Offending the right people

I read this morning in some article that one of the biggest problems evangelical theology is facing today is pluralism – the view that there is not just one way to God or salvation, but many. Biblical theology flies in the face of anyone who says that there are many gods or that there are many ways to God. It’s almost like many people view Christians as elitist because we say that Jesus is the only way to God.

Now I believe that Jesus is the only way to God, but if we’re not careful, we start to think that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18) because God is elitist, too. We might start thinking that God only wants to save certain people and not others, but I believe what 1 Peter 3:9 says, that God is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” It’s true that God will not save us if we do not repent, but the “offense of the cross,” that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:11 is that Jesus died for everyone. The people who are offended by that are those that believe that they have done something to deserve God’s favor. There is nothing any of us have done to deserve God’s love. We only receive it when we admit we are powerless to save ourselves. The cross is offensive to those who are elitist – those who think they should be saved and others should be condemned. Jesus is the only way, but what Jesus did, he did for all. The cross is offensive because God’s love is so ridiculously big and grace is for all.