Again, God will do exactly what is right. Whenever someone says, “What about good people who don’t trust in Jesus?” Won’t they be in heaven, too?”

First, if they have never heard of Jesus or the Gospel, then that is exactly what they will be judged on. How they responded to their God-given conscience. But if you are talking about someone who has heard of Jesus and rejects him as God, then it is a different story.

Moral behavior is one thing, trust in Jesus is another. God is not asking, “Did you behave, well?” He is asking, “Did you trust in Jesus?”

Now, don’t get me wrong. Moral behavior is important for a Christian. If we don’t love our neighbor, we are showing that we don’t really trust in Jesus, and such. And people of no faith or other faiths can be very caring, compassionate, loving people. But, we are not being compared to each other. We are being compared to Jesus.

If Jesus is who he says he is, and did what the Bible says he did, then our only hope is to be connected to him. Our good works, as it were, will not cut it with God. We are being judged according to the model of the perfect Jesus. So, all people need him to live with him forever.

Also, if Jesus did what is claimed about him, if it’s true, then someone who has heard his story and been invited to follow him and rejects him, well, that is not a “good” person. If it’s true, the greatest sin of all is to not thank him or trust him.

When talking about trusting Jesus and hell, it doesn’t seem much of a choice to accept or reject Jesus for the people who have never heard of him. This could be people growing up in remote areas of the world. Also, a person may never hear the true Christian viewpoint about Jesus in a strict Muslim-influenced environment like Saudi Arabia, or, as in the recent past, a strict communist government like Albania, for example.

So, if you have never heard of him, or you have never heard the true Christian message, how do you have a choice to love Jesus and trust in him?

The Bible (Romans 2) says if you have never heard of him, God will examine your life based on your response to the God-given conscience he has placed within you. The Christian claim is everyone has the ability to tell right from wrong without knowing Jesus and his ways. God judges by how you respond.

This all makes sense. It gets a little confusing when you consider someone who has been exposed to the message of Jesus, but in a false way. I wonder about children brought up to believe in a Jesus who isn’t the Jesus whose story is told in the Bible? As they grow older, if they are truly seeking they will learn the truth. You can think of a lot of possible scenarios on this topic of what about people who have never heard the gospel story, either literally, or the real story. Ultimately, I am just glad I know Jesus and it causes me to want to make sure I get the message of Jesus as recorded in the Bible to many others.

How can a loving God send people to hell?

More than anything, hell is a choice.

Hell is separation from God forever. It is not so much God “sends” people to hell as they choose to separate from God in this life and become the kind of people who cannot want God.

I believe there is a hell. In the Bible, Jesus himself talks about it 16 times. I don’t know the population of hell. I don’t know who will be there. All I know for sure is if you love Jesus and trust in him, you get to live with him forever. If you live your life in a way that separates you from Jesus and refuse to thank him and trust in him, you get to live without him forever. In a profound way, God gives you exactly what you want.

It’s is not so much God is love and so he will automatically force people to have a change of will and want to live with him. God is love but God is also just and he will honor people’s intentions towards him, even to the point of allowing them to reject him. As to who will be in hell and who will not…

God will do exactly what is right.

There are two types of questions from those who are not Christian. How can there be a God and how can you trust in the God of the Bible? Usually something along the line of, “How can there be a God when…?” Or “How can you trust in a loving God who…?”

How can you trust in a loving God when children suffer?

The answer from yesterday’s posting is a good response here. The suffering of children in war time, poverty, hunger, and abuse, are all somehow connected to human sin. Parent’s lifestyle choices, government corruption, governments that oppress their own people, and unjust business practices all come to mind.

I also like to introduce another topic when this question is asked, when it seems appropriate. I ask why it seems so much worse when children suffer. Usually it is the innocence of the suffering that is mentioned. Then I might say,

“Who is the most powerless and innocent human being in the world? What human has absolutely no voice in his/her suffering?”

The answer, of course, is the developing human being in his/her mother’s womb. The planned death of almost 1.5 million or so humans a year in the US alone. This is innocent suffering at it’s core, and it is a powerful way to address human choice in the suffering. No matter what the mother’s circumstances, no matter if it is a necessary tragic option (mother’s life is in danger, for instance), taking the life of a purely innocent and powerless human being may bring a more pertinent question from God.

