:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

A popular Christian author recently stated: “If we embrace universalism however it is cloaked, then we’re free to live our lives however we want, to sit back as easygoing Christians in comfortable churches, because in the end all these masses are going to be OK.”

I have two things to say.

1. I don’t think universalism is true.

2. I think the above statement makes a critical error about why we follow Jesus.

The author who made this statement made a bloomer, dropped the ball, and missed the boat. That statement makes the mistake that no one supposedly wants to make. That statement reduces Christianity to something that we all say it isn’t.

That statement reduces Christianity to nothing more than a ticket to heaven.

That statement asks, “If Jesus can save everyone in whatever way they want, then why follow him as sold out disciples?” Thankfully, the Bible has a good deal to say in response.

Avoiding hell as an eternal destination is not a major point in Christianity or in the Bible. Separation from God is certainly serious, but Jesus doesn’t make avoiding hell the pivot point of his message or speak of avoiding hell as our reason for being here. He speaks of separation from God, but if avoiding hell was the point, the major pivot upon which everything turned, then Jesus failed us. Jesus pointed to something else as far more important than merely avoiding hell.

When Jesus was asked how to get eternal life, he stated, “Love the Lord your God…”

The greatest point, the reason why we’re here, is to love God. That’s it. If you want life, love God. And when you love God, you’ll have faith in him, trust him, and begin to act like him. You’ll end up having compassion on the poor, the imprisoned, and the sick. When it’s time to pass from this life, you’ll either be on your way to turning into one of God’s children who loves him, trusts in him, and has been changed by him or you’ll resist him. If you love God first and trust in him, then you are saved because of the cross, resurrection, and indwelling Spirit.

If you reject God, fail to love him, fail to have faith, and fail to trust him, then you will not be ready to transition into a life with God. I can’t tell you who goes where or what happens because the Bible uses a lot of symbols and imagery. Christians have proven fantastically able at misunderstanding the language of the Bible.

But here’s the thing that gets to me: Even if God could one day figure out a way to save everyone and universalism proved to be true, I believe that Christianity still stands strong. While I don’t think universalism is correct, we don’t follow Jesus for our ticket out of hell. We don’t pick up our crosses just to save souls.

Every Christian I meet says that we don’t follow Jesus just to get a ticket to heaven.

And yet, if we agree with this author that Christianity with universalism is meaningless, we prove that we’ve really been in this all along to save our skin and to just provide tickets to heaven. We can do what we want because it really wasn’t all about loving God, loving others, and joining God in his advancing Kingdom.

God’s love is beyond our comprehension.

God’s ways are not our ways.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.

What makes us think we can understand the things of eternity?

What makes us think we can limit the love of God?

What makes us think we can stand as judges over anyone else?

I have dedicated myself to following Jesus, loving God and loving others. There is nothing in theology that can change my commitment to Jesus—whether universalism is true or false, nothing changes for me. Honestly, I don’t need to know. When I experience the love and joy of God, it’s an incredible moment of ecstasy, unspeakable and wonderful. It’s a little taste of heaven.

The love of God is that precious pearl for which I sell everything.

When I’m used by Jesus to pray for a prison inmate or to share a word of encouragement to a struggling friend, I get a taste of his invading Kingdom. I drive home from a prison meeting with tears in my eyes because I’ve been part of God’s healing work in this world, bringing his freedom to the here and now, while making an eternal impact. I’d give up anything to feel God’s presence more, to be wrapped in his love, and to share that love with others.

That incredible love is what makes Christianity so compelling for me.

I can sense God’s Kingdom pressing in like a wave on a warm summer day, and I want to ride it as far as it will carry me. When I feel God’s love, I want to pass it on to as many people as I can so that they can know him and his love too in this world and in the next.

God’s Kingdom infects me, and I wouldn’t give that up for anything.

Woe to me if I let anything or anyone deter me from that simple calling. Woe to me if I reduce the expansive love of God into a self-serving ticket that spares my life from hell.

Whether God saves a few or saves us all, I won’t give up my commitment to Jesus. However he sorts out the sheep from the goats, I’m not concerned about protecting my personal ticket to heaven. I have a calling to commit myself to the Kingdom and to make disciples.

The love of God compels me, not an exclusive calling.