“Yeah…but…what about those who’ve never heard?” A dialog.

Take a look. What do you think?

From the Cranky Xtn blog

Christian 1: “Yeah…but…what about all those people living in X that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”

Christian 2: “Yeah…what about them?”

Christian 1: “Is God really gonna damn them for eternity when they never were presented with the Gospel?”

Christian 2: “No. God is gonna damn them for eternity for their sin.”

Christian 1: “Yeah…but…is that fair? Is that just? Shouldn’t the people living in X at least be given the chance to hear the Gospel?”

Christian 2: “Yes. Have you bought your plane ticket to X?”

Christian 1: “No.”

Christian 2: “Neither have I. Practically speaking, that says nothing about the justice, fairness, and impartiality of God as a righteous judge…However, it does say a lot about you and I…”

Regarding the issue of the “un-evangelized”, I find it odd as a seminary student that this topic is always discussed in the abstract; in the confines of seminaries, churches, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and so forth. Scholars, pastors, students, and laypersons always have a curiosity about this issue and what its implications are about “God’s character” from every angle of the discussion. What is often lacking in the essays, the articles, the books, and the conversations on this issue is what it says about the believers having the discussion; in the confines of seminaries, churches, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and so forth.

This is not to say the issue should be of no interest of inquiry and discussion for Christians. Far from it. Nor am I going to give a detailed answer to the question of the “un-evangelized” except to say that I believe that unless one specifically repents and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no salvation for any person (the “exclusivism” position, as it is often called).

The only point here is that the discussion of the “un-evangelized” as is commonly framed is usually centered more about what we think of God and how He “deals with the issue”. This is regardless of where we come down on the issue and how we shake out His love, wrath, holiness, justice, mercy, etc. What I think is that this conversation needs to be more about how we “deal with the issue” of the “un-evangelized” in light of the calling and global mission of the church, and put the emphasis of this inquiry back onto our hearts as believers.

God Bless,

Again we are confronted with the responsibility of man vs. the sovereignty of God. How responsible are we to "spread" the gospel ... and if we don't ... then what?

xtnyoda, shalomed