Pascal's Wager!

Well, I had to quickly think of a suitable heading!! I had intended posting on a different topic, but having earlier got involved in a "Facebook Forum" on the page of a former pupil, and personal friend, I've decided to use some of the material published there - mostly from my own contributions!

My young friend (no names will be used!) had, somewhat vociferously, complained that she had not been successful in a particular job application because, although her qualifications and experience were acceptable, the fact that she is not (and, to give her credit, makes no pretense to be) a Christian! Well, that really started something!

My first foray was to state: "Sorry (Name), but you may be assured that an atheist organisation wouldn't employ me!! It works both ways. You have told us the kind of work involved, but still have avoided the direct question as to WHO you were applying to! I agree with (Name). Indeed, I wouldn't want to work in a place in which my personal viewpoint was diametrically opposed to the general ethos of the organisation!
You may well have been prepared to just do the job, but there are many who are concerned that some would "infiltrate" and endeavour to undermine the ethos from the inside. I would probably have said exactly the same in the same circumstances - but I hope that you don't think that I "... still live in the Middle Ages." :-)

However, it was some of the ensuing comments that really set me off in 'preaching mode'!! - as follows: "I don't think that I know you, (Name), but may I suggest that you have a look at a site such as http://www.opendoorsuk.org/ to learn something of the sort of people whom you appear to think "... ain't got the balls to believe in themselves"?! As far as your "... being better than everyone else." jibe is concerned; making such a statement merely demonstrates your personal ignorance (in the correct meaning of the word i.e. 'lack of knowledge') of true Christianity. It is my awareness of my own sinfulness, and my inability - even after the many years that I have been around - to do anything about it myself, that drives me to the One Who voluntarily gave His own life in my place. I'm not 'better than anyone else' - I'm just a sinner, saved by the overwhelming grace of God.
You may have heard of Blaise Pascal - the 17th century French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and writer. He once posed a question that has become known as 'Pascal's wager'. It simply suggests that if someone like you (based on the evidence above!) is right and, when I die, there is nothingness, then what does it matter? I have led a contented, fulfilled and, I would claim, useful life. I would not even be aware that I had been "wrong"! However if, when you die, you discover that I - and millions like me - am right, it is too late, according to the teaching of the Bible (one of the best-attested books in the world, btw) for you to do anything about it.
I had to leave my computer rather abruptly earlier, but (Name) has already made some of the points that I was going to make.
(Name) - if I was to apply for a job with an overtly atheistic organisation, whilst revealing my personal Christian committment, you may be certain that they would find some way to ensure that I did not come in as a possible 'troublemaker'!
(Name) - please don't judge Christianity by the nominality that is so prevalent in a country like this one! Check out the site mentioned above; do a Google search on 'the persecuted church'; check on the figures for church growth in other parts of the world! The Gospel has been progressing for nigh on 2,000 years - in spite of the efforts of people like Nicolae Ceauşescu in Romania (to give just one example!).

(Name) - I wish that you had asked me to be a referee for you for that post. I might have advised you not to go aead with the application!
Apologies for my own rant (but, hey, (Name) and (Name) know that, once I start, I'm hard to stop!!)"

So why share all of this here? Simply because I believe it highlights much of the misunderstanding about the Christian faith, that is so prevalent in our 'sophisticated' western, materialistic, culture. Now, I know that some of the blame may be laid at the feet of the Emperor Constantine for making Christianity "respectable" - and thus setting in motion that nominality that has plagued the true Church (every disciple of Jesus) down through the centuries. This is one of my reasons for this blog - that I might endeavour to demonstrate that the true Christian message is relevant to even 21st-century men and women. How good a job am I doing? Well, that is for others to judge! Thankfully, I will not be judged by the Lord on my success, but on my faithfulness.

By the way, I have just rejected a comment on an earlier post - because it came from that weak, cowardly, character who signs him/herself as "Anonymous". If you haven't got the guts to use your name - or a pseudonym of which I am already aware, and that does instantly identify you to me - then don't waste your time leaving a comment. It will also be rejected!

