I would take exception to your statement that its about relationship with God. Period Amen. The Great Commission isn’t to go forth and have a nice life, or even have a nice relationship with God. It’s a positive command to meet people where they are and share the Christ-like life we are supposed to be living. Somewhere along the way, we need to get across the point that the lost (whoever they may be) have a need to turn away from the direction they’re going and to the direction of the relationship with Christ. Fundamentalists, and to a lesser degree evangelicals, get it wrong by focusing almost exclusively on the sin, and not on the Christ-like life. Christianity is a totality. You can’t do it part way and expect to please God.

Of course. Because life is a gift and relationship with God is the whole point – not just the end result. For me, its not about heaven and hell — its about relationship with God. Period Amen.

In my mind the downfall of our faith is that we’ve reduced it to heaven and hell (for the most part..or the crucial part)…and there is so much more to scripture.

TIA for allowing me to share my limited thoughts.
Janice

Janices last blog post..Pedro and his right to…..

Christian:
Yes to all of the above. What’s the best way to evangelize? Sometimes it’s preaching, sometimes streetcorner witnessing, always through the example of Christ in us and always through the leading of His Holy Spirit. If the last two are missing, then the rest is meaningless.

But what is the best way to go about evangelizing? Is it preaching? Handing out tracts? Going door to door? Telling people that God is for social justice? Or is it working on the front lines for justice (not so much fun), working for the poor and downtrodden, both in this country and even among our ‘enemies’ Then, when asked why, we can tell them that it is because the love of Christ compels us.

And who are the lost? Are they only among the Muslims, Hindus, atheists (Jews?). Of are there perhaps millions sitting in the pews each Sunday who have yet to encounter Christ? Are there men and women in the pulpits, on the radio and television, who would not recognize Christ if they met him on the street?

The Great Commission is a positive command – go to the ends of the earth and make believers of all men. That includes muslims, hindus, and atheists. A true universalist would say that those folks are doing just fine, thank you very much, and don’t need ‘the Word’. A believer would share the Gospel, and not just the fun social justice parts.

My biggest concern with the universalist approach is that it renders faith irrelevant. If I know that every who ever walked the planet is ‘saved’ then my actions and my faith mean nothing. At that point I can choose to help others and live a Christlike life, or not. The end is the same, so it just doesn’t matter. In that case, universalism is just an extreme form of predestination. I don’t care much for the Calvinist/Arminian-style wrangling, but at bottom, I would rather that my actions, right or wrong, stand for something.

Now, that doesn’t mean someone, for whatever reason, could not refuse God’s gift of mercy and grace. And what happens to them I don’t know and I think Jesus even suggests that we not concern ourselves with the fate of others. But I think that there are no passages in the Bible that spell out what ‘damnation’ is. There are so many metaphors and similes used that it could be anything at all, including annihilation. If Jesus in the Gospels shows us the nature of God then I cannot see him deliberately creating a place of eternal torment. As Christ said on the cross,”Father forgive them”.

Just my take.