Even in high school I had unbelieving friends who probably had better morals than I did. They were more mature and could handle situations with more peace than I could ever dream of. My conclusion, as a Christian, was that these people definitely did not need belief in the righteous and justice loving God because they had mastered a lot of good qualities that God had to teach me. Besides, they were not evil as far as I could tell.
This issue comes up where we see the most well meaning, best behaved non believers and we think that they don't need to have faith because some other righteous lightning bolt has hit them. Doesn't Jesus say that the work of his followers will show when they bear fruit? Where is their fruit coming from?
But I think we are missing the elephant in the room!
The problem: It is so much easier to share our faith with someone when we know they are hurting, lost or broken. Brokenness comes from the inability to live in this life and feel fulfilled. When someone who hasn't professed to Christ's global salvation plan has the appearance of healthiness, fulfillment and good habits we think they have no reason to consider salvation. In fact, telling them that the soul is dirty and sinful is laughable. Like trying to tell someone in a pool that they are on fire.
Still, I think we are missing the largest piece of the puzzle. In jigsaw terminology this is like the edge pieces.
Imagine a child who ran away from home. He rejected his parents and decided to live in an alley. The bad news is that he is estranged from his true parents. The good news is that he has some of the best manners in the alley. He is hopeful that the alley life will be fulfilling, he is kind to the other homeless people and he keeps himself busy with some side jobs. At times his parents will send their son to convince him to go back to the house. He will politely turn down the offer (learning politeness from his parents) and explain that he has everything where he is. Meanwhile the son will go back to the house and explain to mom and dad that the child still does not believe that he is part of the family. Or worse, he thinks he is home and that nothing else is better.
Christianity's greatest foundation is based on what God calls us.
1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
Eph 1:4-5 Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ.
Good habits, a loving demeanor and a strong moral compass is nice to have. It doesn't disprove our need for Jesus it only serves to tell us that God's reign can be caught by anyone. The ice cream of this theology sundae is that God transfers a life of absence from his presence with a solution that brings us back into his family. Through this saving act alone on the part of Christ, God can develop relationships with moralists and immature sinners alike.
As C.S. Lewis explains, Christianity does not make the horse run faster and jump higher. Christianity teaches the horse to fly.
Here's some questions to consider:
1. Is it really fruitless to share your faith with people who have no need for Christ's offer? Are they whole and complete or is that just what it seems on the outside?
2. How important is it to you that people hear who their real father is and what he did to restore us?
