"We're All Going to the Same Place Anyways..."

I was having a discussion with someone last evening and the topic came to religion (as it somehow always does with me). She said, "if people would just realize that we all came from the same place and we're all going to the same place, we'd be so much better off." Well, needless to say I had to change the topic because the setting we were in didn't lend itself to the discussion. But, I want to delve deeper here.

Her belief is known as Universalism and she stated it perfectly. It doesn't matter what we believe, we all go to the same place. Well, there are some big holes in that thought. First of all, not everyone believes in the same thing so how can we go to the same place if that same place is different for everyone? Does that mean that as a Christian, I'm really entering Nirvana when I pass or that I'll be re-incarnated as Hindus believe? I didn't sign up for that; I want heaven. It's like buying a car. You save up your money in anticipation for this perfect car, say, a BMW you had all picked out. You sacrificed and scrimped and saved and when you're ready to buy, they bring out an Acura. You'd be disappointed, right? I mean you sacrificed because you knew you were going to get a BMW but instead you got an Acura (no offense to Acura owners, by the way). Which brings me to the next point; choice.

God, as I have articulated before, is pro-choice. God gave Adam and Eve a choice in the Garden. They could eat of any tree in the garden except one. What did they choose? the one that was forbidden. They had a choice. To suggest that "we all go to the same place" suggests that we really don't have a choice in the matter. God may as well have made a bunch of mind numbed robots unable to choose but he didn't; he created people who have the choice to love and follow him or to reject him. He loves us that much. John 3:16 says that God sent his son so that whoever believes would have eternal life. Belief is an act of the will. You choose to believe in something and we have the choice to believe that God loves us and loved us so much, he created a way to restore our relationship with him through the sacrifice of his son. We don't all go to the same place and I'm grateful for that choice.