“Why?”

When you are sharing your faith in Jesus, a fruitful time to explore is when people ask tough questions of Christianity. If they are not a Christian, then you aren’t likely to have much impact by quoting the Bible. There will be plenty of time for Bible, but in the beginning you are probably going to be asking them to look at things from a different perspective than they normally would. Over the next several days, let’s look at some clear responses to these tough questions. I am assuming you have already asked the person what they think, ala the “Columbo method.” Brief review on that.

• Ask them to tell you more about their question. What do they think?
  
• Ask them how they came to that conclusion. What are the sources that influenced them to think that way?
  

In this way, you will know what they will begin to understand, and what might take some time

Then, when they say, “What do you think?” I am going to give brief discussion starters, sound bites as it were, to get them thinking from a different angle.

But first, let me give a general teaching that is going to be used repeatedly by Christians to explain the ways of God.

God creates people out of love and wants to be in relationship with them. He wants people to know they are loved and to love Him back. But God will not force himself on anyone. Forced love is not really love, it is assault. We worship no rapist God. No abuser.

God gives the means for people to discover who he is if they truly seek him. But God also allows people to reject him. We have free will. We can trust or reject. God allows us to sin against him and against each other. If we could not sin, we would not be beings created to relate to God and with each other. We would be computer software that God simply manipulates.

Tomorrow we begin with some questions.

I have been posting on influencing your friends towards Jesus and I want to pause and ask the question, who influences you in your faith? The answer to that question is going to vary during your lifetime of discipleship. You may have many influencers; you may have a few. They may be living; they may be dead. They may be prominent; they may be a grandma, an uncle, a youth worker. Probably a combination of many.

It is a good idea to know who influences whom when you are considering another’s thinking. For disciples of Jesus, it is going to be the scriptures first. But then your thinking is shaped by others. For me, Martin Luther and Dallas Willard (if you have been reading this blog you already know him) would make my key short list. Then another Christian thinker you might not be familiar with. Reinhold Niebuhr.

Niebuhr was an important Christian thinker during the 20th century, arguably the most prominent American theologian. He was a behind the scenes advisor to our government both before, during, and after WW II. It was Niebuhr, identified as a “liberal socialist,” who broke with colleagues on pacifism, and championed the necessity of going to war to stop the greater evil brought about by Nazi Germany. I learned much from his writings. Let me give two examples that have helped me over the years.

Niebuhr said that whenever you have disagreement with someone, whether between individuals, groups or nations, it is always good to remember this. You are always more wrong than you think, and your opponent is always more right than you think.

Niebuhr also was very realistic about human sin. It has always been deemed reasonable for some who deal in “peace and justice” issues to consider sinful behavior only coming from the dominant group. In other words, the oppressed cannot be considered sinful in their dealings with others. We witness this today when we hear comments like “African-Americans can not be racist.”

I commend reading Niebuhr, today, more than ever his message has great validity.

Oh, by the way. As we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day yesterday, Reinhold Niebuhr was one of the greatest influences on his life. Niebuhr and Ghandi, an interesting combination.

In my last posting I spoke of the receptivity of people to the message of Jesus and our efforts to be of influence. In this venture, the word “self-differentiation” comes to mind. This is the ability to work objectively in an arena where you have personal and emotional attachment. Coaching your own children in Little League or having your own children in class as a teacher comes to mind. Self-differentiation also takes place when witnessing for Jesus with your friends. An invitation is what we are talking about, not a persuasive debate. When reaching out to someone close to you, one has to be careful of undo disappointment.

The receptivity of your friend is their problem, not yours. The work of the Holy Spirit drawing them to faith is God’s problem not yours. You are responsible for the invitation. God is responsible for the results. There is one other area you are responsible for, as well.

Instead of being discouraged and depressed over the fact that people you care for deeply are not responding to the gospel, there are many people who are just waiting for an invitation to seek more. I find it fascinating that Christians will feel so much pain and discouragement over loved ones and friends who don’t trust in Jesus or who have drifted from living out their faith, and then will do nothing to reach out to those who don’t trust in Jesus but who are totally receptive to discover saving faith. They just don’t know any Christians.

