9/21/18 Ray (video) 40
What would a universal religion look like? I was wondering that in an outreach
conversation with Ray, 40, who told me that the reason he has left the
Christian faith of his upbringing was because it is so exclusive. He felt it is arrogant for any one religion
to assume they have a handle on the truth that others don’t have.
In our increasingly pluralistic society, we are exposed to good
people of many religious beliefs and worldviews. Their beliefs may seem to be similar from a
distance, but close up we must admit they have many contradictions between
them. So should we just give up and
conclude that if they can’t all be right, then none of them are?
Mathematically, that wouldn’t make sense. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are nice numbers, but only 2 is
the answer to 1 plus 1. We aren’t being
arrogant or even “exclusive” just because we believe one answer is correct.
But this is a matter of faith, and there are good, decent
people that believe wholeheartedly in each of the major religions. How can anyone assume that theirs is correct? Is it better to believe they are all part of
the same universal religion?
The problem with a belief in a universal religion, however,
is that this, too, is an exclusive belief that assumes all others are
wrong. Even the atheistic notion that
there is no God is a belief that requires faith. So is the belief that one has the freedom to forget
about it, to put off any real belief and just live for each day. Not to decide is to decide.
If we can come to terms with the fact that we really can’t
escape our own exclusive world view, maybe a better question to ask is, to put
it in very basic, Sesame Street terms, “Which one of these is not like the
others?”
As a Christian I would ask – and I need to be able to answer
– “What makes Christianity unique?”
I don’t have space or enough reader attention span to give a
long answer, a subject on which whole libraries of books have been
written. But I don’t need it. What makes Christianity unique can be summed
up in one single, solitary word…
Jesus.
Jesus! He is the
Alpha and Omega, the beginning, middle and end of the biblical record. His is the most unique life and teachings in
all history. Acts 4:12 tells us “Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to
mankind by which we must be saved.”
If you want to know what makes Christianity unique, look no
further than Jesus. But be honest, read
the Bible for yourself, and, pro or con, be ready to make a life-changing
decision.
PS – Ray graciously allowed me to record our conversation,
which can be seen in its entirety HERE
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