It sounds like a weird question, doesn't it?

How about this one: "You don't try and breathe water, do you?"

Strange, right?  Ridiculous even.

My mother and I went to church this morning together -- my dad had some bad back pain from overexertion yesterday and my wife woke up with one of her bad headaches -- and as we usually do, we talked about spiritual things on the way to church.

One subject that came up was some recent video someone sent my mom in an email regarding some "spiritual" thing that Oprah was doing -- she forwarded it to me but I haven't watched it yet -- and how Oprah has gone on record several times saying that because of a comment from a pastor many years ago about God being "a jealous God", she had become embittered against the Bible, against Jesus, against what we here know about God.  I guess she has said things like "there cannot be just one way to God".

I told my mom that comment reminded me of something I heard in an Apologetic Evangelism class I took at the Bible College.  Paraphrased, it's along the lines of "Isn't it odd how people who always complain that Jesus' statement about being the only way is 'narrow-minded' or 'too exclusive' don't leave that conversation and try to exit the room via the wall -- they just know that you exit through the door, simply because that's the object designed for exiting. 

Another way of saying the same thing: people cannot complain about "there cannot be just one way to God" and breathe water at the same time -- strange thing, that trying to breathe water.  It doesn't seem to work...only air does.  That ignorant, uneducated air...doesn't it know that we live in a more enlightened time nowadays, and that our heightened intellects tell us there must be more than one way to do something?

But the truth both defies and confirms our puny human "intellects", at the same time defying what we think should be logical while also confirming what should be common sense: that many things can in fact be done many different ways, but a few (and seemingly the most important) can only be done ONE WAY in order to be effective.

I thought it was interesting that the Bible records the following point of wisdom twice, perhaps so that just in case it didn't click the first time the added emphasis of saying it again would help convince us: Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25, each reminding us that there are things that seem right to the natural man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

As my mom rightly pointed out later in our conversation, Oprah has a huge "fan base" -- I would call them followers rather than fans -- and she will be held accountable for all those she is leading astray with her "pseudo-intellectual approach" to things spiritual.  But not just that, she also has approached it with a certain sense of flair, almost (dare I say) evanglistic enthusiasm to liberate all those poor religious people from their God-induced ignorance and set them on the path of "higher spirituality".

Now I didn't write this for the purpose of being an Oprah rant; I wrote it because the underlying situation and prominent statements we spoke of in our conversation are indicative of what a lot of people think today -- or at least, what a lot of people (as I did back before Christ) use as a "mental cop-out" to stave off having to really wrestle with "the God question" in their mind for just a little while longer.

So I guess you could say that this post is more for people who are curious about God without wanting to say a word about it yet on the outside, people who are caught up in the self-defeating circle of "there has to be more than one way to God, right?", people who (though they might not be able to articulate exactly why) despise the "exclusive" statements Jesus made about "I AM the Way" and "I AM the Door", or people who just have never been given the real Gospel.

People need to hear the truth, the real truth, and I mean they really need to hear it.  Without bad news, there can be no good news, and we as believers need to be faithful to give people the whole picture.  Remember, there's a reason that jewelers always display diamonds against black or midnight blue backdrops: they sparkle all the more when properly contrasted against the darkness.

The same is true with the Gospel: telling people the good news about "how great" Jesus is without also telling them about the horrific news that we owe an inconceivable sin-debt to a God who loves us and wants us to be with Him is -- well, I'm sure many of you are like me and have tried to tell "the nice Gospel" to someone (you know, the one where you tell them the benefits but not the "sin" or "hell" things because you didn't want them to totally shut you out?), only to realize they give you that look, the one I've never seen in any situation other than spiritual.  It must have been the same look that the people in Noah's 'hood gave him when he told them there was going to be great rain and flooding: they had never seen rain, and they sure had no clue what you would need such a huge boat for (imagine all the "wasted" resources that would have taken!), so they probably initially gave him a sort-of blank stare like "What in the world...?"

Brothers and sisters, we need to be faithful to the call to disciple the nations, and that means giving them all the information, not just "evangelistic fluff" (not that all evangelists use "fluff", but you know what I'm talking about **cough**joelosteen**cough**).

To anyone who does not know Jesus as Savior, or even why you would need such a thing, know that however cliche it may sound, God does really love you, and because of that love He has made it possible for you to have a close relationship with Him.  If you want to know more, please don't hesitate to ask.

In His service, and yours,
jason