Sunday, May 2, 2010

Provocative question time!

"If you could ask God one question, what would it be?"

Depends on my situation. If I am in heaven, not to return to earth, I'd ask Him to explain His divine purpose behind major natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc). I know there are reasons, but I don't see them. As far as human-induced tragedies (holocaust, genocide, wars, oppression, etc), I don't see and understand their purpose, but I see the root of the problem as being caused by the evil in men and women, rather than being something caused by a divine hand. Darkness is the absence of light, and evil is the absence or rejection of God by man.

However, if I'm just asking God a question and returning about my daily business here on earth, I have a whole LIST of questions, but number one would be, essentially, "Who do I need to talk to about You?" This boils down to a basic theological question. If a boy who lives in the heart of China dies, and he has never heard about Christ, but he would have accepted Him had he had the chance to know about Him, does the boy go to heaven? If so, the sense of urgency that Christians feel to reach that child is kinda pointless, and if not, there are a lot of folks going to hell simply because of where they were born. I have a difficult time believeing that God would reject someone in heaven if they didn't know about heaven to begin with. That's not fair, and my God is a just God. Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." But little boy in China would have gone through Jesus, he just didn't have the opportunity! So is he going to go to hell because a missionary didn't get to him in time? That sure does sound really hinged on the presence of a missionary, but it's not "no one comes to the Father except through a missionary." It's Jesus. But then is "go and make disciples of all the nations" unnecessary? Because that sounds really wrong.

Different theological groups have differing opinions on the matter, and I'm not trying to start anything fierce. Just voicing a confusion. Someday God and I will get the chance to have a sit down chitchat, probably over a cup of perfect tea, and we'll discuss such things. In the meantime, what are YOUR thoughts?

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