Published on 07/7/2006

Yesterday we visited the first Statue of Liberty erected on Calvary 20 centuries ago, and the second Statue erected in New York's harbor in 1886. Both proclaim freedom to captives and liberty to all. Like the second statue, the cross has withstood the storms of time and today remains a symbol of freedom, pointing the way to heaven. As the nails were driven through Jesus' feet, the shackles of sin were broken. Now Jesus stands with arms outstretched, still lighting the way for millions to freedom. Each Sunday is "Independence Day" as we celebrate our freedom from sin and hope of eternal joy.

Commentary

All of America knows the Lady of Liberty. Do they know the Man of Liberty? The Lady was a great gift to our country. The Man is even greater. And we can give him to our friends, our community, our country.

Here's the problem: most Americans don't know they need this gift. When Mother Teresa died, 78 percent of Americans thought she'd be in heaven. But 87 percent were convinced they would be in heaven. Only two percent of us are afraid of going to hell. It is conventional wisdom today that a loving God would never send anyone to hell, that such an idea is an outdated Puritan sermon. So long as we believe in God and live good lives we've done all anyone expects of us. If I'm not Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Jewish, I must be a Christian.

That's certainly what I thought growing up. I saw church activities the same way most people see service organizations such as Rotary or the Salesmanship Club: great for those who wish to join, but not necessary for the rest of us. No one believes we must become Rotarians to go to heaven. Your neighbors feel the same way about your Christian faith.

To that end, it may help us to remember the most famous paragraph C. S. Lewis ever wrote: "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

How will you help America know that fact this summer?