Sunday, 24 February 2008

Nearly forgot Theology Sunday - been busy

I've been thinking about this...

There is this urban legend (debunked) that goes a little like this...

The following is the transcript of the actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland:

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse, your call...

Or alternatively there is the video replay...




Ohhh those arrogant Americans ha ha ha they get there comeuppance, tee hee hee those canny Canadians so clever...


Anyway my point is this... Jesus said that his followers would be a light to the world, that we would be like a city on a hill that shines and draws people to it, or more accurately to Him. So in the above urban legend which I've now changed into a metaphor (ahhh the power!) the Christian church is the lighthouse and "the world" is the big powerful aircraft carrier.

If the church bows to the pressure of "the world" and changes that which it has held onto so dearly (at the cost of the blood of the martyrs), if the church switches off it's light and moves 15 degrees to the south then what happens to the big aircraft carrier? It crashes and sinks with massive loss of life.

Well the church is here to protect lives both in the here and now and also in the eternal. If we change our minds as to what is moral or not then on a case by case basis lives are destroyed. If we say the church is just here to make you feel better about yourself and not go out and feed the hungry and care for the sick (and all the other good deeds) then these lives here are wreaked. If we say that God blesses those He loves with money and health and if you don't have that then it's because of your sin - then that just rubs salt into the wounds of the unfortunate and god becomes a mean and nasty Santa Claus.
If we stop saying Jesus is the only way to God and salvation is only gained as a gift from God through Jesus alone then there is loss of eternal life on a scale that is catastrophic.

Let us for a moment assume Jesus was telling the truth when He said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." Or how about when He said "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Or even" I am the way and the truth and the life. No-One comes to the Father except through me."?

Let us assume for a moment that He was telling the truth and was accurate in saying those things. If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't get eternal life instead you perish.

If that is true then who is more dangerous to society? The axe murderer or the liberal theologian? That liberal theologian tries to convince people the lighthouse was never there, that Jesus is a liar and so keep on heading the course is clear. The axe murderer ends this life but the liberal sends people off into the second death.
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