Pimping Jesus

I just came across this post today. It caught my attention!

I was standing before 200 people at church when I said it: “Salvation is not a walk down the aisle, a prayer, and wham bam, thank you ma’am, you’re done.” Jaws dropped; some faces turned white; some turned red. I was clueless, so I just kept teaching. It turns out that the phrase, “wham bam, thank you ma’am,” meant something different to me than it did to the rest of the world. Afterward some of my listeners enlightened me. I was embarrassed. I didn’t intend to equate one’s conversion experience to some sort of sexual encounter in the red light district.

Over the last few years, I have pondered the statement, and despite the fact that I originally meant nothing so profound, I believe the statement to be true—we are tempted to turn conversion into something of an act of prostitution. We are the consumers, and we might as well say it—we’ve turned Jesus’ invitation into a seductive, greasy, trick-turning lifestyle. Doesn’t that make your blood boil?
_{[read the rest at Out of Ur: Pimping Jesus : Consumerism and the red-light gospel]}

One of the problems I have had with many once-saved-always-saved proponents is that to them, all you have to do is ask Jesus into your heart and you will be saved forever – nothing else to do. There are many of those who believe in the existence of so-called “carnal Christians”. Someone who is “saved” but lives a life of unrepentant sin. “Sure”, they say, “they will still go to heaven but they just won’t enjoy as many rewards”. I have had long, long discussions with people who believe this. It saddens me. That theology, to me, cheapens the gospel of Christ. It cheapens the sacrifice He made for our sins.

Another theology that has saddened me is the thought that there are different ways to come to God. Someone close to me said that although he chose Jesus as his path to God, he believes that other ways (Buddha, Mohammad etc) are valid belief systems and those choices are just as valid as his choice. My big question then is why did Jesus have to die on the cross? If there are other ways to reconcile your sinful self to God, then why did Jesus have to die?

I’d like to hear your thoughts……..