It Is Not Enough

Today's average American is starving from Bible illiteracy. While more than 85% of us believe in an afterlife, most can't figure out how to get there. A couple of recent surveys point this out: In one survey, only 2 out of 10 people could correctly identify who delivered the Sermon on the Mount! In another, church members answering a simple quiz on Bible facts averaged only 40% correct answers. While many of us profess to be Christians, more and more of us are clearly non-practicing ones. It is apparent that most of us want to go to the good place after death, but we have no idea how to get there.

You might be surprised at what Americans think it takes to go to heaven. Some have concocted elaborate means and methods of getting there. Their doctrinal beliefs and practices seem to eliminate all from the running but themselves. On the other hand, getting to heaven is as easy as pie for most others: it merely takes American citizenship, or being religious, or being good and honest. However, the Bible - a book that recent surveys show fewer and fewer people read and know - says otherwise.

The Bible says that it is not enough to be an American. Nationality has nothing to do with inheriting eternal life with God. In fact, in America's increasingly secular society - bent on eliminating God from almost every facet of life - the claim doesn't even make sense anymore. How can we even contemplate God's welcoming arms at the pearly gates for a people who only invoke His name when faced with imminent danger ("Oh god!") or excitement ("Oh my god!")? Not so fast, fellow Americans.

It is not enough to be religious. The prevailing concept of God as a "Santa Claus in the sky" who exists to satiate man's materialistic desires is found nowhere in the Holy Scriptures, contrary to the preaching of multitudes of preachers all over our country. The book that fewer and fewer Americans read and know states that God wants a relationship with us, not based on spoiling us into being materialistic gluttons but in molding and making us into the image of His Son. He has given us free will to do as we please, but in a dying world that is distracted by the things that will rust and wear out, He calls us to something better -- something eternal. He wants us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly in His ways (Micah 6:8).

Finally, it is not enough to be good and honest. Honesty and moral goodness have come to be defined by our flawed, human comparisons of ourselves with each other. It is easy for us to say "I am better than Adolf Hitler!" But the book that very few read and practice clearly teaches that "none of us is good" (Luke 18:19) in comparison with a holy and righteous God. And after all, if we are to be admitted into heaven, it will be on His terms, and not on our own. Shouldn't we know what His terms are?

Do I have your attention now?! This post is not meant to be a discouragement. It's meant to be a wake-up call and an invitation. Check us out at the Open Door Church. We're engaged in re-establishing and practicing simple, uncomplicated Christianity as taught in the New Testament.

We read our Bibles. We know and acknowledge our failings but we've found a supernatural solution: God's inspired Word as our guide and His presence in our lives as a constant source of hope and help.

Simple New Testament Christianity is compelling because of its founder: Jesus, the Messiah. It is compelling because of its doctrine -- simple, obedient faith in the One who died for our sins and was raised for our hope. It is compelling because of its lifestyle: humble service to God and to our fellow man. Yes, it is counter-cultural, but oh so beneficial: IT IS ENOUGH. At the Open Door Church, we're out to make a difference.

Care to join us?