Reed Mueller

The discussion in this week’s installment of ‘Neglected’ (message will be posted here later this week) was posed to me in two different ways:

• I have a friend of ______ religion. They don’t believe that Jesus is who he says he is. Are they going to hell?
• I think we need to talk about the relationship of the Christian to members of other faiths – Islam, Judaism, Buddhism – and the church’s relationship to those other faiths. In an increasingly interconnected world do we insist on evangelism and conversion, or do we find another way to work together?

In working through this, it is very important to me that we begin where Jesus began. Interestingly, he made statements relating to these questions that were both inclusive and exclusive in nature. In Matthew 28:18, for example, Jesus made both an inclusive and an exclusive claim. His statement here was inclusive in the sense that there wasn’t any area in all of creation that was outside of his authority – it was and is all included. His statement was also exclusive in that it claimed that he, and he alone, was in charge. His point: there is no decision that escapes his authority. If this is true, and I believe his words to be true or I would not be his disciple, then decisions about who is saved and who is not are up to nobody but him. He has the authority in this domain.

So we must ask, “What does he say about who is saved?” Again, he is both inclusive and exlusive in his statements. On the one hand, he says that God loves the (whole) world (John 3:16-17) and Jesus’ first century followers Peter and Paul expressed similar thoughts in 2 Peter 3:9 and 1 Timothy 2:3-4, respectively. These statements are inclusive in nature. But there is particularity, or exclusivity, in Jesus’ statements, too. He states that a person must believe in him to find salvation because by rejecting him the wrath of God remains on a person (John 3:35-36). Elsewhere, in an explicitly exclusive claim, Jesus claims to be the only path to the Father (John 14:6). So again, Jesus’ statements as they relate to salvation are both inclusive (everyone is invited) and exclusive (there is only one Savior, himself, for any who would come receive the gift).

With this background, we can move on to the questions that were raised earlier. Starting with the more general of the two, I would say that we must not insist on evangelism for those of other faiths and instead should work for even more, inviting those of other faiths to become Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). This was Jesus’ call to the followers with whom he had shared life before taking the cross; by extension, it is his call to us. It is not enough for us to end at mere evangelism because our call is to walk with others toward maturity in Christ.

That being said, I am also of the mind that the Church has been woefully neglectful of building bridges with other faiths. To have to choose between evangelism (or discipleship as I’ve expanded it to be) or collaboration with those of other faiths is not something I am willing to do. Rather, to insist on both seems to give Christ the greatest honor. We must seek opportunities to converse and work with those of other faiths. Our call requires this and the world needs us to do this. In fact, I see this bridge-building to be an application of 1 Peter 3:15. Where, in the course of every day life (and particularly in the course of our shared work with those of other faiths), we will have opportunity to share our hope.

But this is too general, isn’t it? What about the specific question of your friend and their destiny. The key here is to remember that Christ alone has all authority. It is his decision, not mine, not yours. He is both the bridge to God (as the way, the truth, and the life) and the one who determines access to the bridge (no one comes to the Father except through him). Because I believe he is both wise and loving, I am comforted that he will work this out in every individual’s life. I also trust his words that the whole question can only be put to rest in our lives when we believe in him (again, John 3:16-17,35-36). Because he is wise, I believe his words to be truth; because he is compassionate, I believe his words to be shared because he desires to help people find salvation and peace and to put the nagging question of eternal destiny to rest. There is only one way to do this, and he has stated it clearly.

So what, in the end, are we to do? We are to have confidence that there is salvation in no one other than Jesus (Acts 4:12). We are to have confidence in Jesus’ authority and his goodness. And finally, we are to make disciples knowing that no person is better off having never heard the good news of Jesus.

As most of you know, we’re in the middle of a series called ‘Neglected‘ where I’ve taken suggestions from CRCC members on what topics the church as a whole tends to neglect. Last Sunday’s topic was Hell. In my preparation for my sermon, I had to laugh because so many of the resources I looked at repeated a familiar refrain, which went something like this: “Most Christians will never hear a sermon on the subject of hell.” I found it humorous given that I knew I was going to be talking on the subject. As I promised at the close of yesterday’s service (podcast site) you can find additional thoughts posted below.

