quest

Romans 1:28-32
Matthew 17:1-13
Matthew 16:1-16 

“I don’t really believe in any certain thing. 
But I’m a pretty good person, and that’s good enough for me.” 

If you’ve ever encountered this line of thinking, you’ve likely met a Universal Unitarian, whether they even realized it or not.  

Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion characterized by a ‘free and responsible search for truth and meaning.’  

1) They assert no creed.
2) They hold to a 7-principle system for those in their community, but they consider it a “guide” rather than a “doctrine”.
3) Some believe in “a god”, but they are “openly revising their view on god as they learn and grow in their own lives.”
4) Their unity comes from a shared search for spiritual growth as they include congregants of various religious backgrounds including, atheists, agnostics, deists, Jews, Muslims, Daoist, Buddhists and many more others.
It’s a quest for truth, but without a measuring stick for what actually is true.  

Jesus? 
With such a strong core value of searching for truth, while, at the same time, necessitating that all views be accepted equally, the biblical view of Jesus is too intense. A universalist will gladly welcome conversation with you, but will maintain
Jesus was nothing more than a great prophet and teacher. 
He most certainly was not divine; He definitely is not the Son of God.

Many view Jesus as someone on an “All-Star” cast of teachers that has transcended through time, but acknowledging that Jesus could be the very Son of God would challenge their entire belief system. From a Universalist perspective, Jesus serves no other purpose aside from feeding the hungry and clothing the poor.

Trinity?
Unitarians entirely reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Which is understandable if your foremost value of self-knowledge is jeopardized by an all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful three-in-one God who Himself contains the fullness of truth and life and has created life as an overflow of His love that they might come to know and understand the fullness of His love.  

Life After Death?
When it comes to an afterlife, Unitarian’s believe that all roads lead to heaven.
They strongly promote universal atonement, meaning that there is no “divine judgement after death”, but if you happen to believe there is judgement, they won’t reject you from their community. This theory of universal pardon maintains that God, if there is a God, will not hold unswervingly to the conditions He has (presumably) laid down for righteousness. While He has threatened eternal condemnation for all those who do not accept Him, He will in the end relent and forgive everyone.
But, if even the existence of God is hazy, there can’t really be much hope for an afterlife can there? 

A Unitarian website is quoted as saying,
“Why does life exist as we know it?” and “What happens after we die?” 
Unitarian Universalism won’t promise you ironclad answers to these questions.”
I don’t know about you, but that theology doesn’t seem nearly strong enough to support my eternity. 

Be that as it may, I can see how Unitarianism would be appealing in today’s society.
We live in a day and age where people crave control,
and want to manifest their own destiny.
Many people we come in contact with in our everyday lives have a belief system made up of personal experiences and in turn, handcraft their own religion from those experiences.
A quest for truth, waiting for something substantial, but does it even exist? 

Is being good really enough?  

Do all roads really lead to Heaven?  

Does the Trinity actually exist?
Was Jesus just part of an ‘All-Star’ cast as a glorified humanitarian? 

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
Even the best person among us falls, perpetually short of God’s holiness. 
God’s standard is absolute perfect righteousness.
No person ever has, or ever will, meet that except for one…..Jesus.  

Just one act of disobedience in an otherwise ‘good’ life, is all it takes to be found guilty and worthy of punishment in the eyes of God.
He is a holy God. Flawless. He cannot be in the presence of sin.  

But Hope!
“But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
God’s forgiveness depends on faith and trust in Jesus, not on us or our works. 
Jesus alone earned it for us.  

In a previous Journey Study, I wrote:
“Jesus is both tolerant and intolerant;
utterly exclusive and wholly inclusive. 
He made it plain and simple in Scripture:
“No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
There are no other “gods” (Buddha, Gandhi, Muhammad..),
simply, only, Jesus.
Because He alone is able to save and stand in the gap and take our punishment for sin.
Jesus Christ lived the human life flawlessly in our place, being fully God, yet becoming fully human,
He alone could bear the full measure of God’s wrath upon Himself.” 

The idea that Jesus was just part of an ‘all-star’ cast couldn’t be more flawed.
You see, without Jesus, it would be impossible to have a relationship with God! 

The Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) has eternally existed. Complete. Fully in community with one another. One does not exist without the other.

If you’re on a quest for truth, of if you have the opportunity to connect with someone who is, Solid Truth is available.
No, we aren’t “good enough”.
But Praise God, there’s One who is, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Don’t shy away from sharing the Hope we have.
It isn’t hazy or uncertain, it’s true. 

Hungry for more on what we believe as Christ-followers and how to share it?
We spent an entire Journey Theme on Creed.  

We’d love to continue this dialog in the comments or through e-mail – reach out!   

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