Can We Reach Heaven without Jesus?

Today’s culture is outwardly trying so hard to proclaim the secular good through virtue signaling, acts of kindness, tolerance, and inclusiveness. It’s hard to navigate through the good and the bad-in-good’s-clothing that’s going on. Schools and religious programs almost all require a certain amount of service work. Service work is great but are all religious programs praying before they venture off in their groups? We want to be kind to others, but do we promote praying for others as much? Tolerance is not an act of love but ask any young person and they will easily confuse the two. Are we doing a disservice to our youth by allowing these confusions to take place?

“A survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University find that American adults today increasingly adopt a ‘salvation-can-be-earned’ perspective.” (Joe Carter for Christian Living)

I my own parish, more and more youth (and teachers!) believe that heaven can be attained by ‘being a good person.’ While Jesus promotes that of course, that’s not it! John 14:16 says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” We can be kind and serve all we want, but to do it without Jesus at the core, well, it’s empty. Quite frankly it’s also unsatisfying. We might feel good for a bit but it wears off quickly. Jesus is the Living Water (Jn 14:13), the Bread of Life (Jn 6:51), and the Light of the World (Jn 8:12).

Faith without works, right? We’re told over and over to prove our character through works and it’s not wrong, but there’s a flip side. If faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine, then works without faith is like a car without an engine. Ephesians 2 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So, it reasons that we cannot have works without faith either.

Being Catholic is not about being a good person, but by being Catholic we can be a people working for good. There’s a big difference! One works through what he or she feels is good and the other can’t help but be compelled towards goodness as if by the Spirit. We. Need. Jesus. He is our relief (Live Water), our sustenance (Bread of Life), and our source of life (Light of the World).

Let’s get back to evangelizing and not just good works but to works with faith! We can’t leave Jesus out of the picture and it seems we need to make that clear.