Palm Sunday +2

"Who is this?", was the question of many of those who witnessed the arrival, in the city of Jerusalem, of Jesus of Nazareth - the One Who, some had claimed, was the long-awaited Messiah - riding on a donkey.

Over the last two days, I've offered two suggestions as answers to that question. I've suggested that He might be considered to have been a liar; or a lunatic. In both cases, even a cursory examination of His life makes it abundantly clear that He was neither of those.

So, the question remains - "Who is this?" The only other alternative that any one seems to have suggested is that He was (and is!) Lord. This is Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, having taken upon Himself, in the Persona of the Son (please listen to my message on The Trinity at www.revcbross.blogspot.com), a body of human flesh.

"Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail! the incarnate Deity."

And, because of this, there are very definite implications. We cannot say that He was merely a great moral teacher, whose teachings may, or may not, be followed without any long-term effect. If He is Lord, then it is His to command; and those who do not follow His commandments are being flagrantly disobedient. Such will, of course, reap the consequences of that disobedience.

But because He is Lord, He is also able - able to save; able to keep; able to forgive; able to meet every need of those who do keep His commandments; who love, and trust, and commit themselves to, Him.

When John wrote his account of the Gospel story, he drew to a close by pointing out that he had written only a small fraction of all that could have been written. "But", he wrote, "these things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and" - and this is of supreme importance - "that believing, you may have life in His Name." (20:31)

A Man rode into a city on the back of a donkey; and the question was asked, "Who is this?" All of the available evidence throws out any suggestion that He is a liar, or a lunatic. It clearly supports the claim that He is Lord. Is He your Lord, today? He is King and Lord of the universe; but His desire is to be King and Lord of your life. Let Him take control, and be able to go forward in the resurrection power that we will be remembering on Sunday. Then you will know, not mere existence, but 'Life with a capital L' - "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10).

Palm Sunday

It must have been an exciting, and memorable, occasion – that day on which Jesus of Nazareth, the Galilean Teacher, rode into the great city of Jerusalem, on the back of a donkey! Certainly, the evangelists, who have recorded the event for us, speak of great crowds; of cheering and rejoicing; of the Eastern custom, when a person of distinction is passing by, of strewing the road with the branches of trees, and with their cloaks. It was the first Palm Sunday!

Some, however, appear to have been unaware of the identity of the One Who was the centre of attention. For Matthew records that “… when He entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying ‘Who is this?’” (Matt.21:10)

“Who is this?” The answer given was that “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” (v.11). However, that may be considered to have been a somewhat superficial response. There is, indeed, a much better, and timelessly relevant, answer. It is a question that, when directed at Jesus of Nazareth, becomes the most important question in the world; the most important question of all time!

There are, in the end, only three possible answers, and I hope to share each of them over three days of this Holy Week. The first answer is that He is a Liar! His own claim, both implicitly and explicitly, was that He was God. But if, when He made that claim He knew, consciously, that He was not God, then He was lying. And, if He was a liar, then He was also a hypocrite, because He taught others to be honest – whatever the personal cost might be – while Himself teaching, and living, and perpetrating, a colossal untruth.

More than that, He was a demon, a very devil, because He told others to trust in Him for their eternal destiny. But if He was unable to back up His claims, and was aware of that, then He was unspeakably evil.

And, of course, He would have been a fool, because it was this very claim – that He was God – that led to His crucifixion! (see Mark 14:61-64; John19:7).

If this is a liar, then He is also a hypocrite, a demon, a fool. But here is what one man has written: “How, in the name of logic, common-sense, and experience, could an imposter have invented, and consistently maintained from the beginning to the end, the purest and noblest character known in history, with the most perfect air of truth and reality?” (Philip Schaff; The Person of Christ, pps. 94-95). The unspoken answer is that he couldn’t!

Someone who lived as Jesus lived; taught as Jesus taught; and died as Jesus died; simply couldn’t have been a liar. I’ll offer a second suggestion in tomorrow’s post!