Part 6: The Uniqueness of Christ - Other Considerations (2)

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One of the most visceral responses to the exclusivity of Christ is often the question about "other people" - what do we do, how do we think about people know don't know Christ, and especially those who have never heard about Jesus?  Since this is quite a thorny issue, we will address this through several posts.  Today, we will focus on the idea of people choosing to reject the call of Christ.

One of the primary ways we are differentiated from other creatures on our planet is through our ability to choose.  We do not condemn tiger for eating a deer by saying, "He could have made a better choice."  We understand that in the natural order of things, it is not choice as much as instinct that drives an animal to do what it does.  But humans have the ability to choose, to look at options and to even choose one that may be less beneficial because of a greater, moral issue(choosing not to steal even though it might be a financial benefit to the individual).  So to choose is part of the human experience. 

God gives us the ability to choose how we will interact with Him.  C.S. Lewis once wrote that there are only two types of people in the world - those who say to God "Your will be done" and those to whom God says "Fair enough - if you choose to reject me - your will be done".  And to have it be different would be a violation of the ability to be human, to choose, and ultimately, to love.  Love can not be forced, it must be a choice, so to have God force anyone to be a follower of Christ is, by necessity, a contradiction in terms since God desires us to choose love Him (with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength - Luke 10:27).  Thus, we conclude that we can't and God chooses not to force people to follow Him.

The interesting concept here is that oftentimes, people find God guilty for not allowing them into Heaven when they have actively chosen to reject Him.  It is as if we want both worlds - we want to be totally free to choose whatever we choose but at the same time we want God to force us to choose what is best for us.

In Luke 13:34 we read the description of God's heart for His people Israel, and we can easily conclude He feels the same way about us.  Jesus says that He called the people to Himself, but they would not have it.  The rejection of Christ is less often about not knowing and more often about the grandest issue of sin: our desire to be self-saviors.  People reject Christ because they don't want anyone in their lives who can or will hold them to such a high standard.  Thus, when people reject Christ, they most often do it as an active choice to reject Him and His leadership of their lives.

Next, we will address the question of people who never heard the Gospel.

- tC