When you trust in Jesus are your Lord you are entering the arena of maturity. You have to be differentiated enough to know it is not your desires that are most important, but God’s desires. And God desires that you focus your attention on those who are receptive, not just those you are attached to.

God has given us free will. We have the ability to reject what God has to offer. God honors and respects us so much, he allows us to trust in Jesus or not. And as the Bible makes clear, God gives life and nurtures the life of those who trust in Jesus as Lord and those who don’t (Luke 4:25-27).

These observations are important when witnessing to the love of Jesus with your friends. If they are not receptive, so be it. You still have a friend and you have patience. Another day. I like what Greg Koukl says about this.

He says when you share your faith, you are being an influence. If people don’t respond and begin to trust in Jesus that’s O.K. You have at least “put a pebble in their shoe.” What a great way to think about it! By dealing with God issues with you, your friend will not quickly stop thinking about deeper things. It’s like a pebble in your shoe. Kind of bugging you and reminding you. Consider this.

An atheist visited the great rabbi and philosopher Martin Buber and demanded that Buber prove the existence of God to him. Buber refused, and the atheist got up to leave in anger. As he left, Buber called after him, “But can you be sure there is no God?” That atheist wrote, forty years later, “I am still an atheist. But Buber’s question has haunted me every day of my life.”



Now, unlike this story, we will give reasonable evidence of the existence of God. But if our friends choose to not seek further, we respect that. And we remember there are receptive people just waiting to meet us.

I have been posting on making friends with potential Christians in order to be an influence for their trusting in Jesus. A logical question is, “Isn’t this kind of an ulterior motive for friendship?” Actually, the process is quite normal. Think about it this way.

You are going to be friends with people you connect with. You connect because of common interests, common activities, and so on. You will enjoy each other’s company. That’s what friends do. They talk, hang out together, and share in activities together. What do you talk about with friends? Things that interest you. It will be natural to talk about faith matters in an ongoing friendship. It is important to you and it will be intriguing to your friend. Friends will also naturally invite friends to something that is important and meaningful to them. Your friend might invite you to the auto show, a museum, a movie, or a sport’s event, and you are not bizarre to simply invite them to worship or small group or some other activity with other Christians that may be of interest to them. At worst they can say, “No, thank you.”

So, what do we make of all this? First, it’s not like you are going to meet someone and say, “I want to be friends and, by the way, let me tell you about Jesus.” Friendships grow. They take time. So does being an influence for the Lord.

Second, if we invite our friends to attend a Christian gathering and they say, “No,” it’s not like we turn around and say, “O.K. that’s it, I don’t want to be your friend any more.” Reaching out can take a lot of time. It requires tremendous patience on our part and lots of grace from both us and our friends.

There is common knowledge when it comes to sharing faith with friends. What if your friends are all Christian? This is a natural phenomenon when you have been part of a Christian community for many years. The rule of thumb is “The longer you are a Christian the fewer potential Christians you meet.” In a way, the joy, care, and support one receives by being with, well, joyful caring, and supportive Christians makes it more likely that one will spend most of one’s time with these people. Kind of a “Catch 22” situation. The better the fellowship I receive within a Christian community the more likely I am to want to spend time with these Christians.

So, what do you do? You need to get out more. If you work, the most likely people you will reach out to will be people at work. If you go to school it will be other kids from school. It can be neighbors. If you have children, it can be parents you meet from sport’s leagues, scouting and so forth. You have (as Ken Callahan would say) help, hope, and a home being connected to Jesus and his church and so you want to share this with others.

Making friends with people who are not Christian becomes essential and intentional for a disciple of Jesus. It is also a lot of fun. You will meet some great people and you will have your thinking expanded. When you spend time with potential Christians you can learn from Jesus because if they have been seeking at all they have been influenced by Jesus drawing them to himself. So, you are not bringing something they don’t have any connection to as much as inviting them to join you on the path to learn from the Jesus who is already there. Name the name, as it were. The story in the Bible (Acts 17:19-31) of Paul speaking of the statue of the “unknown god” is a wonderful analogy.