The dangerous conversation (1 of 8)

Question: Do you consider yourself to be a person of integrity?

The dangerous conversation (1 of 8)

Question: Do you consider yourself to be a person of integrity?

Answer: No.

Well. I guess there is no point in being real with you if you aren't willing to do the same. :(

The dangerous conversation (2 of 8)

Question: Is is reasonable to be consistent?

A person is inconsistent when he or she makes contradictory claims. For example, "I know that all houses are green. That house happens to be blue."

The dangerous conversation (2 of 8)

Question: Is is reasonable to be consistent?

A person is inconsist when he or she makes contradictory claims. For example, "I know that all houses are green. That house happens to be blue."

Answer: No.

If you are willing to hold a viewpoint that cannot be differentiated from madness, I'm not sure that we can continue. :(

The dangerous conversation (3 of 8)

Question: Are you always the ultimate authority on things? Or are some things above your jurisdiction?

The dangerous conversation (3 of 8)

Question: Are you always the ultimate authority on things? Or are some things above your jurisdiction?

Answer: Yes.

If you really think that you are king of the world, this conversation isn't for you. I would claim that there are facts outside of your current understanding. In addition, there are many things that simply are, despite your opinion on the matter.

The dangerous conversation (4 of 8)

Question: Is the following statement consistent? "We can't know anything for sure."

The dangerous conversation (4 of 8)

Question: Is the following statement consistent? "We can't know anything for sure."

Answer: Yes.

I think it's only reasonable to point out that even if someone claims, "We can't know anything with absolute certainty", none of us actually live that way. We all live based on what we perceive to be true, or even "reasonably likely".

The dangerous conversation (5 of 8)

Since you have agreed to be a person of integrity and are willing to be as consistent as possible, we can have a reasonable discussion. Warning: many people waiver on these two virtues during this experience. Can you hold on to your integrity and be consistent?

The dangerous conversation (6 of 8)

Here is a scenario. Someone is about to unwittingly open a box with a rattlesnake in it. You are the only one nearby who knows the danger.

Is it reasonable to warn them—even try to stop them from opening it—as they approach the lid?

With your well being in mind, The desire to warn you is one of the primary reasons that Christians want to tell you about Jesus.

1. They know that you don't want to hear it.
2. They know that you might think less of them for doing it.
3. They think you are worth the risk.

Here is a shocking fact. 10 out of 10 people die.

The shocking part isn't the fact that death is a reality for us all. What's shocking is that most people try not to think about it, even though it's an unavoidable fact.

I suggest that it's reasonble to prepare rather than pretend.

The dangerous conversation (7 of 8)

Here is the warning part. Keep the the rattlesnake analogy in mind.

You are like me. You've lived your life in open rebellion to God's claim to authority over your life. You have made yourself the authority over what is right or wrong and lived accordingly.

1. God says not to lie. How many lies have you told in your life?
2. God says not to use His name to express surprise or disgust. Isn't it interesting that only the name of Jesus is used this way in our culture?
3. God says sexuality is only for the confines of marriage.

If you are a person of integrity, you know that you are guilty of these things and many more. So am I.

Nearly everyone thinks that if heaven is real, they are going there. In reality—because God is good—we cannot go there because it would no longer be perfect once we arrived. This is a real problem for us, because in contrast to popular thinking, God cannot and will not overlook our flagrant treason to His authority.

So the bad news is that we deserve the wrath of God, which we know is called hell.

The exceedingly good news is that Jesus is the way, the only way, that God can forgive us.

The dangerous conversation (8 of 8)

Knowing that we are weak, and to display the fullness of His glory, God made the impossible available to us. While still retaining His full diety, God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life of obedience that we needed to. In the most amazing wisdom from God, Jesus died on the cross to be a substitute for anyone connected to Him. The full wrath of God poured out on Jesus instead of His people. Three days later, proof was given that the ransom price was accepted when Jesus rose from the dead! And now Christ has ascended to reign and interceeds for His people until He returns to judge the earth.

Are you connected to Jesus so that His sacrifice applies to you personally? Knowing the facts of the matter won't do anything for you. In order to receive forgiveness for you sins, to be adopted into God's family, to be declared righteous by the merits of Christ, you must be united to Him.

God's wisdom is again dazzling. To become united to Jesus you have to do the impossible. You have to believe it. You have to take God as His word and believe that you are too bad to make it on your own. You have to believe that Jesus did it all. You have to surrender ownership of your life to Jesus and trust Him to the end.

This is hard because people naturally don't want to turn from their own self-reliance. They either want to do it their own way, or they want to earn God's favor by doing religious deeds. They won't repent because they don't want to.

This is the Christian message. The God who created you shows His great love by dying to make reconciliation available!

I can only hope that even if you find these things offensive, you understand that the motives behind it are for your benefit. If you've made it this far, I'm thankful for your courage. It's often a difficult ordeal to have one's perspective-on-everything challenged.

If you want to leave more, I'd suggest starting with turn2christ.com. There are a lot of bad actors out there looking to abuse people in the name of Christianity, and I'd like you to get a good start with some trustworthy resources. In all things, don't take my word for it. Take out the bible and look into it for yourself. May God bless you.