The Great Debate

I love the exchange of ideas and therefore love to debate. I find these discussions in groups or one on one thought provoking and stimulating. I have passed many hours of my life debating truth with friends and loved ones. I love to think. I often hurried from philosophy classes in college to discuss new ideas I was trying to wrap my mind around with Brenda. We would talk for hours as time would permit in between classes. Though I never gave my best efforts to formal education I did and still love to read and discover new truths and ideas. I guess you could say I enjoyed self education more than formal education. I enjoy the discussion of topics both secular and sacred, temporary and timeless as well as political to philosophical. That is why I enjoy blogging so much. It offers me the perfect outlet to write and formulate ideas and to express my thoughts and opinions. Most of where I find these ideas is in the Bible which at some point makes it to the printed page.
Yesterday, after starting my day extremely early, I went down to the little café where it is my customary morning habit to eat breakfast while reading, doing sermon preparation, and at times writing something. Over the years I have cultivated several relationships in that place. It is the kind of café where almost everyone knows your name and you see the same people seated at the same tables in the same chairs morning after morning. I got there a little late and by the time my breakfast arrived most everyone else had cleared out.
I entered into a lively conversation with a person I have talked to about Christ on numerous occasions. I had no idea where our conversation was leading when it started. We exchanged ideas like two people wielding swords at times being on the offensive and at times retreating in a defensive posture. Our great debate encompassed ideas ranging from homosexuality, abortion, absolute truth, relativism, pluralism, the presidential election, Jesus Christ, monotheism, the origin of the Bible, sanctity of life, euthanasia, marriage and parenting, animal rights, sex, the existence of hell, and the glorious hope of the gospel. It was a great debate! Questions were formulated from both sides and many were extremely difficult to answer. Ideas were explored and examined. Issues were discussed and disputed in a civil manner. It felt like a mental wrestling match. Right at the point you felt you had your opponent down for the count they would countermove and come back with a new tactic.
My heart melted as this confused person, who is honestly open to truth but does not think that any one religion can have the corner on the market of truth, offered a wide range of ideologies and philosophies of life that fly in the face of everything I believe in, preach about, and write. Instead of growing frustrated because my intellectual opponent would not be persuaded that I was right, my heart welled up with more love and compassion.
As the hour and half wound down, (yes, we actually debated for an hour and a half – thank God nobody came into the café during that time) I was reminded of what Jesus said about Himself in [Jn 14:6] “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” I asked the question what did this mean. Jesus did not say he was one of many truths. He stated that He was the truth. The absolute truth. That statement is offensive to the crowds who preach tolerance and that everyone not only has the right to their own religious beliefs but that those beliefs are also equally right and true when considered with other religious beliefs. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong. Jesus’ statement about Himself is exclusive, intolerant, and not culturally or politically correct. He says He is the truth, and the life. He says He is also the only way to God the Father and therefore the only door through which a person may avoid eternal damnation and wrath.
As our great debate came to an end I simply asked my friend if they were happy. I already knew the answer to this question. Their response was negative. I left the simple challenge to try Jesus. People in this world will try anything and everything before they will try Jesus. In my opinion we are troubled by Jesus. He does not hold his finger to the prevailing political and philosophical winds of our day. He is not insecure and does not need public approval ratings to be or state truth. He simply is. You can believe it or accept it but by His own definition, He is truth. Our disagreement or acceptance of that statement does not change the truth. He simply is.
My debate opponent admitted that they had never really tried Jesus. I assured my friend that Jesus is what they have been looking for all their life and that He is satisfying.
People don’t want there to be a God, a Savior. If there is only one then there can only be one set or rules and what most of the world would have to come to terms with is that they are not playing by God’s rules. The multitudes devalue the scriptures and ignore the commands. The consequences are evident. Many do not want an authoritative God in their lives and therefore invent gods of their convenience and choosing to accommodate compromising lifestyles.
The great debate had to end so I could make it to a meeting. While witnessing and trying to reason with my friend about Jesus I felt an inward assurance that the very God my friend was so unsure was real is working to draw the debater to Himself. I left the café pumped that I had the opportunity to share the hope of the gospel in the context of debating other issues.
Dear Jesus, I ask you to reveal yourself to my friend. I ask you to open their eyes and softening their heart. I ask you to convict of sin and let truth not only settle in the soil of their hardened heart but to also germinate and bear fruit. I look forward to the day when my friend will discover that you are the greatest truth and the greatest reality in the universe. Until that day comes, please hasten the day for our next great debate. Amen.