Panera and God

A few days back, Saturday to be exact, I was drawn into the kind of discussion we are all told not to speak in, yet all desire to do so. That is correct we were discussing religion, politics, and social/moral values. I guess we got bored with talking about the weather and the merit of a salad for dinner. Overall, I have to say the conversation went very well. Myself and the person in whom I was speaking with disagreed on nearly every point, except that we often did agree that we disagreed.

From this conversation, though, much was learned. In the specific area of religion we found a hidden truth that lies in all people’s life. We found the point in which a decision has to be made, a decision that can change the course of your pilgrimage through life.

We were speaking specifically of the infallible nature of the Bible. I, seeing the Bible as the “God breathed word” and my antagonist (man I love calling her that) seeing it in not such a light. Her position was that the Bible may have been mistranslated or may contain potential errors. This, however, did not negate her spirituality, but instead caused her to explore other areas that she felt may contain spiritual truth.

This is an age old argument as to whether or not the Bible is wholly true or partly false. It is also one that we did not resolve in that small chain café in which we ate. Instead we came to a point of separation that was only the width of a hair.

In some point in our respective lives we both came to the point of taking an honest look at this sacred Christian text. I found the truth in the words and quickly dove into the faith and found no errors, believing God wholly and singularly.

My female counter part in Saturday’s discussion took another route. When she investigated the Bible and weighed it for its worth she found that she could not believe every last word to be fully accurate and therefore branched off to continue in her search of truth. This is the hair width that I mentioned.

At some time we both came to the same point of decision, and we both went in different directions. In the end you both believe in every last word of the Bible and therefore receive Christ, or you find potential fault with any given scripture and are unable to receive Christ. To those who believe that you can have Christ and have fault in the Bible I would say that you are gravely mistaken.

If even one line, one word, is proven to be a lie then every single aspect of the Bible comes into question. The fact that god created the Earth would be something to doubt. The fact that Christ died for us becomes doubtful. The fact that Christ will return again is something of legend. We either believe it all or we believe none.

It is an all or nothing approach. You cannot have a little bit of the truth. Christ tells us to be hot or to be cold, but to be lukewarm is to be spit from His mouth. From my perspective my friend has missed the boat, but I thank her nonetheless for helping push this vital aspect even further into my spiritual mold. I pray that she, as well as other, will one day choose to be hot instead of cold.