Pictured above is the beauty of Cannon Beach at sunset. The goliath rock that protrudes from the Pacific Ocean is called "Haystack Rock." As with most of God's truly magnificent creation, the picture does not do justice! The night before this picture was taken I met a man named Atticus (how can you forget a name like that). The circumstances for our introduction were quite unique. A group of teenagers and I had just began a Bible study on the beach, nestled close to our cozy fire. In the growing darkness of the twilight, I saw two people approaching our beach encampment. I had just began my lesson on the Beatitudes and as I was speaking a soaking wet Atticus asked if he and his "girl" could crash at our fire and dry off. I must admit that I was taken aback, almost speechless. Not flustered by their question, not feeling that it was rude, but out of the sheer unexpectedness of the event.
Bible in hand, I said "Absolutely, grab a seat!" As if my words had magically removed all strength from his body, Atticus flopped to the ground. "So what are you guys talking about?" he asked benignly. I intrepidly answered "We're doing a Bible study bro." I admit that I expected some resistance, or at least a mild frustration with the topic, but Atticus said enthusiastically, "Awesome! I love god!"
As a life long church attender, one instinctively goes back to these crazy missionary stories that we would hear growing up. The ones were a chance encounter with some vagabond turns into this wonderful story of conversion. Briefly, this all went through my head.
Coming back to reality, I could see the blank stares of the teenagers through the flickering campfire light and continued on with my lesson. Going through the Beatitudes and explaining them one by one went by without a hitch. I closed with prayer to the applause of Atticus. With my sermon done his "sermon" began.
"God is awesome!" his opening statement was met with great approval and amens. "I have a Bible in my bag and I read it everyday," he quickly followed to our smiles and nods. "I really do love it and find it amazing how God is in all things and all religions" he rambled to a long pause, "...it really is all about love, no matter what your path is to God." Cue awkward pause and gaping mouths. Gathering composure I lovingly discussed with Atticus that there was no truth in his final statement. That the Bible tells of His exclusivity. That Jesus states in John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In His statement He is not claiming to be a way, but the only Way.
Atticus quickly followed my comments with the standard post-modern motto of "How you get to god may be different than how I get to god, your truth maybe different than my truth, I don't want to judge anybody." We continued our conversation for a little bit longer and eventually left Atticus with our warming fire as we headed back to our campsite.
That night I was troubled as I lay in my sleeping bag. I couldn't help but think that Atticus had had such an open mind that perhaps his brains had fallen out. His "anything-goes" theology has no basis in reality. Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity all claim exclusivity. But unlike other religions, we have an empty tomb. Jesus justified His claims of being God by dying on the cross and three days later raising Himself from the dead. It has been said that Christianity has the "scandal of particularity." This means "uniqueness," a claim to be the only thing of its kind in the world. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, comes only through Jesus Christ and His shed blood.
Though Jesus is exclusively the Way, He is also inclusive in His love. For earlier in John Jesus says that "For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world! As Christians, we have the privilege to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world. All nations now have access to Jesus' forgiveness through the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name.
Atticus' world view is all too common set against the back drop of American pop-culture/psychology. Images of Jerry Springer's guests screaming "Don't judge me!" and "You don't know me!" play across the movie screen of my brain as I think back to his statements. However, Atticus' words are half right: all roads do lead to God. In the form of judgment, every knee will bow down before God. Thankfully, on that day of judgement for all who believe, Christ's redemptive blood will cover the multitude of our sins and we will be called righteous for His sake.
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