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When I was 12, I asked our Sunday School teacher, “What about all the unsaved people? What happens to them?” The Mennonite Brethren church where I grew up had recently added a Sunday School wing. We moved from a cement basement to having our own 12-year-old boys’ Sunday School room on the second floor. I was in that transition stage, moving from thinking my people knew all the right answers to thinking they didn’t know anything. This Sunday School teacher was one of my parent’s favorite teachers; very literate and very smart. He had exciting stories of working with the Shantymen Ministry in remote locations in Canada. To my surprise, I felt like our teacher just brushed me off. When I pushed for a better answer, he said, “I’ll get back to you next week.” He came back with Romans 2:14-15.
When Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them. This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares (Romans 2:14-16).
I wanted to continue the discussion. “If this is true, and I believe it is, what is the point of sending missionaries around the world?” I had several relatives who were missionaries around the world. They stayed at our house when they were home on furlough. My 12-year-old self was not satisfied with the ensuing discussion. I continued on my trajectory of discovering the adults I knew we not as all-knowing as I had assumed. Thankfully the Lord caused/allowed many situations which turned me around to understand that those I had esteemed, then demoted, were to become my heroes once again. To my great wonder, fifty years later, this man and his wife still support us each month! The way God designs our personal relationships continually fills me with wonder! I can hardly wait for heaven, where I’m hoping we’ll have time to exchange stories at length. Over the years, though, I have continued to ponder the question. Here is where I am at.
1. Humans, when left on their own, tend toward creating their own stairways to heaven, often by dominating or being dominated by others. The Bible describes this with many stories, including Cain and Abel, humanity before the flood, and the Tower of Babel (Gen 4-11).
2. Many years after the Tower of Babel, God made a covenant with Abraham to bless all people on earth.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3).
God’s plan included slavery, 400 years, all the judges and kings, and finally, captivity again.
Meanwhile, the nations are increasing at a terrific rate and often trying to create their own Edens, their own stairways to heaven.
How can we help people connect directly and personally to God?
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