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At the beginning of this program we learned: “People have many reasons for rejecting the Christian faith. Some may admire Christ but dislike His followers. Others find it difficult to accept any faith that claims to be the only way to God. Why would anyone limit themselves to only one of the world’s great religions?” How valid are each of these objections? What is your response to each?
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There are plenty of Christ’s followers that I dislike, but the point is to love them. I, myself, am unlikable at times – because we are all sinners. We aren’t supposed to base our faith on His followers but on HIM!
He is the only way because He is the only one to fulfill all prophecy. He shows this over and over in Scripture. The rest of the “leaders” of other religions are dead. They cannot claim to be able to overcome it, when they themselves have not.
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Admiring Christ but disliking his followers: Our belief is not based on the followers of Jesus Christ. Our belief is based on Jesus Christ, period. There are some of his followers who I wasn’t real crazy about too, but they are just men, not God. Men have faults. Our focus needs to be on Jesus.
Find it difficult to accept any faith that claims to be the only way to God: This one is hard for me to respond to because I know that there is only one way to God. I guess for those who find it difficult to accept this, I would say that God created the earth and everything and everyone in it. How could it be any other way. I think that some people have a rough time seeing this because they have grown up in a different faith or belief system. I think we pray and show kindness and try to lead them to God.
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I believe others find it difficult to accept any faith much less Christianity because of religious hypocrisy. Many families attend church on Sunday, but the “work” is not put in during the week. “We” are quick to judge, quick to turn a blind eye, and quick to not follow the saying….What Would Jesus Do? Another reason people reject Christianity is gospel inoculation. They think they’ve heard the gospel and rejected it, when in reality what they rejected was not the gospel but a dead (false) form of the real thing. Gospel inoculation is a huge problem in countries like America, where there are churches in every town and country all across the nation. Because of this, just about everyone in America has heard something of the Christian message at some point in their life.
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I have met many people over the years who have a rough time believing in Jesus being the Son of God and in Christianity itself and I have noticed that it is many times a pride issue, not being willing to humble themselves to the fact that there is a greater power than them that is actually in control of all things when they are not. I have also met many who say they believe in God, but they have a tough time believing that there is only one way to get to Him and that if there was only one way, they definitely don’t believe is Jesus Christ. With the world that we currently live in and all of the different doctrines that exist, it definitely takes a supernatural softening of the heart in order to believe that Jesus is Who He claims to be. In our flesh, there is no way our eyes could be opened to believe completely in Jesus and what He can do because it goes against what we naturally see completely. But, if I were to have a conversation with anyone who makes these objections right now, I would ask them to consider the alternative. If Jesus is not Who He says He is, then we are not any worse off for not believing. But, if He is Who He says (and He is), then our best live can only be found in taking Him at His Word because the same miracles He performed in Scripture, He is still able to perform today. This is not one of the world’s great religions, but the world’s greatest relationship and that is what separates Christianity from all other doctrines.
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When considering individual interpretation, we would have to consider provided evidence and claims to the separate cases. For the first claim for the disliking of His followers. In this case how did his followers interpret the miracles of the Messiah, was it a challenge to their personal beliefs? or was it how the individual was educated during their time of redemption.
The next claim we have to configure individual acceptance of faith. For this we have to consider how the individual is approaching the faith, and level of understanding, or challenges to the faith to guide them to the truth, and that is his word.
Finally, the validity we are discovering more and more everyday when it comes to Gods interpretation upon his miracles to how we view them. In these cases it is best to educate others and ourselves so that we can better understand our own faith. As different backgrounds grows with diversity I personally feel that It is very important to guide others to the Truth and that is God’s words and ways.
