𝗜𝘀 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆?

A friend asked me this once back then in Akungba, half joking. "Is Jesus compulsory? Can't a person just be good and get on with life?"

It is a fair question. Let me take it seriously, because the question itself is hiding the answer.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱.

Compulsory means someone is forcing you. Nobody is. Jesus never coerced a single person. When the crowd left Him, He turned to the twelve and asked, "Will ye also go away?" John 6:67. When the rich young ruler walked off, He let him walk. There is no compulsion anywhere in His method.

So the real question is not whether He is compulsory. It is whether He is necessary. Gravity is not compulsory. It is simply true, and you are free to jump.

Now the objections, one at a time.

𝟭. "𝗜'𝗺 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴."

Good compared to whom? Ask any professional in any field whether they have ever lied, envied, lusted, broken a promise, or taken credit that wasn't theirs. Every honest person answers yes. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. That is not an insult. It is an audit, and nobody passes it. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Matthew 9:12. The issue is not that some people are sick. It is that nobody is well.

𝟮. "𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱."

They cannot, because they contradict each other on the most basic questions. Hinduism: many gods, or one impersonal reality. Islam: one God who has no son. Buddhism: no God required. Christianity: God became a man and died for His enemies. These are not different roads up one mountain. They are different mountains. At most one of them is right. Pluralism feels humble. It is actually a refusal to do the arithmetic.

𝟯. "𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻."

Then follow this teaching: "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. And this one: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. You cannot accept the Sermon on the Mount and reject the One who said He was its only door. His ethics come stapled to His claims about Himself. He did not leave them separable.

𝟰. "𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆."

Is a doctor intolerant for saying there is one cure? Is an engineer arrogant for insisting on one load-bearing wall? Exclusivity is not arrogance when it is true. The truly arrogant position is the one that declares every sincere person right, because that makes you the judge over all of them.

𝟱. "𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱?"

Honest answer: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Genesis 18:25. Romans 1 and 2 say God judges people by the light they had. He is just. But notice: you have heard. The question about the unreached is very often a way of not answering the question about yourself.

𝟲. "𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗵."

Everybody leans on something. Career. Intellect. Family. Pleasure. Reputation. The question is never whether you have a crutch. It is whether the thing you lean on can carry your weight when you die. Jesus is the only one in history who said He would carry a man through death, and then walked out of a tomb to show He could.

𝗦𝗼, 𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆?

Oxygen is not compulsory. Water is not compulsory. You are free to decline both. Nobody will stop you. Jesus is compulsory in exactly that sense: not forced, but non-negotiable for life.

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:12

Not "a worse life." Not "a less meaningful life." Hath not life.

Here is the only thing that is actually compulsory about Jesus: the answer. Every person alive gives one. Rejecting Him is an answer. Ignoring Him is an answer. Postponing Him is an answer.

"What think ye of Christ?" Matthew 22:42

You are completely free to choose.

You are not free to not choose.

#Faith #Jesus #Apologetics #Truth