Delusion vs deluding others
(NRSV) John 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
(NRSV) Rom 1:20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; 21 for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools;
I recently saw a discussion on Facebook regarding the Pope’s statement that there are many roads to God. All religions are paths to reach God,” Pope Francis told a gathering of young people in Singapore on September 13.
“They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for everyone,” the Pontiff said, having set aside a prepared text to speak extemporaneously. “Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.”[i]
The Pope has been either praised or criticized for his latest excursion from God’s Word. Those praising the Pontiff do so because in their minds he is displaying unconditional love and not judgment. But was it judgmental for God to send His only Son to die that we might live or was it an unfathomable love that encompasses all who believe with their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord?
When we teach others to believe there is more than one way to God, we are ushering them from the light to the dark, from life to death. Initially it may seem to be a caring thing to do, but trading the truth for a lie is anything but caring.
May we who are Christ followers, intentional disciples, live not according to the ways of the world, but in alignment with the precepts found in God’s Word, sharing the name of Jesus with all we meet.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
.
[i] Catholic News Agency, 9/13/2024
- Posted in: Blogs
Seeking Holiness 