Gospel Truce
Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you heard someone�s opinion? Just anything, anything at all. Now who was it that was saying that? A co-worker? Your best friend? What did they say to you? I can remember a lot of opinions.
"I am of the opinion that the world is coming to an end."
"I believe the greatest human virtue is compassion."
"I think you need a new jacket."
Ripped and torn six year old jackets aside, the entire process seems a bit ridiculous. One person will tell me they believe I�m an extremely cynical person. The next will say that they think my hair looks good. It�s been a very long time since I heard an opinion that didn�t have a qualifier attached to it. They come in varying degrees, from "I think" to "I have witnessed," but each one adds an afterthought, a voice whispering in the background, saying "but that�s just my opinion. Don�t worry, you don�t have to change yours."
Here�s a tougher question. When was the last time someone told you something that they knew was irrevocably true? They wouldn�t deny it, and they wouldn�t stop until you believed it too. A religious fanatic, perhaps, prophesying the end of civilization? A teenager, who by definition is always right? In my case, it wasn�t either. It was a little kid.
"My teacher went to Italy to climb Mount Everest," he said. I gaped at him. I calmly pointed out that Mount Everest was nowhere near Italy, but he remained defiant.
"Maybe she went to Italy and then climbed Mount Everest?" I asked.
"Nope. She went to Italy for her holiday and she climbed it." The conversation was finished, as far as John was concerned. There was no room for doubt and I was obviously mistaken for thinking he was wrong.
It�s funny how the only people who ever say anything with complete confidence these days seem to be the ones we frown upon. Fanatics, teenagers, children, they�re the only kind of people who seem to unblinkingly say, "this is the truth, and you can�t deny it."
I�m not sure why it is that we cling to this view of truth as relative. It may be because we�re not sure ourselves. Or perhaps we are afraid of offending people that we care about, so we hide behind "political correctness," saying it would be arrogant to say we are right. I remind myself, though, that no one thinks it arrogant to put a checkmark beside "1 + 1 = 2" or to nod in agreement at the statement "I think, therefore I am."
I laugh to myself when I think about what the philosophers would have done if Jesus had spoken to them. He turns everything on its head. I�d like to see political correctness win on this one.
Oh, they�ve tried, all right. They call him a "great teacher." But I�ve never heard anything so ridiculous as that.
I don�t deny that Jesus� teachings have been behind some of the most important social movements in history. The Reformation was sparked by a reading of the book of Romans, which examined Christ�s coming in detail. Gandhi�s views on non-retaliation echo his words as well. Phrases such as "turning the other cheek" were taken directly from his mouth. But even if some of the things he said were great moral lessons, there is still one undisputable fact. "They all asked, 'Are you then the Son of God?' He replied, 'You are right in saying I am'" (Luke 22:70). There can be no doubt: Jesus believed that he was the son of God.
It�s like hearing Julius Caesar start speaking about passive resistance in the middle of a speech to the Empire. You could just as easily hear Hitler speak of compassion for the Jews in an anti-Semitic demonstration.
"When someone hits you on the cheek, turn the other one to him too." "It is better to give than to receive." "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." "Oh, and by the way, I�m the son of God."
You can�t just let him be a great moral teacher. He won�t allow you to. If you accept someone, you accept all of him, everything he is. The same guy who said that judging others is a sin also said that he�s the only one who can judge. If you believe him that you can tell the heart of a man by the fruit that he bears, you also have to believe that he�s the one who made those hearts in the first place.
We either accept him or we reject him. Absolutely. There is no third option. We become like John, rambling on about climbing Everest in Italy, if we even try. He is either insane or God. He�s mad or Maker. We can try to fool ourselves, even be selective about what words of his we listen to, but then we don�t get the whole picture. If he was wrong, you have been listening to teaching from a foolish megalomaniac. If he was right, then you have just heard the greatest news in history.
C.S. Lewis perhaps put it best in his book Mere Christianity:
| A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell... You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to. |
And neither should we. If he really is who he says he is, then all the other great moral teachers of history can�t even be on the same page as him. It�s one thing to teach about the nature of the world, but to make it in the first place? If Jesus is God, then he created the other teachers. He eclipses them completely.
And most important of all: if Jesus� claim is true, then you�ve witnessed the greatest truth you will ever hear. You think that one plus one is two? Jesus made it that way. He created every truth that you know, every certainty that you hold dear. "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made" (John 1:3). He could change the way the universe works if he wanted to. The only thing that is truly unchanging, he says, is his own person. Who he is, and what he�s done. His sacrifice for you included.
So many Christians that I meet speak about Jesus to their friends because they�ve been commanded to. "I believe Jesus is the son of God, and he died for me," they say. But almost audibly you can hear an afterthought: "but I might be wrong."
Just try to imagine it this way. You�re seven years old, and you have a pencil in your hand. There�s a test in front of you. The first question reads, "What colour do red and yellow make?" You write down your answer. The next day, you get the test back with a big zero on it. Angry, you walk up to the teacher and demand an explanation.
"Red and yellow make orange," she explains. "You wrote down green."
You�re exasperated. "No they don�t. It�s not fair. Just �cause you think they make orange..." You get the idea.
Her patience wears thin. She dismisses you, but you can tell that she�s hoping you�ll wake up from your fantasy world. She�s content to let you believe what you want for now, and so you�re happy as well. You call a truce.
That�s what a lot of Christians do. They call a truce with the world. "This is what I believe," they say, "but I could be wrong. Don�t worry, I won�t try to change your mind." But according to the claim of Christ, his truth is so much more real than any of the other beliefs out there. His claim is higher. It�s better. Some of the things said by other teachers no doubt have value, but we�re only cheating ourselves if we follow something created instead of the Creator. And Scripture condemns us if we do: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25).
The problem is ignorance. Those people, following other teachers, don�t know the truth. As Paul said, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?" (Romans 10:14). Of course it is going to be offensive for someone to hear the claim of Christ. To tell them the Gospel is to tell them they�ve been foolishly following an imitation for years, or decades, or an entire lifetime. But if this claim is true, don�t they deserve to hear it? We cannot afford to fall into political correctness, worrying about upsetting someone�s beliefs. The rewards far outweigh the risk. The greatest truth in the universe is worth upsetting someone�s ignorance. If you want proof, just ask any follower of Christ. They will tell you that it�s worth sacrificing anything. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44).
And, of course, if that isn�t enough to convince, there are always the words of Jesus himself. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-19). He told us to go and tell people the truth about him. Raving lunatic or son of God, it�s your choice. Make sure you make the right one.
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