By David Outten, Production Editor, with Tom Snyder, Editor
The ultra-popular series LOST concluded Sunday with the dead “good guys” from the show in an afterlife chapel. The show’s hero, Jack, is intercut between shots of his death on the island and meeting his longer dead father in the chapel.
Jack is pictured meeting his dead father in a small room with an empty coffin. Despite the statue of Jesus that seems to lurk with open arms outside the church, the room where a deceased Jack meets his deceased father contains a stained glass window with religious symbolism from the major religions on earth, such as a Christian cross, the Muslim crescent and the ying/yang symbol. Not all of the show’s stars make it into the chapel beyond the small room. The message seems to be that heaven awaits good people, regardless of their religious and theological beliefs or convictions. This is not only a pluralistic message that contradicts what Jesus and the Bible says, it also smacks of the kind of erroneous, emotional and irrational New Age thinking that permeates much of what passes for religion in many places these days.
No doubt millions of Christians watched LOST. Sadly, many people who claim to be Christian fail to understand some of the basics of Christianity and may not see where the LOST scriptwriters strayed from biblical truth.
FIRST, salvation is based on belief that Jesus Christ died on the cross to cover the debt for your sin. Because of his sacrifice, when you accept Him as Lord, your sins are forgiven and you can have a personal relationship with God. You can experience life led, comforted and inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.
SECOND, good works are the natural result of believing in Jesus Christ being led by the Spirit of God. They are not something you do for God and other people to earn salvation and eternal life in Heaven. As Paul contends in Galatians 5:6, the only thing that counts is faith in Jesus Christ expressing itself through love.
THIRD, heaven is not a meeting place for the adherents of all religions. There is only one way there – through Jesus Christ alone. This is not Christian arrogance. There is only one New York City. You are not going to NYC when you travel to Chicago. And, to say that your good works, or some radical form of religious pluralism, will get you into Heaven is actually advocating that there is only one way to Heaven! Thus, this kind of religious pluralism actually contradicts itself and is therefore false on its face. It’s also a cowardly way to approach the ending of a popular show filled with provocative spiritual themes and possibilities.
Christianity is either the truth or a myth. You can choose to believe Chicago is part of New York, but if you do, you are wrong. It is Chicago, not New York. There is only one God, and only one route to heaven – belief in Jesus Christ.
If someone wants to get to New York City, it is not compassionate to sell him a ticket to Chicago. Real compassion requires telling people the Christian, Biblical Truth that sets people free! Anything less only leaves them lost.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” – The Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:6, NIV.
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