Why We Must Keep Digging

Todd Friel recently interviewed a man on Tuesday's podcast. He asked the pastor, "What do you believe the gospel is? This Reverend's answer:

The gospel, in my judgement, and of course, this is my thinking, is that Jesus Christ, sent by God, is and is the Way of salvation for us. For you, for me, for Christians.

He then went on to state that he does not believe the Bible to be literally accurate and trustworthy (which is certainly troubling). But consider his quote about the gospel. Should you be concerned? He says Jesus is "the Way of salvation." That means we can relax, doesn't it?

Well, Todd didn't relax. He later asked him, "Is salvation through Christ alone for all men, or is it just for Christians?" The answer:

Well, we who choose to be Christians are saved by our connection to and our acceptance of Christ.

Todd, trying to get to the bottom of things, interjects, "What about the Muslim?" The reverend's response:

I think there are other ways in which this can occur. (Todd: "So you are a universalist.) Well, I don't know about a universalist, but I certainly believe and I think it's clear that there are alternative ways to know God. (Todd: "Besides Jesus Christ?) Yes.

Todd regularly has a habit of digging further into the answers people give. But imagine what your thoughts may be if a person, let alone a pastor, were to tell you "Jesus Christ, sent by God, is the Way of salvation." Would you keep digging.

The reverend, was Reverend Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

We've got to dig deeper. We can't just accept that because a person uses Christian terms, or identifies with Christ, that they must be a Christian. There's too much at stake for assumptions.