That’s Fine, If That’s What You Believe

By Rob Pue @ Wisconsin Christain News

There are several common attitudes and beliefs about spiritual matters, Christianity and various world religions.  Among the most common are: 

1. Most people don’t really think about God all that much. 
2. They never really consider their eternal destiny, but believe they’ll be fine.
3. They really don’t know much at all about the Bible or what it says, but they make drastic, sweeping assumptions about it.

Perhaps the most important thing to note is that most people today believe spirituality should be an individual, private thing, not something talked about, and certainly no one should seek to “convert” anyone else to their faith.  “It’s whatever you believe,” is a common theme.  This is moral relativism.  “Your truth” may not be “My truth,” and the very idea of “truth” is an ever-changing concept.  What was true a hundred years ago may not be true today.  That may be correct when it comes to our knowledge of science and technology or the cost of living or a myriad of other ever-changing things in our world.

But when it comes to the things of nature and nature’s God, there absolutely are absolute truths, which never change.  They have never changed, and they never will.  Some things in this world are just plain natural and true.

An example of absolute truth is that in all species of animals — and plants — there are two genders: male and female.  It takes both genders to reproduce.  Two females cannot reproduce, nor can two males.  Further, only females can conceive and bear children, but they can’t do it without a male father.  And only mothers are able to breast-feed their babies.

Today’s Leftist Lunatics will try to tell you there are 72 genders and they can’t define what a “woman” is.  Certainly, they can go to great lengths to try to prove “transgenderism” is a real thing — that it’s possible for a male to “transition” to a female.  But the absolute truth is, they can take sterilizing drugs, they can get themselves disfigured through diabolical surgeries and they can play “dress up” all they want, but a male can never be anything other than a male, and despite the purple hair, piercings, tattoos, “butch” haircuts and foul-mouthed vocabularies, a female can never possibly “transition” to be a male.  Such ideas are delusional, the product of depraved minds that choose to believe the lies of Satan, the enemy of our souls.

For centuries, people heard, believed and knew the truth about the one true God of Creation and His Son, Jesus Christ, but today, when approached with the Gospel message, people will say, “That’s fine if that’s what you believe, but don’t try to tell me about it.”  When pressed, most people seem to conclude that all the religions of the world ultimately lead to the same god, like spokes of a wheel leading to a center point. So, if you believe in buddah, or allah or Jesus Christ, that is your option, all these are equally valid, and all ultimately lead to the center, to God. 

If this is your belief, then it’s terribly “intolerant” for someone to say that there’s only one way to God, and we can’t all just “co-exist” because all the other symbols on that bumper sticker are paying homage to false gods and doctrines of demons. Yes, to our limited human understanding, it would certainly make sense that all the peoples of the world seek God in their own way, following their own traditions; all the peoples of the world believe in a god, and as long as you believe it and follow your religion to the best of your ability, and live a good life and try your best to be a “good person,” you will ultimately find God, because there are as many paths to Him as there are people in the world. 

This way of thinking makes perfect sense — to imperfect, ignorant and self-centered human beings, many of whom believe they themselves are “god.”  At the same time, the truth of the Gospel is often considered nonsense to these same people, who by the way, are perishing by their refusal to open their minds to the truth we’ve so graciously been given. 

These are just regular, ordinary everyday people from all over the world. Wherever you go, the attitude seems to be the same:

1. There are many paths to God. 
2. Follow your path, (your religion), to the best of your ability and you’ll get to heaven in the end. 
3. Whatever you believe is fine — as long as you’re a good person, God will understand, forgive you of any wrongdoing and welcome you to heaven. 
4. Don’t try to tell me what you believe. That’s fine if that’s what you believe, but don’t try to make me believe. 

So, following this logic, believing something, then, makes it true? As long as you believe it, it’s true?  That’s really what they’re saying!   Ok, let’s see if that theory holds true anywhere in the world...

Let me provide an example. If I had jokingly told my kids when they were small, “Guess what! Today I ordered us an in-ground heated swimming pool. They’ll be coming to start work on it next week!” — as young children, they might have believed me.

“Really?! Wow, Dad, is it a big one? When will it be done?” Not knowing any better, they would hardly be able to contain their excitement. They could see themselves jumping in right then. My wife, on the other hand, would know I was only joking. Imagine.  The kids believed it. My wife did not. So, because my kids believed it, does that mean that for them, there’s a brand new, in-ground heated swimming pool in our backyard for them to play in, and because my wife didn’t believe me, for her there is no pool?

“That’s a ridiculous example,” you say. Really? But the kids believed it. They should have a pool, because whatever you believe is fine, as long as you’re a good person, you will get what you believe. Well, bottom line is, we always had lots of grass in our backyard, but there was never a pool. Sorry kids.

