Conversation with a Modern Galatian...

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." ~Galatians 1:6-7

False religion. I had a head-on confrontation with it today. This morning, I witnessed first-hand how small stragetically placed lies can take root and spread like cancer in a young man's mind to distort the pure Gospel of grace.

This morning I decided to go to the University of Texas at Tyler to get into conversations with students about their spiritual lives. I took a simple survey along with me that allowed me to start a discussion with them and to clearly see where they were at on their spiritual walk with God.

After walking around campus and praying that God would give me boldness to conquer the growing knot of anxiouty in my stomach, I noticed a young man sitting by himself at a table outside of some classrooms. Saying one last quick prayer, I approached him and asked if I could ask him a few questions. He said sure.

And for the next 20 minutes my heart ached as this young man named Matt spewed forth all of the deceptive lies he had confidently come to believe in about Christianity. Here's some ecerpts from our conversation...

Me: According to your understanding, how does one become a Christian?
Matt: There are a series of things you must do. The first thing is baptism. From then on, you have to attend church regularly and conduct a moral life...

Me: How would you answer this essay question: "Why should I be let into Heaven?"
Matt: That's simple. If a person follows the commandments, sets an example of being a good & righteous person, and does good things with the right mindset, God surely must allow him into Heaven.
Me: So how good is good enough? Is their a universal standard of "goodness" a person must live up to?
Matt: No, God places people in different situations. There is no universal standard of "goodness". You have to live up to your own potential in the situations given to you to be good enough.

There was no rattling him from what he believed. No amount of clarifying questions could shake him from moral perch he placed himself on. He had bought into the classical misconception that in order to go to Heaven, a person must do a lot of good things. It was heart wrenching to listen to...even more so to see that he wanted nothing to do with hearing about God's grace...

A speck of arsenic in a otherwise life-giving glass of water would make it deadly poisonous. So it is when the Gospel of grace is polluted with notions of "good works for salvation." Such malignant lies cause people to become today's "moral pharisees" that are blind to God's offer of grace.

My heart grieved for Matt as we concluded the survey and departed from each other. As I walked away, I prayed that God would somehow touch his heart and untangle the mess of lies he had gotten himself into.

The Enemy will throw a lot of lies at us. Let us never stray from grace...