The Thief

Quietly, stealthily an old thief has crept in to the lives of most evangelical believers. This is not his first attempt to rob the church. In the past he has had limited success, but he is patient. He is content to steal a little at a time, for he knows that in the long run his success will spell the death of evangelism in the church and more importantly to him, eternity in Hell for his many victims. Who, you may ask is this old thief?

He goes by many names: Some call his compassion - what has commonly been called the "loving God" syndrome; some prefer to call him tolerance in the name of anti-bigotry, anti-closed mindedness; others mask him in nationalism. His true identity has always had one doctrine at its core: the doctrine of universalism.

Universalism has been historically referred to as apokatastasis or final salvation. From the early Greek church fathers, Clement of Alexandria and his student Origen, to the twentieth century in Clarence Skinner and to a lesser degree Karl Barth this doctrine that teaches ultimately there is universal salvation to all people, has found a home in some students of Theology. The fact that it is implied by the more "tolerant" leaders of more liberal denominations does not bother the author.

When faced with the statistics of evangelism for Southern Baptist Churches that range from it taking anywhere from 45 to 30 Baptists to baptize one convert, the questions begin to rise. Why can't 15 + million Southern Baptists baptize one million converts? Is it because the times are so rough that we can't reach a cynical generation with an old fashioned Gospel? Tell that to FBC Jacksonville and the Saddleback Community Church in California. These and other churches are reaching their respective communities. Is it because we are apathetic and don't really care that people are dying and going to Hell around us? The argument that we are living in the Laodicean Church age will find no opponent here. But I believe it goes to a much simpler explanation.

We have allowed that old thief to creep in. So we go to the funeral home and agree that the deceased, who in many instances never darkened the door of God's house, is now "better off". We listen as our President tells us that some military group that died in a plane crash are now "at rest." We allow our family to attend churches that teach a false doctrine on salvation because "some religion is better than none at all." At the risk of sounding hard and realizing there is a time and place to correct error, we need to recapture the early church’s understanding that every individual who dies without Christ is going to be eternally separated from God in a literal burning Lake of Fire.

The answer to defeating Universalism is not new. We must expose the error in love and not give ground. It will cost us some friends who perceive us to be bigoted and intolerant, but it may very well burn deep into our hearts the need for going and telling the good news that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

[Dr. J. R. Hume is pastor of Timber Ridge Baptist Church, Bedford.]