later I became a Deacon, yes me, a Deacon. And I have even published a few religious books. The most popular of those was “Betting on God,” which I will get to in a minute.
Now you may think that my path to God was unique, but besides my trip into the future, it's not. Saint Augustine, bishop of Hippo, left the Christian church in his teens because he deemed it filled with incredulous stories, only to return to the church and become arguably one of its most important theologians. C.S Lewis and Francis Collins were both atheists before their own quests led them to Christianity. There are countless other examples. As I said mine, minus the time travel, is not unique.
Anyway, even with the medical advances of the past decades, I feel the years weighing heavily on me. So, while my wits are still good, I wanted to record one more journal entry for my future descendants.
With there being such a gap between my last journal entry, I feel the need to provide a high level recap of what has been going on with Christianity over the last 70 years. And let me just say, it has been a remarkable time to be alive and to be part of it. As Phyllis Tickle wrote in her book, “The Great Emergence, How Christianity is changing and why?” Christianity goes through a major evolution/revolution every 500 years or so. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century was one of those periods.
So, how has Christianity changed? Well, in short, we left the Theological Dark Ages behind and entered into a new age of theological enlightenment. Thanks to books by Francis Collins and several others, a dialogue emerged, and a literal interpretation of Genesis was eventually abandon by the majority of Christians, leading to a renewed emphasis on understanding God's universe through science. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
Probably the most significant change has been a renewed emphasis on Jesus' last commandment to his disciples:
“And now I give you a new commandment: love another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John (13:34-35)
Love, not judge, condemn, scold, shun, isolate, ex-communicate or avoid. Just love one another – it is such a simple, yet profound commandment. Christians are called to be beacons of Christ's light, His love, to the rest of the world, but that purpose had gotten lost over the ages. At the dawn of the 21st century, Christianity had become known more for what it was supposedly against (anti-science, anti-gay and etc.), than what it was for. Thankfully that has changed.
The movement that would ultimately change this perception was small at first, but gradually grew and grew. In fact, it really started as two separate movements that would eventually become one. The movements were commonly referred to as “Show Them” and “Shine for Them.”
The “Show Them” movement, was basically just leading by example. By the end of the 20th century, society had grown cynical over the hypocrisy practiced by many of its political, social and religious leaders. Mankind was looking for people who led by example. For Christian's that meant not just going to church every week, or just believing that Jesus was the son of God. It meant being compassionate, charitable, forgiving, understanding and of course loving. Or to put it a different way, being Christ's light in the world.
So a movement started which challenged all Christians to ask themselves this question – were you a beacon of Christ's light today? Now this didn't mean standing on a street corner with a megaphone reciting verses from the Bible. It meant treating the people who you met in your everyday life, from strangers to your family and friends, with love, understanding and compassion. It is amazing how a simple question like that can have a tremendous impact on a person's outlook, and how they treat others. It eventually became a common chant for almost every denomination, from Catholicism to Baptist, from Mormons to Methodists. Were you a beacon of God's love today?
The other movement, “Shine for Them,” began in some of the non-denominational Christian churches, and eventually spread to the mainstream ones as well. The movement was a shift in tactics from spreading the good news to individuals, and getting them “Saved”, to focusing on how to “Save” one's communities. Sure, reaching one person at a time had been the standard approach for spreading Christ's message of love and hope since the beginning of Christianity, and that was still very important. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, Christianity has been the world's largest religion for over 1,000 years. Its message, especially in the industrial nations, had become so well known that it was starting to lose its ability to attract people to it. And the Churches many contributions to society were often overlooked. For example, churches in America were doing more to house and feed the homeless than the Federal, State and Local governments combined. And that was, and is an important ministry, but unless you were homeless or went to a PADS participating church, you probably weren't even aware of it.
So this new movement, “Shine for Them,” focused on new ministries that were aimed at improving and enriching the community. These ministries ranged from civic improvement projects, to sponsoring city festivals. Regardless of the activity, whether it was a food drive or a concert in the park, the program was aimed outside the four walls of the church, and all were invited, all were welcome.
In most cases, several churches in a community would work together with the local governments and schools. The goal of these programs was simple, improve/enrich the community, and be a shining example of God's love. It was a no-strings-attached approach, with the simple hope that if you get people to show up, then some of them may feel the call, the It, and want more. And if not, worse case, you are still making your community a better place to live.
The impact of these programs was amazing. Churches were re-energized, attendance went through the roof, but more importantly communities were made better – cleaner, safer, more open, and more loving. Like I said, it was amazing. At the same time it really wasn't surprising. Making the world a better place, or as some call it – Making Heaven on Earth, is really what we are called to do. God gave us all the tools to do it, we just need to act.
I am happy to say that I, and my whole family, were active participants in these programs, and as much as we gave, we have received tenfold in return. However, what I am semi-famous for is my book, “Betting on God.”
Now when the Professor told me they couldn't go into a lot of details about the whole “Heaven and Hell” question, I would have never guessed that was because I was destined to write a book on the subject. Me, not only a Deacon, but a Christian author.
Anyway, I was inspired to write this book after I read Rob Bell's book, “Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.” Which is a really thought provoking book, that I highly recommend reading. Now, when I say I was inspired to write my book after reading Rob Bell's book, that isn't really accurate. I should say that I was inspired to write my book after I read a number of Christian groups criticizing Rob's book, which were pretty much accusing him of heresy.
Now do I agree with everything that Rob wrote in his book? No, but I do agree with him that God is everywhere, He has a plan for everyone, and that God wants to save everyone. And I mean everyone, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists, Cub fans – everyone.
Now some would say that God just can’t save us, we have to want to be saved – God has given everyone that right, that choice. And to that I say yes, you are undoubtedly correct. But God is not a finite being like we are. He is infinite, with unlimited time and ways to achieve His goals. He is everywhere and His silent call is going out to everyone.
So for those people out there who believe that the nice Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic or Atheist family in their neighborhood, who are outgoing, loving and doing everything that Jesus wants them to do, aren't going to Heaven because they haven't formally recognized Christ as their savior. Well, you could be right, I don't know – no one does. But me personally, I think they will, because
just like in the parable of the Good Samaritan, those loving, caring, forgiving, charitable non-Christians in the world are doing God's will. They are listening to Christ's silent call to make the world a better place. Or to put it a different way, even though they don't know it, they have Christ in their hearts. And just like the priest and Levite in the parable, there are many people who call themselves Christians who do not. So, who do you think God will welcome into his Kingdom? The people who profess to believe, but don't do His will, or the people who profess to believe something else, but do?
For me, I believe with every fiber of my being that it is not what you say, but what you do that's important. And I believe that God wants everyone to be with Him, has a plan for everyone to be saved, and will not give up on anyone easily. And will He really do it? Will God save everyone? I don't know. People still have free will, so maybe some will choose not to receive God's grace. But if I had to wager on it, well – I'm betting on God!
And that is a quick synopsis of my book, and quick recap of what I, and Christianity, have been up to over the last seventy years. Like I said, it has been an amazing