As I mentioned in the message, Jesus ‘favorite’ word for hell – that is, his most often used term – was gehenna, which has an interesting history:

Sulfur fires were part of life for those who lived in the Jerusalem of Bible times. Southwest of the city was the Valley of Hinnom, an area that had a long history of desecration. The steep gorge was once used to burn children in sacrifice to the Ammonite god Molech (2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31; 32:35). Jeremiah denounced such practices by saying that Hinnom Valley would become the valley of God’s judgment, a place of slaughter (Jeremiah 7:32; 19:5-7). As the years passed, a sense of foreboding hung over the valley. People began to burn their garbage and offal there, using sulfure, the flammable substance we now use in matches and in gunpowder. Eventually, the Hebrew name ge-hinnon (canyon of Hinnom) evolved into geenna (gehenna), the familiar greek word for hell (Matthew 5:22, 29; 10:28; 18:9; 23:33; Mark 9:43,45; Luke 12:5). Thus, when the Jews talked about punishment in the next life, what better image could they use than the smoldering valley they called gehenna? (William Crocket in Four Views on Hell)

All tallied, gehenna is used in the New Testament 12 times, 11 of which occur in the synoptics. Beyond this, he described hell as “the outer darkness” (e.g., Matthew 8:12) and with descriptive terms like “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 25:41), the place “where their worm does not die” (Mark 9:43-45), and as a place where there “will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (e.g., Matthew 8:12). Interestingly, most scholars do not associate sheol (used 66 times in the Old Testament) or hades (used 10 times in the New Testament) with hell.

Sheol as conceived in the Old Testament differs from the later doctrine of Hell in that it is the place where all the dead are gathered indiscriminately, both the good and the bad, the saints and the sinners. To die means to be joined to those who have gone before. When a Jew dies he is “gathered unto his people” (cf. Gn 25:8, 17; 35:29; 49:29; etc.) … In the New Testament, ‘Sheol’ is tranlated into the Greek ‘Hades’. (Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Baker encyclopedia of the Bible.)

The passage from which we worked most was Mark 9:43-48 where I believe Jesus point to be this: “Do whatever it takes to resolve unresolved sin, because unresolved sin will separate you from God.” His use of the language of hell (gehenna) cannot be missed. It is a horrible place to “go into” – it is worse than you can imagine – because you are separated from God there.

And why is there such a separation? It is not because God desires some to perish (2 Peter 3:9), rather, it is because of sin at its root, which is hostility toward God, a heart hardened toward him, not given to him or accepting his salvation, grace, and lead (Romans 3:9-12; 8:5-8). In such a case, what is there left to do? Jesus responds, seeing better than any the pain and suffering of a life apart from God, by choosing to give his life to bring us back to our Father (Philippians 2:4-11; 1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus deals with sin not only through a transaction of justice, a clearing of the record books through a sacrifice for pasts sins, but also by calling us to give up our life and give it to him (Luke 9:23-25). By accepting him as Savior and Lord, our sins and the root of sin are both dealt with: He cleanses us from our sinful ways (1 John 1:9) and heals us of our enmity toward God so that we become his children (John 1:11-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

I know by looking at my own thoughts and feelings about the fact that Jesus speaks of hell that this subject is a tough one for us to grapple with. In light of that, I would like to open up a discussion with you CRCCers. So if you have a question or comment on this post of the message I gave on Sunday, post it here and we’ll begin.

Just like Phil, I went to bed hungry last night. This morning is better, but I know once I eat my allotted portion of Cream of Wheat (15 cents/serving) that I’ll launch my stomach into hunger mode again. But it’s not all bad – my hunger has made me think.

I’m thinking about how true the comments of Cindy and Michael are. We are approximating the pain of hunger and then only for a few days. We are approximating the pain of severely limited resources and this again is only for a few days.

Why do this?

Because it opens my eyes – our eyes. It opens our eyes to the gap between the developed and the developing world, between our nation and others, between our families and families across the globe. Spin that globe you’ve got in your house or at school. C’mon, spin it. Close your eyes. Then put your finger down and if it ends up on land, it’s about a 50/50 chance that the people of that region eat like we’ve been eating for a couple of days now (that is, if they are at the top end of the bottom 50% of the world’s population – many eat more poorly than we’ve been eating).

It just isn’t right in a world with so many resources. We don’t have a resource problem, we’ve got a distribution problem. Charity won’t cut it given a problem this big, we need to work toward justice. Not only will the move from charity to justice fill the stomachs of the hungry, it will fill us as well (Matthew 5:6 NLT).

