?  Does this not cheapen the sacrifice at Calvary? 

But this viewpoint is completely not PC.  Don't ever hint that you question the notion of pluralism in our society or even around some of your own friends and family, because you will be immediately dismissed.  It usually goes something like this "You can't possibly be so narrow minded as to think that Christianity is the only pathway to God!"  Followed by righteous indignation and dismissal of your views as "crazy fundamentalist!"  I really don't think of myself as crazy, nor as a fundamentalist, and I would much rather the notion of pluralsim be true.  It suits me better.  I am in inclusive kind of person.  I don't want to see anybody left out.  I want all good people to have a shot at eternity in heaven.  The problem is, as I understand it from the New Testament, God has already formulated His own plan to redeem the nations, and that plan involves salvation thru faith in Christ.  I might not like His plan, but when I can create my own universe and keep the sun from falling out of the sky, then perhaps I could take Him on in a debate about the wisdom of this whole salvation plan......Till then I think I'll just shut up and accept the fact that "my ways are not as high as Yours are"......perhaps others should give up questioning God as well.....I'm just sayin'......

Platt, being a Baptist and all, has no trouble whatsoever pointing to the fact that even American Christians embrace the notion of pluralism and therefore feel no sense of urgency to name, claim, teach the masses about Jesus as if their very lives depended upon it.  Because, in fact, we don't believe that their/our very lives depend upon knowing Him.  We'd rather just sit in church once in awhile, give a little money now and then, trade up for bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger bank accounts, and turn away from the billions of poor, struggling, unloved, unaware people on the planet who will never hear the Good News because we have conveniently forgotten that final little commandment of Christ just before His ascension:  Go and make disciples of all nations....A belief in pluralsim gives us a pass to skip that whole Great Commission thing and allows us to divert our attention to more important issues.  Like pursuing the American Dream.  While all of this is disturbing and painful to admit, it makes a great deal of sense to me....

Every once in awhile, even the Baptists get it right.......It might make make squirm.  It might make me uneasy.  I might not understand the plan, but how can I turn away from the truth? Painful as it might be? That's not really my style.......Shalom!