Walking back from class a little over a week ago I had a most
unforgettable experience. “Pastor Dan” was out on Bruin
Walk yelling at the “rebels” and “sinners,”
calling for repentance and threatening eternal damnation to those
who did not heed his call.
It broke my heart to listen to this man rant and rave in a way
contrary to that of Jesus, turning people away rather than
accepting them with open arms. Jesus invited people to the truth,
saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).
While Pastor Dan presents a message of condemnation, calling on
us to “clean ourselves up,” and then turn to God, Jesus
calls us to “come to (Him)” first, and then He will
transform our lives. Sadly, the way Pastor Dan presents the Gospel
is the only exposure to Christianity that many people get, causing
some to paint Christianity as an intolerant, even dangerous,
religion.
The Gospel is the greatest love story ever told, and it is a
shame when it is perverted and misinterpreted. It is not a message
of condemnation but one of hope. Although Jesus claims to be the
only way, his message is an open invitation to all people.
The Church has not always had a spotless track record, and
people throughout history have claimed to act in the name of Christ
while living lives contrary to His message. I implore you to
critically examine the Gospel message and find the truth in the
Gospel itself, not in those whose lives are inconsistent with its
message.
To fully understand the beauty of the Gospel, we must first
understand our situation without it. Everyone has sinned, and you
would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would claim they had never
done anything wrong.
The Bible says this issue of sin has only two sides. We have
either sinned or we haven’t. We are either perfect or
imperfect, and there is no middle ground. We all know that our
choices carry consequences, and sin is no exception and must be
punished. God is perfectly moral, and therefore must uphold justice
by punishing wrongdoing, leaving us wrongdoers in a hopeless
situation, destined to face God’s wrath.
Fortunately, God comes to our rescue by sending His son, Jesus
Christ, to come live a perfect life on our behalf, doing something
we could not. Not only that, but He takes the punishment of
God’s wrath that should have been ours to suffer. By
punishing sin, God remains just and shows His love for us in the
sacrifice of His own son in our place. There is nothing we could
have done to ever deserve such love. God is merciful in withholding
from us the punishment we deserve, and displays grace by giving us
eternal life in heaven that we don’t deserve.
However, mere intellectual understanding of who Jesus is and His
death and resurrection is not enough to save us. We must make an
active decision to receive Christ by faith, acknowledging that
Christ, and Christ alone, did everything necessary for our
salvation.
This decision to follow Christ will change our lives, bringing
us into that relationship with our creator, allowing us to
experience life as God intended it ““ not being defined by sin
but obtaining freedom from it in Christ. The Christian faith is a
free gift from God to mankind, a 100 percent-off sale for eternal
life. A life apart from God is unfulfilling, merely working,
gaining stuff, and then passing away. But God promises eternal life
if we are in relationship with Him, giving us a life of hope,
defined by love and guided by purpose ““ life as it was meant
to be lived.
Flory is a second-year biology student and can be reached at
[email protected]. Hollingshead is a first-year business economics
student and can be reached at [email protected].