Its in the Book!
Interacting with some new friends, I've been given a few reasons to think about what's in "The Book". More correctly, I've been given some insights into how some people view what's in it. One person told me they were very interested in it - and that they realized that if you didn't think something was sin, then it wasn't.
It seems to me that The Book (I'm talking about the Bible here) is pretty clear on this - G-d says what is sin, not us. It's not up to us to say we think something is "ok" if the Bible clearly says it is "not ok".
At the same time, if someone doesn't know what's in The Book, then their concept of 'sin' is going to be different from someone who does know - but (and this is the hard part to swallow) that doesn't mean that its not sin and they they aren't accountable to G-d for it. It's still sin. Whether you or me or anyone else 'agrees' or 'thinks so', if G-d says it is a wrong thing, then it is a wrong thing.
But does this mean that those who have never heard, or don't know, and by this I mean genuinely don't know, not who know bu tfor this or that reason refuse to accept it because they don't 'agree' with it - does this mean they are bound for hell? Well, I think the truth is we are all bound for hell, and only one way to avoid that, and that remains the same for you, me, or the starving person in some for away land who never heard about this "Gospel". Is that harsh? Does that mean that the G-d I love is somehow cruel and unfair?
I don't think so. First of all, He makes the rules and decides what's fair, not me. Not you. Not the surpreme court. Not anyone or anything else. Just Him. But second of all, He is G-d. He can sort things out in ways we can't even imagine. If He really is who He said He was, then there's nothing keeping Him for sorting out a mans brief time on earth, and knowing that mans heart well enough to know everything he'd everdo, or decision he'd ever make if he _had_ heard or known. So how does this all play out in the functional? Is there some "second chance" for the lost person to hear and accept the Gospel after they die?
I doubt it. In fact, I think the Bible is pretty clear, once you die, if you rejected the Gospel prior, thats it. No second chance. But what it doesn't say is what happens if you _didn't_ reject it, but rather never heard it. Is the G-d I know loving, kind and just? He is. Does He love every person of this race of man He created (in His own image!) even though we are a disobedient and rebellious people? He does. So while He doesn't ever contradict Himself, and while I believe every thing He had written in His Book is true, I also believe there are things He knows that are not in that Book - things we in our finite minds could not begin to understand. And I don't see any reason why G-d, in His infinte wisdom and love, wouldn't have a plan for _all_ of His creation. In fact, I'm sure He does because He says He has known us all since before we were born.
Man has made a mess of this world. There's no denying that, and I think just about everyone would agree - things are a mess. Man's own inhumanity toward others is racing forward at a speed that is terrifying to think about. Depravity and wickedness flourish all over the earth. I can't blame G-d for that. In fact, its the willful absence of obedience to G-d that is at fault. We throw Him out, reject Him, and then wonder why life is like hell (and have the audacity to blame Him!).
But I digress. My new friend really gave me pause to think about sin, and how people view it. At the end of this thinking (and it is a lot of heavy thinking) I have come to the conclusion that sin is truly horrific, and that it separates us from G-d. And that makes me shake my head, because after all, that is what The Book said to begin with. Sin separated mankind from G-d. Christ came to reconcile man to G-d. How He goes about that thru all of time, and up to the time when He returns, and judgement - well, I think all things considered it is reasonable to leave that to Him. There are some things people just can't fully grok - even with all the knowledge, all the wisdom in the world, some things are beyond us.
"Who made the stars shine in the heavens, and the moon in the sky? Who commands their coming and going? Who makes the birds to fly, and the fish to swim, and takes pleasure and delight in His creation? It is the Lord God, the King of Israel, the wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty One. "