Cafeteria Christianity

I was watching the 20/20 segment on hell the other night. I was most amazed at the preacher who was surprised his congregation dropped from 6,000 to 300 when he abandoned hell. He sounded like he truly believes he had this epiphany about hell being on earth, changed his core belief, and was surprised others didn’t follow him.

In a recent conversation with a friend, we started talking about how people in general like to pick and choose what they want to follow in the Bible. We may put it under the guise of our “gifts” or our “calling.” But in reality there are some things that are for everyone.

Let’s start with salvation. If we believe that everyone needs it, what do they need to be saved from? If hell is on earth, and there is no escape from that other than death, and suicide is wrong, what exactly do we need to be saved from?

Ok, let’s say we agree on the salvation thing. What about the “going” thing mentioned in Matthew 28, also known as the Great Commission. I know, I know, Jesus was talking to the disciples, but do you honestly believe He meant only preachers are supposed to share the Gospel and teach? An interesting comment from the 20/20 segment was that if someone really believes in hell, they’d be motivated to share that belief with everyone...to make sure no one went there.

I accept that I’m not convincing everyone reading this that we are all called to “go,” but I am constantly amused at the attitude that children need church and to learn the Ten Commandments, etc. Why would adults no longer need church? Or better yet, why does God not need our worship during the summer months, or vacation, or holidays? Sounds like our faith is more convenient for us than consistent for God.

Yep, it sounds to me like we want to pick and choose what parts of the Bible we believe, which ‘rules’ we want to keep, and how much we’re willing to do. Sounds like we’re living our faith cafeteria style. The interesting thing is that the price was the same for each of us, no matter how much of it we want. Why not experience the entire meal!