God will save everyone...

This is something that I have always believed to be a possibility. Despite what my upbringing in evangelical Christian circles has taught me. Despite the idea we all have of perfect justice that punishes the wicked for their heinous deeds. Despite the popular idea that when you die you're SOL if you haven't signed off on your one way ticket to Heaven by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.
Deep down I have always wondered just how far the love of God will go. If I am to believe that God is all knowing and all powerful, and that His will is for no person to perish, and that according to the Bible, in the end, God's will shall prevail, how can I dismiss the possibility that God would reach into the eternal and rescue ALL of His kids?

I've never been one to swallow what I am told without question. In fact many know me to press the envelope and question even what Scripture says. I have never been of the camp that takes every word in the Bible as my authority. If I did that I would have slaves, never speak, never set foot inside the sanctuary of a church and would be forced to turn my back on people I considered 'unclean'...You see, it is impossible to read the Bible this way...You always have to run apologetics for those things that are obviously contrary to what we know to be the way that Jesus taught. It usually comes in the form of 'it was a cultural thing' or 'well, that was Old Testament'...Yet, even the New Testament has some pretty awful things in it. Even the New Testament says that women are little more than property. I either subscribe totally or I look at Scripture as the inerrant MESSAGE of God (rather than inerrant in every detail of the stories of God's interactions with His creation). The inerrant message is that God IS LOVE. And that he loves all of us equally and that 2000 years ago He stepped in and did something that would eventually lead to his dream of reconciliation. Somehow I'm positive that what Jesus meant to create when He died, rose again, and sent his disciples out to share His message with the world was NOT another religion of "do this if you want the favor of God" and close-minded bigotry toward those that didn't kowtow to the system.

I also find it interesting that by and large, the people who were burned at the stake as heretics or teachers of 'false doctrine' were ones who dared to speak of this overpowering love. "Christians" killed others who spoke of God's love. Does this sound like the work of God? To me it sounds like the devil trying to shut the mouths of people who spoke a message that spells his end.

There is something that has occurred to me more than once that I have been too cowardly to say but now I will because I have learned I am not alone. I was taught that God will NEVER violate his 'word'...So the way you check out a word that you believe you have received from God is to make sure that the Bible doesn't forbid it. Well, um...If Peter had done that when he received a vision and words from God saying that it was OK to eat 'unkosher' meat, then gentiles would still be left in the cold. Because according to the only Scriptures Peter had to go by at the time, this was absolutely against the way of God. Remember, Peter did not have the gospels and Acts, letters from Paul or anything else...He was LIVING them - and God was surprising the crap out of them at every turn. Another thing I have noticed is that the book of Revelation is the ONLY book that states that no word of it can be changed. So where did the notion come from that we are to bow down to every word written in the canon even if it violates the character of God?

Please don't hear me say that I do not respect the Bible as the Holy Scriptures of my faith. I love the Bible, I love its message and the stories and the way that it points to a loving and amazing Creator and Savior. I have been comforted by it, God has given me wisdom from it, and I have been grown by the message it speaks loud and clear. But I never want to rely on a book that the early followers of Christ didn't have over the leading of the Spirit that they DID have (thank you, Kris Valloton for articulating this point so well).

Having said all this, I recently was given the title of a book that many in mainstream Christian circles might find offensive but which I discovered says many things that I have wondered and thought about over the years. It is called If Grace is True. It is written by two Quaker ministers who believe in the complete and scandalous grace of a Loving Heavenly Father who will stop at nothing - not even death - to bring ALL of His children to salvation. I read this book with eagerness to know I was not alone in my crazy thinking. I was largely satisfied. Where these authors go that I will not go with them is in the idea that Jesus did not necessarily have to be God and man...I wholeheartedly disagree and I don't believe that you have to strip Jesus of His divinity in order to make the argument that God's love will never fail any of us. I have no interest in joining a Quaker church or a universalist church (apparently that is the name of those who believe in a universal salvation of all people). I guess what I am learning is that I will never be able to fit myself into a neat little God box. I have been across the map in churches. I am simply a lover and follower of Jesus. Whatever that means. I have personally found the most comfortable home in the Vineyard clan. But even there I disagree with some of the theology taught, especially when it comes to the roles of men and women in the Kingdom. I will never agree with everyone. And that, I am finding, is just fine. Siblings very rarely agree on all things. It is how we honor one another and love one another despite those differences that matter.

Where I think most of us agree is that life here and now is much more blessed and beautiful with Jesus in it. And sharing that love with the world is a noble cause. It is one I plan to be a part of til my last breath. But if we don't reach them all, it's OK...My Papa promises that one day He will wipe every tear from EVERY face and that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus. He will do it...Somehow...Some way...

That's just how my Daddy is...