Part 4: The Global Spiritual Question

Continued from Part 3

Here's the fourth of four looks at,

"Is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sufficient?"

I'm one of the folks who answers, "yes."

My spiritual diversity accepts that Jesus' is the unique, supernatural incarnation of God among us. If he is who he said he is, then other religious expression is unnecessary - Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection is sufficient. My own relationship with God has a point of access (in the name of His Son, Jesus); validity (reconciliation of all that I've done that is sinful, through Jesus' atoning death on the cross), and a promise of an eternal relationship with God, even after my death (the promise of everlasting life, death defeated on the cross).

That is sufficient.

I continue to respect and appreciate the diversity of my other friend's beliefs - and they are many. But I do find myself wondering over the sufficiency of other belief systems.

If an eternal outcome depends on how good someone is in this life, or how well they live their life (merit, works)...then that process is ultimately insufficient - or at least fraught with risk and uncertainty. By what defined standard is someone worthy of keeping company with the Holy God of the universe? 

If a philosophy is only successful if all believers of it achieve a certain level of consistency and discipline at the same time -  then it is insufficient, or at least improbable, as history proves.

Even believers in the 'tenets' of Christianity - if self-separated from the divinity of Christ - are ultimately defining their own, customized religion, perhaps sufficient for a party of one or two, but easily trumped by the next version, and therefore - insufficient.

Is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ sufficient?

What do you believe?

 

Part 3: The Global Spiritual Question

 Continued from Part 2

Next, when asking the conversation starter, "Do you believe that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is sufficient?"

Some candidly open people answer, "I'm not sure..."

"I'm not sure whether this simple belief and acceptance can, or will, actually bring about eternal resolution and residence with God."

My guess is that there are a whole lot more people in this camp than anyone realizes. In fact, I believe that many (millions...perhaps tens of millions) of people who have declared themselves for another monotheistic (Judaism, Islam) or polytheistic (Hindu) religion, or philosophy (Buddhism, atheism), actually fall into the "I'm not sure" category. 

These folks truly wonder whether - and even hope that - the claims of Christianity are true:

 Forgiveness for past wrongs; prayer access to God, eternal life in God's presence...if I could only be sure...

And once again, I believe that many (millions, perhaps tens of millions) of self-proclaimed Christians wonder the same thing.

Can the free gift of God's Grace be that easy - is belief in Jesus truly sufficient?

If you asked the question and started the conversation, the next questions include,

"Why not?" and "What if it were true?" and "If it's most definitely not true--how would you lead your life differently?" 

In Part 4, I'll blog briefly on the "Yes's"

What do you believe?

Part 2: The Global Spiritual Question

Continued from Part 1

As a global spiritual conversation starter, I posed the question:

"Do you believe that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is sufficient?"

Sufficient, meaning sufficient for eternal reconciliation and resolution of the believing person.

There are three conversational answers: No, Yes, and I'm not sure.

Many will answer,

"No, I don't believe that Jesus is sufficient."

People who have already thought this through to a confident conclusion of "no, I don't," either have an alternate spiritual solution, or believe in no spiritual solution.

So, for example,

I have friends who are believers of Islam, Jain, Buddhism and Judaism who love me dearly, but are quite sure that Jesus is not sufficient. Most notably they don't believe in his deity and therefore he alone is not sufficient for any eternal purposes. He is, in fact, insufficient to their way of thinking, since what a person does and how they live is also important to their eternal equation.

That's exactly what you might expect from some globally known religions.

But some of my self-professed Christian friends also squirm a little at the sufficient-question. They too have yet to reconcile whether belief in Jesus' (and his atoning sacrifice on the cross) is truly free of any conditions...truly sufficient. Truly a free gift of Grace. They've even said to me, "well, I hope I'll spend eternity with God in heaven, but I guess we can't know for sure until we die."

So...they're not really sure if Jesus' life, death and resurrection are sufficient. And, they're not all that different in that manner from my friends of other global spiritual backgrounds.

Of course, a confidently believing atheist believes that none of the worlds' spiritual beliefs are consequential in anything other than a social or political context; therefore Jesus is clearly insufficient for any supernatural purpose.

In Part 3, I'll look at the "I'm not sure's"

What do you believe?