God Tells You Only Your Own Story

One of the most common questions for (and among) Christians, members of a supposedly “exclusive” religion (which I think is bunk), is “What about those who never hear of Jesus?” or, in another form, “What about people of other religions?” It’s a respectable question–sometimes asked out of sincere concern, but often asked as a way of deflecting Christianity’s truth claims. Respectable and worth discussing, but also highly theoretical and abstract. Good for people who like to debate.

When I think of this question, I also think of this rejoinder, “God only tells you your own story.” (Someone help me: I’ve forgotten where I heard this. I’m thinking maybe it was in one of Tolkien’s letters, or maybe he says it without using “God” in LOTR.) I think it’s disingenuous to use the supposed injustice of God in supposedly condemning those who haven’t heard the gospel as an excuse for rejecting the gospel yourself. You have heard. God is telling you your story. The person who hasn’t heard will be treated according to what they know. So what are you doing with what you have heard?

The biblical passage that comes to mind is Jesus speaking of Peter’s future death at the hands of others, and Peter asking about John, with the suggestion that John might get a better deal than Peter is getting. Jesus answers, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me” (John 21:22). The vernacular translation might be, “Mind your own business.” And Peter does have important business to mind. And so do we.

I do believe God is telling each of us our story, and showing us how we are part of God’s story. The sometimes frustrating additional fact is that he only tells us the details as we need to know them. We know the overarching plot of our past, present, and future—and that is our hope—but we don’t know how it is going to be worked out today and tomorrow—and that can be our frustration. We’d like to know more. Sooner. But God only says, “As for you, follow me.” It makes for a heck of a story.