Best bet or not?

I really enjoy when people give me feedback on any of my blogs, especially when they disagree. I always a love a good conversation where opposing views can get expressed. I did get a good response from my last post. I guess one of the things I want to avoid in approaching my "religion" or my pursuit of Christ is this post-modern mindset of "spirituality", which seems to transmute any belief system into some sort of journey wherein you are transformed into a better man. I think the danger is wherein my relationship with Christ suddenly becomes about me being a better man. The reality is that should be a result of my relationship and belief in Christ, not a purpose or goal. And I do think that most people would agree with me, but the emphasis in their mind still is skewed.

Christ came to reconcile man to himself, not to make man better. There is a heretical view being propogated of late that emphasizes Christ's example. The danger is it makes light of the cross and the resurrection. This view says that Christ came to show us a new way to live, and it is his example we must follow. We must believe in what he believed in.

But Paul saw things differently. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then our faith is useless, and we are still in our sins. Paul concludes by saying that if we can only hope in Christ in this life, then we are the most miserable people in the world.

So if you like to think of Christianity as your "best bet" for this life, we may have to agree to disagree. For I fear that puts us too much in the drivers seat: let us evaluate all belief systems and what they offer, let us make what we seems to be the best choice. What if it doesn't deliver up to our expectations. What if we wake up one morning and realized the depravity of our sins, and that there is nothing we can do to change who we are?

I see Christ as the answer to that last question. For I am depraved, and my sins are many and deep. I have been estranged from God. But there is Christ, and in him alone do I trust. For it was he who died to reconcile me to God, not that I might live better, but that I might draw near to God and worship as I should (see the entire book of Hebrews).