Asking the Wrong Question

Any Christian who has shared the gospel knows that the gospel, despite the fact that it is good news, is often considered an offense. As it turns out, God's Word anticipated that. Jesus told His disciples, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19) Paul said, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor 1:18) He goes on to say, "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles." (1 Cor 1:23) Paul referred to "the offense of the cross" (Gal 5:11) and Peter referred to Christ as "a rock of offense" (1 Peter 2:8). Yes, it will be an offense.

There are lots of reasons the gospel is an offense. We are warned not to be the reason (1 Cor 10:32) because there are sufficient reasons in the gospel itself. First, the gospel is Christ and Scripture says the natural man is hostile to God (Rom 8:7). Beyond that starting point, the gospel demands repentance and no one wants to start there. The gospel violates the natural "If you do good, you go to heaven; if not ..." In America many have made the mistaken leap from "All religions have equal protection under the law" to "All religions are valid." Lots of reasons. One of the most offensive concepts, however, is the exclusivity of the gospel. There is "no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Paul told Timothy, "There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5) Christ Himself declared, "No one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6) So we say, "Hey, we know how to get on the train to heaven, and you can't get there any other way," and it sounds ... unfair. Why so exclusive? Why not other ways? What's wrong with the "all roads lead to Rome" concept where many ways will get there? Seems rather shortsighted of God, doesn't it? Christianity, then, is an intolerant, arrogant religion that thinks, "We have the only way and the rest of you are just out of luck."

I would suggest we're asking the wrong question. The question shouldn't be, "Why would God be so narrow?" The question should be, "Why would God be so generous as to save even one?" It is Paul's apparent question in Romans (Rom 9:22-24). If you find that question disagreeable, I would suggest you might not have a good grasp on the biblical view of Natural Man versus the Holiness of God and are very possibly coming from an anthropocentric -- a Man-centered -- point of view. Lots of people ask, "Why doesn't God save more?" I am baffled at why He saved one ... let alone me.