This bonus message in the Problem of God series was preached in the 6:00 PM Sunday evening service.Find all the messages from this series here: http://www.faithinchandler.com/theproblemofgod/

Find the notes, video, and audio for this message at:http://www.faithinchandler.com/theproblemofgod/the-problem-of-exclusivity/

There was some really tragic news this past February.

 

JNCO Jeans are going out of business.

If you don’t remember JNCO, let me show you a picture of the jeans they were known for…

 

These were a hit in the late 90’s.

 

They were a fad, honestly I was amazed to learn that they were still in business. When I heard they were going out of business I was actually pretty impressed they had hung around this long.

 

These were a fad, much like the jeans or pants that some of you that are more experienced might remember- Bell Bottoms.

 

What’s funny about Bell Bottoms is that the first time I ever saw a a pair of Bell Bottoms was when I was kid watching star trek with my dad- It was a star trek that had been made in late 60’s and early 70’s and the show portrayed someone hundreds of years in the future wearing bell bottoms.

 

Everyone thinks that what is popular when your young will be popular forever, but trend come and go. 

This is especially true in fashion, but it is true in all facets of life.

The cultural moment that we are living in right now has trends in thought. The trend right now is radical inclusiveness. 

 

This trend is no doubt in response the discrimination, racism, repression, and abuse of authority that we experienced in the “modern” age, so post modernity is swinging like a pendulum to the other extreme.

 

In an age of extreme inclusiveness or “metaphysical pluralism” the exclusive claims of Christianity are problematic for many people.

It’s seen as out of step with culture- it’s like wearing a pair of JNCO jeans today- it seems out of place.

 

Christianity makes many exclusive claims, and for many people who like Jesus, they think his teaching is helpful, and they would like to follow him, they hesitate because of the exclusive claims…

I’m not going to pull any punches, Jesus is incredibly exclusive.

Let me read you some of the most exclusive words Jesus said.

 

John 14

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

 

 

 

There are many people who view Christianity as bigoted, religiously racist, and culturally intolerant.

 

In a poll done by Maclean’s magazine in Canada published that 30% of Canadians were “most uncomfortable” around evangelical Christians, which is close to the figures they found for drug addicts and child abusers.

 

Our culture influences us. The current cultural trend is toward the extreme inclusivity which says that all religions are true, and the overwhelming impression is that Evangelical Christians are exclusive and therefore not tolerant.

 

Christianity is not the only religion that is exclusive.

Muslims don’t think that I’m going to heaven.

Mormons don’t believe I’m going to heaven.

Hindus don’t think I’m going to heaven.

Buddhism is considered to be the most inclusive religion, but it split away from Hinduism and rejected major tenets of Hinduism and established it’s own monks and belief system.

Buddhism couldn’t abide with Hinduism so it established it’s own path…

 

Lack of religion doesn’t lead toward inclusivity either…

 

The original title of Charles Darwin’s book was 

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.

 

“Man scans with scrupulous care the cha

Here’s a typical scenario that plays out at our house.

I’m asleep and Nicole says to me, did you hear that noise? What was that?

 

Now when we were first married I’d spring out of bed and go see.

Now I respond with, “huh? I didn’t hear anything. You’re hearing things…” If she persists then I’ll say, “It’s nothing.”

 

Why? Because I’m tired and I’m half asleep.

 

Somewhere in between the beginning when I’d go check like some kind of ninja and now where I basically just roll over and fall back into sleep, Nicole woke me up because she heard a noise and had me go check. I was so out of it, but I went stumbling down the hallway, and some point between the bedroom and the kitchen I dozed and woke up- something happened and when I got to the kitchen I thought I had gotten up to get a midnight snack…

Soooo instead of checking for bad guys I started making a snack.

 

A few minutes later Nicole comes inching down the hallway…. whispering, Daniel? Daniel?

She’s been back in the bedroom terrified that I didn’t come back, thinking there really were bad guys…

She comes into the kitchen to find me eating a snack, and I ‘m so out of it that I don’t even think anything of it, 

I’m like, “oh hey!” She’s like “really!?”

We say, oh it’s nothing because we’re tired, we’re sleepy, or we’re comfortable where we are at and we don’t want to mess with that, but we all know that it’s not nothing. 

It’s something. It may not be a thief, but it is something. 

 

This morning I want to tell you that I’m afraid we don’t like to wrestle with the Problem of God because we are comfortable with where we are at, and we really don’t want to mess with where we are at, the way that we live, the things that we do, etc. 

 

So we look at the big questions of life, we look at this spectacular world around us and we say, “yeah, it’s nothing.” If you’re here this morning, I’d bet that you have some desire, some curiosity about is this something? Is there something more? Is there someone there?

 

So I appreciate you taking the time to join us this morning, I’m thankful your listening in or watching online…

 

We’re calling this series The Problem of God because it’s inspired by a book of the same title written by Mark Clark.

Mark Clark grew up in an atheist home.

His father was so anti-christianity that when Mark’s older brother was born and their mother wanted to name him Matthew, their father insisted they spell it with only one “T” to make it clear that he wasn’t named after the book in the Bible. When their second son was born he apparently didn’t know about the next book in the New Testament because he did not protest the name Mark at all.

 

Mark’s parents divorced when he was 9 and a short time after that he developed serious OCD and Tourette’s syndrome. 

He would smack his face compulsively because ehe was convinced bad things might happen if he didn’t. As his Tourette’s developed, he would yell out every so often without thinking. Often he would yell the F word. When he got into high school his father died of lung cancer and he hand not told his family he was sick, so they didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

 

Mark says he stood at the funeral and wondered what this all meant, what life really was, and if his father was still out there.

He answered these questions by turning to drugs and then stealing from people to pay for his drugs.

 

Then something remarkable happened. A guy he knew in school who was a drug dealer suddenly was completely different and he told Mark it was because of Jesus. He challenged Mark to check it out for himself. So he did. He started reading up on science and philosophy and he came to the conclusion that there was not only a God, but that God had revealed Himself in the person of Jesus.

 

Now, this pothead who compulsively yelled the F word and smacked his face leads one of the fastest growing churches in British Columbia. He no longer yells the F word.

 

Mark says that one of the biggest break throughs for him was when he r

Find the notes for this message here: http://www.faithinchandler.com/pagan-believers-religious-doubters/

Find video and full sermon notes for this message here: http://www.faithinchandler.com/jonah/jonah-worst-prophet-ever/