A little while back I saw a church sign that said, “Not to think alike, but to walk together.” I’m not sure what that really means, but my best guess is that they are saying, we love you, we accept you just as you are. Come on in and join us. We don’t care what you believe, we are all on our own spiritual journey. It doesn’t matter if we believe the same thing or not. In other words, anything goes. The important thing is to be together, love each other and accept each other. We don’t judge anyone.
Let’s test this theory. I’m a God fearing, Bible believing, sinner saved by grace. I’m a Christian. I know that I am a sinner who was bound for Hell except for the mercy and grace of Almighty God, who opened my blind spiritual eyes and saved me through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God showed me through reading the Bible that I needed to repent and put my faith in Jesus (Acts 20:21). You on the other hand are a Universalist. You believe God is love (which He is), you believe God is whatever you think He is (which He is not), God accepts everyone as they are (God meets people where they are, He doesn’t want them to stay in their sins), you go more by gut feelings than what the Bible says. You think the Bible has some good points (like the golden rule), but you aren’t sure it is all real or really matters. You believe you can pick and choose out of the Bible what you want to believe.
In the previous paragraph I described two totally different people. According to the Universalist, it’s alright that we don’t agree (although for some reason they usually vehemently oppose Christian’s such as myself) as long as we journey together. So let’s say we are walking down the road together. Debating our spiritual beliefs. We are so engrossed in our conversation that we both walk right off a 5,000 foot cliff together – at the same time! Do you see how walking together wouldn’t really matter that much in this example? We both walked together and talked together right over a cliff to our deaths!
Now let’s look at a second example involving the same two people. The only difference is that myself – the born again Christian, has spent most of my life running away from God. I had already been down the path and just as I had one foot over the edge, God in his infinite mercy and grace, rescued me. He saved me. So the difference this time is that instead of walking together down this perilous path, this time around I am following the Universalist, trying desperately to reason with him, grabbing him by the arm, pleading with him to turn around. I’ve been down this path. It is dangerous. It doesn’t end well. You need to stop! Turn around and go the other direction.
This is exactly why I share my faith with others. I walked down the wrong path for 44 years of my life and then God graciously saved me. I realized through reading the Bible that anything does not go. I was always taught that God is love. This is true and biblical. But many people mistakenly think that God being love means that He will accept everyone after they die with open arms. That God is full of so much love that He would never send anyone to Hell. In fact, a lot of people have convinced themselves that Hell doesn’t exist.
That’s not what the Bible says. Jesus spoke about Hell…a lot. Jesus warned people that it is not a pleasant place (Luke 13:27-28). Jesus lovingly told people about the reality of Hell. Jesus also told several parables that showed who would end up in Hell and it is the wicked, the unrighteous, the law breakers (Matthew 25:30, 41, 46). By mentioning lawbreakers, that tells us that there must be a law; and that law, God’s Law, is the 10 Commandments (Romans 7:7). None of us can measure up to this lofty standard.
But Jesus did keep the Law, physically and spiritually. Jesus never sinned and He never had any impure thoughts. He also suffered and died on the cross for guilty sinners. God requires us to accept this amazing gift by repenting – turning away from our sins and putting our trust in Jesus – and in Him alone. Nothing else. No other works required.
Accepting the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the most important thing. It’s more important than walking together. Being right with God is so much more important than being accepted by man. Thinking alike on the essentials of salvation is of utmost importance. We can disagree on the secondary issues, but on salvation, there is only one Savior, there is only one Way and that Way is Jesus. You have to turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus the Christ – surrender your will to Him. Warning people of the day of judgment, the day of wrath is so much more important than walking together. Two (spiritually) blind men walking together will lead each other the wrong way. Repent and believe the Gospel – then walk with God.