Let me give you another example...many years ago, I changed my cell phone number. I tried to inform as many people as I could that the number had changed, but there were still a lot of people who believed my old number was still my number. These folks tried to call me but got someone else. Why would that happen? They believed they had the right number. They even dialed it twice to be sure. Why didn’t they get ahold of me?

The keys on a keyboard are laid out in a particular pattern, one that we learn and memorize when we learned to type.  As long as we begin typing a letter, article or message with our fingers in the proper place on “home row,” what we type will make sense.  But if we deviate by moving our fingers over by just one key, we can type away forever, but all we’ll end up with is gibberish.

Likewise, if I go to play my guitar and place my fingers on the fretboard in such a way as to form a proper chord, what I attempt to play will sound right.  But if just one finger is in the wrong position, on the wrong fret or the wrong string, everyone will immediately know there is such a thing as absolute truth — and the absolute opposite.

You see, folks, it doesn’t matter what you believe if it isn’t true. If you believe something that isn’t true, then it isn’t true regardless of how much belief you may have. Some have said, “It’s not what you believe, but Who you believe.”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6). That may sound intolerant, but in fact, it is just simply true.

Satan is our enemy. He plots day and night against us. The last thing he wants is for us to know the truth. Unlike my joke about a swimming pool or making a mistake with a phone number, a keyboard or a guitar, Satan’s lies are designed to be deadly.

Many can see the folly of following the violent religion of Islam, yet many more believe it. We can look back to 1997 and remember in sadness and amazement at the “Heaven’s Gate” cult. Most people realize it was ridiculous to think a spaceship was cloaked in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, yet 39 people believed it so strongly, they committed suicide to meet that spaceship. We remember in horror the sickening images in the news in 1978 when 900 people believed so strongly in Pastor Jim Jones that they followed him to their deaths in the jungles of Guyana.

Remember. Remember these things before you have the attitude of, “That’s fine if that’s what you believe.” It’s not fine. Believing lies can kill you.  And believe it or not, some people knowingly choose to believe lies.  2 Thessalonians 2, “...and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Satan is the father of lies. Perhaps one of his biggest is the lie that says we’re more compassionate if we’re more tolerant of other views, even if they’re in error. In reality, we’re not more compassionate, just more cowardly. It takes courage to share your faith. More courage than many people can muster. In our desire to not offend anyone, many Christians stand idly by as our friends and loved ones and acquaintances go happily through life, ignoring God and believing all is well. 

Parents often think it’s more “loving” to be non-judgmental, accepting and affirming when their children fall victim to the “woke mind virus” and  declare they’re now “homosexual” or “transgender.”  Or when they turn away from God and accept some weird “new age” form of false spirituality.  But Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but by Me.”  We could have told them the truth in love, but instead, we wanted them to like us.  It was more “tolerant” and “affirming” to let them believe whatever they believed and so many “love” them straight to hell.

But with so many religions in the world, how do we know that Christianity is the one true way to God? We need more than a trite, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” answer. Getting back to a point I made earlier, many people make broad sweeping assumptions about what the Bible says without ever reading it. 

These assumptions may come from vague childhood memories of a Sunday School class, things they inferred from Christians they’ve known in the past, ideas presented in a movie somewhere, or any number of other experiences that together formed their view of Christianity. But they’ve never really opened the Bible to read God’s Words for themselves.

This is dangerous. Because without a solid Bible education, you develop a worldview based on assumptions, with no real facts. It’s a foundation for life built on ignorance. In such a case, it’s easy to be deceived. And this deception has eternal consequences. In our modern world, it’s even easier to take the broad, easy path of not bothering to find out the truth, not even caring about spiritual, eternal things. And today, even if you go to church, you can’t rely on that alone for your Christian education. There are many deceivers, many compromisers — and Satan’s lies have infiltrated most modern American churches now.

The only way to discover the truth is to read and study the Bible for yourself. Don’t take anyone’s word for anything. And don’t assume you know the Bible if you’ve never — or rarely — opened one. There are many good resources available to aid your study and help strengthen your walk with the Lord, but there is no substitute for the Book He wrote Himself — and no other place to begin. 

Many who consider themselves “spiritual” will revere “ancient” books of wisdom of all kinds, yet despise and dismiss the most ancient of Books, the most reliable of Books, the most sacred and Holy of Books, with the most truth of any Book ever written.  Open God’s Word. Study it. It’s the history of the world, it’s the future of all life, and it contains the key to the Kingdom of God.  In this world of deception and lies, it’s the one thing we really can believe.

© 2024 Rob Pue, WISCONSIN CHRISTIAN NEWS, 225780 Rib Mountain Dr. # 229 • Wausau, WI  54401 (715) 486-8066, www.WisconsinChristianNews.com