Faithbase

Some people say all roads lead to the top of the mountain. So let's look at what Jesus said. Is being a good person enough to get you into heaven? I get this question probably as much as any other when I'm talking with people and dialoguing about the eternal or the afterlife and things of that. People want to know, honestly, do I have to follow this Jesus person or can I just be a good person or can I be spiritual but not religious? Can I do good things? I'm not a murderer, right? There's kind of a litmus test if we put Mother Teresa up here and Hitler down here, if I'm still on the camera. Most of us recognize that we're probably somewhere in the middle. And we have this kind of interesting concept that, especially for ourselves, when we tend to analyze our behavior and who we are as a person, we tend to probably overestimate ourselves. We're probably a little bit too generous with our bad personality traits. We're probably a little bit too cognitively dissonant with our flaws as people. And most of us think like, I'm decent, I'm nice to my family, I love someone, and I'm not a murderer or a cheater or whatever, so I should get into heaven. But what's really interesting to me is Jesus says in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to heaven but by me. That's a super profound statement on many levels because, one, it sounds radically exclusive. It sounds radically distinct and defined. And so there's a couple of things I want to say about that. The first one is that I have no idea who goes to heaven. There's three big surprises that when you get to heaven occur. The first one is that you made it. The second one is that the people you expected to be there aren't there. And the third one is that the people that you didn't expect to be there are. So I say this with the utmost humility I can muster online. It's just like, it's not my place to tell you who's in and who's out. In fact, that's when we see Jesus get the most upset in the scriptures is when people start trying to draw lines around who's in and who isn't in. But what I do know is this. Jesus makes a bold claim about he himself being the way by which one enters into heaven. And whether that's through relationship with the Father specifically or Jesus has other means by which he does that and appearing in other ways, I don't know what the specifics are. But I do know this. If I have access to the thing that Jesus tells me about, which is his bold claim of being the way, the truth, and the life, then I want to honor that. And I need to make some type of decision in regard to that. I have to make some type of response. There's something in me that must be willing to deal with this type of claim. There's kind of three categories that Jesus falls into with this. Either a liar, like he's making this up, he's Lord, so he really is who he says he is, or the dude is just like straight nuts. Now, there's not a lot of in-between or wiggle room outside of one of these three categories. So, I have to deal with these things to the best of my ability. And so, I just want to encourage you in this. If you're somebody who's not religious or somebody who, you know, isn't, you know, in the full follower of Jesus camp but you're kind of curious, just explore it. Explore what his claims are. Send me a message. Let's talk on here. Follow me on Instagram at Joshua underscore Carmen, whatever it is. I want to chat with you and hear what's important in your life. If you are somebody who is a follower of Jesus, be kind. Like, don't use John 14 6 as like this battering over the head ammunition to try and get somebody to follow you and believe like you and blah, blah, blah. Like, definitely be willing to share your opinion when asked. But the biggest thing that Jesus talks about as the way to help somebody come from point A to point B of like following and saying yes to him is by loving on them. It's not our job to convert people. It's not our job to be the one who does the changing. It's our job to be honest and sincere about what Jesus has done in our lives. And hopefully, through that, they will want to have a relationship with him too. And the important and most important thing to remember is this. Like, saying yes to Jesus isn't just a get out of hell free card. Right? It's not anything. Like, that's such a short-sighted way to look at Christ and such a sad reality to live in. The whole point of walking with Jesus is for deep relational connection here and now. Does it extend into the afterlife? Absolutely. But the value that it brings you, the reason the gospel is good news is because it's good news for the here and now. Again, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me on here or message me on Instagram. I'd love to connect with you. Thanks so much and have a great week.