I got a particularly difficult question from a woman named Tracy who posted a response and question to my post on Doable Evangelism called “The Kingdom of God.” I still have some angst about my response to her because I don’t think that I particularly answered all of her question in a way that would necessarily satisfy her, and I thought I would use my own blog to flesh out some of my thoughts on the subject.
Some of the things that popped out at me were the struggles that Tracy had expressed in regard to the exclusiveness of Christianity. I struggle with it myself. I’ve heard all the verses and quotes that indicate that “narrow is the way,” and I believe that the way truly is narrow, but I believe that “the way” is a way of loving and living out our purpose according to God’s will.
Sometimes, when all that you have seen are the ugly realities of life, you tend to see life as a living hell on this earth. Yet, there are some who have lived equally difficult circumstances and they have come through them with a firm faith in hand. Two people could live with the same set of circumstances, and yet, their reaction and response to those circumstances could be totally different. One could find a deeper relationship with Christ through the same set of difficulties, and another could reject faith of any kind and go the other direction. I don’t necessarily have an answer for why this is, but I believe that it has to do with the choice God gave each of us.
Perhaps Tracy’s friend was a person of faith and in spite of this he/she died for reasons of faith in a horrible way. Perhaps her friend was not a person of faith and she struggles with his/her death and the possibility of where her friend is now after all of the struggles that life brought. My only understanding of this is that I don’t believe that God views death in the same way that we do. For us, we look at it as an end, but for God it is only a beginning. I think when you view the perspective of life after death as a possibility, and even further as a probability, you begin to see a fluidity rather than a disconnect between life and death and our relationship with the afterlife. I think that God instead views our lives in terms of how we are living out our purpose in our life—not the purpose that we have planned for our lives, but the purpose that He has planned for us.
The circumstances of life can be difficult. Some people’s lives are tossed and tempestuous, while the lives of others are barely touched by life’s turbulence. For me, this is less about a God who doesn’t care and more about a God who has given mankind a choice. We can either choose to live “the way” or choose to live “our way.” Living God’s way means that we choose to use love as our compass and to move always in the direction of love in spite of the circumstances. That is so difficult. I would never minimize the difficulty of that decision. Rather, I would say the possibility of moving beyond circumstance through the medium of love is a greater good and higher achievement that is more valuable and rewarding than anything that evil has to offer.
I remember years ago a story of a man whose entire family was murdered and he was thrown into a prison cell for nine years. After nine years in the prison cell, he was finally released and he was able to express that the time that he spent in the darkness and solitude of his cell was the time that he felt the closest to his creator. How could that be? I believe that it has to do with our need for God. When we are our most vulnerable, that is when God comes alongside us the most and enables us through our difficulties. Is it possible to go through those kinds of situations without God? Sure. People do it all the time, but when we allow God to minister to us in our need, when we are brought low by the devastation of evil and we seek God, we feel the closeness of His presence. We choose whether or not to allow that closeness. When we feel that closeness, it is like a pure dose of brilliance and beauty.
I don’t know all the answers in regard to the mysteries of God and the universe, but I have learned to be content with not having all the answers. I didn’t necessarily give Tracy a good answer, but I hope that she understands that I am not an authority of Christian thought. I have my opinions, but that's all that they really are. I just believe in continuing to look beyond our circumstances for God. I believe in persistently seeking God, asking questions, and searching for the answers. I think God can handle it.
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