Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Of Hell and Such...

I have seriously been slacking in my posting about Radical (you know, that book I am reading?) To be honest, it's become a bit overwhelming and even more convicting to me. Even though I haven't posted in a while I have been reading...Sometimes, honestly, I just don't know how to put into words what I am feeling  about a chapter or in a lot of cases...my brain hurts.

And today - my brain hurts, my stomach is churning and I kinda wanna toss a cookie or to. This chapter, chapter 7 was enlightening and eye opening. Platt basically discusses that Heaven is not our default location for eternity, it is in fact H-E-Double Hockey Sticks that we are all defaulted to live eternally in...(no worry there is hope..)

Platt lists 7 truths found in the book of Romans....

1) All people have knowledge of God - "God reveals himself continually and clearly to all people." Platt says. Even though we all have knowledge of God, we do not all accept or believe in Him.

2) All People Reject God - On phrase that sticks out in my mind that just made we cringe was this, "Whether in America or Africa or Asia, no one worships God truly, because in our hearts we reject the true God." UM YAH OUCH!!!!

3) All People are Guilty Before God - Here is where Platt states that Heaven is not the default location - it is in fact hell, seeing as how we all are guilty and sin and fall short....kinda makes sense!

4) All People Are Condemned for Rejecting God - Although I get this and it makes total sense, it makes me sad....truth is "All people know God, all people reject God, all people are guilty before God, and all people stand condemned for rejecting God." BUMMER.

5) God Has Made A Way of Salvation for the Lost - YAY finally something to be a little happy about. Except that there are so many lost people out there and then that reminds me of point 4.

6) People Cannot Come to God Apart from Faith in Christ - Another harsh reality - "If people cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ, and if more than a billion people have never heard of Christ, then a serious and eternal problem exists." - Yup sure does.

7) Christ Commands the Church to Make The Gospel Known to all Peoples - I really appreciate the diagram that Platt uses here...

God sends his servant---> His servant preaches ---> People hear --->Hearers believe--->Believers call--->Everyone who calls is saved.

We are the plan of God THERE IS NO PLAN B - meaning get off your booty and do something.

I am gonna be honest, that scares me, because I often doubt my servant-ness- what if I don't say the right things, what if I miss someone who needs to hear about him. I am not theologian, I am just me -

But that's what God wants, that's his decision in all his infinite wisdom (though I don't get that!). He could have made it easy and said I pick you to teach, you not so much, unfortunately that's not how it works. God calls all of us to be his servant to preach his gospel...

I don't know about you but that convicts me to the core -  especially considering Hell is the default.

2 comments:

Amy said...

I don't think we need to stress out about how we can convey the gospel, or recite "romans road". What I took away from the book (which I give you is even MORE convicting!) is that it is through our lifestyle of radical obedience that Christ is shown. It's in the moments when someone asks "why are you..." that you can share Jesus. So true for our culture where most people mentally know about Chritianity! Yes, the people who do not know are a different story, those people are not who I come into contact with daily. Should we go, care, upturn our lives, make crazy stupid choices... you betcha :) Have fun with that book, it's a goodie!

Brooke said...

you do have to wonder what He was thinking...He definitely has more faith in me than I have in me!