So let our offering this weekend at church mark not only our effort to alleviate the hunger of many across the world; let it be more! Let it also mark our continued commitment to work for justice here and abroad, in our nation and others, in our community, in Mhlosheni, and in more communities to come.

Our very own Phil Pearson is blogging about his challenge experience. He has a wonderful narrative about his pre-challenge shopping experience at his blog. Check it out because it’ll be worth it.

Incidentally, his blog is one I’ve been following as he works his way through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Again, worth tracking.

My Experience:
Well, I think I’ve discovered that I don’t get along very well with UNIMIX (or at least as much as I ate last night). I had a full serving of UNIMIX before heading off to bed and experienced what to me seemed like hyperemesis. (Feel free to laugh at this point :^)  Needless to I’ll be moving away from the UNIMIX diet to the more well-rounded sustenance diet. Rice and beans will never have tasted so good… and I can hardly wait for my plain cream of wheat this morning!

So take it easy on the UNIMIX. Maybe try a little instead of a whole “serving.” I was fine in the morning when I had little bits at a time, but having a whole “meal” of it for dinner was just too much for me, I guess.

My Reflection:
I’m actually looking forward to rice and beans, so Proverbs 27:7 (NIV) comes to mind first off.

But after that, I can honestly say that my eyes are opened and that I’m glad I had a rough go of it. I’m a fairly healthy guy for the most part and my body couldn’t handle the food I was given to eat. Not only that, but a little throwing up isn’t life-threatening for me. Now if I put myself in the sandals of someone famished, throwing up could really compromise me. The point: Being hungry, being under-nourished, is a huge risk. I can’t imagine seeing my children hungry or wasting away. Nor can I imagine being so compromised myself that I couldn’t take care of them.

All of this makes me want to do more to ease the suffering of at least a few of the hungry in our world. I hope your experience is doing the same.

Join the conversation…comment here with your own experiences!

My Experience:
Well I can honestly say that I just had my best batch yet of UNIMIX (but it’s still not all that great). For any of you going with UNIMIX for the challenge, here are a few hints: 

• cold water is better than hot
• more water is better than less
• Pinto beans are better than Soy 

My Reflection:
Just day one of three and I can honestly say that my eyes are opened. I can’t imagine eating this for a substantial number of days – yet I would be so thankful for the calories if I (or my family) was starving. It’s a real perspective-bender. Makes me realize how pampered and blessed we are to eat for taste rather than just to stay alive. It also makes me sad to think that we live in a world with so much inequality of resource distribution…

On that topic, someone pointed me to this WSJ article: Four ways to Ease a Global Food Crisis Over the Next Year. It’s an interesting read about what may be coming just around the corner and some things that can be done to ease the potential crisis.

I love that I’m part of a church that will take challenges like this! Keep at it folks and let’s bring a great offering to church this coming weekend!

Let us know how you’re doing by commenting on this entry.

On the evening before our church’s 72-challenge, I thought that I would provide a one-serving conversion the UNIMIX emergency food recipe that we mined from WorldVision’s 30-hour Famine site. For one serving you need:

• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk powder
• Heaping 1/2 cup cornmeal (9 Tablespoons to be exact)
• 3/4 cup ground [Pinto] beans (or softened, then mashed)
• 3 Tablespoons oil

To make mine, I’m grinding my pinto beans after measuring them. Then I’m mixing all the dry ingredients together. Finally, I’m adding the oil (which in our pantry is soybean oil). Once this is all thoroughly mixed together, add water until you have an oatmeal or porridge like consistency. Then eat away. But I promise you, it won’t taste like what we’re used to!

A few notes about the recipe. First, the totals are a little funky because the recipe came to me in percentages and I wanted to scale it to one serving more or less; this is the best I can do. Second, this is a much smaller batch than I made at church, which would have sustained a hungry child for more than a day, possibly two. Third, when used in emergency situations, the mix is also fortified with additional vitamins and minerals.

As for the nutritional information of this recipe, here’s what I have for the recipe above (one serving):

*Percent Daily Values are based upon a 2,400 calorie diet.

ADDITIONAL RECIPE CONVERSION -
One Day’s Worth of Unimix (2400 Calorie Diet)

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups ground [Pinto] beans (or softened, then mashed)
• 1/2 cup oil

Here’s an interesting article on AIDS in the African-American community. Thanks to Brad for the link.