Which religion is not like the others?
There are so many religions.
As the world seems to get connected and more diverse, we are
increasingly aware of the many other faith traditions represented right in our
own neighborhoods.
A young man named Tom has experienced that diversity within
his own family. His mother is a
Vietnamese Catholic, his father is Jewish, and many of his cousins are
Muslim. Many people like Tom seem to
shrug their shoulders and say “Who can know which of these is true? Why bother trying to find out, what
difference does it make?”
From a safe distance, most religions look very similar. Rewards in the hereafter are promised
according to good behavior in the here and now.
As long as one tries to generally be a good person, it seems best to
avoid the complications of getting too involved with any one religion,
especially with terrorism resulting from religious extremists.
But who decides what it means to be a “good person”? What is the standard? We can all find other people who seem worse
than ourselves, so we can easily rest in the comfort of an untested sense of
security by saying “I’m one of the good guys”.
But shouldn’t the standard of good behavior be set by the
Creator, rather than the creation? If
so, how can we know that standard?
Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him.”
I realize I am quoting the Bible – one particular religion –
but I believe what it says makes sense for all.
If we really want to be “one of the good guys”, we need to earnestly
seek God, not just shrug our shoulders and hope for the best. And that means checking out the various
religions enough to get a little closer and to be willing to notice the
contradictions between them.
Humility, respect for others, and civility all tell us that
it is best to be tolerant with respect to these contradictions. But tolerance doesn’t mean we have to
overlook or ignore the differences. A
sincere desire to seek God tells us we need to dive in and honestly evaluate
the contradictions.
As a Christian, I would submit that biblical Christianity is
unique to the world religions in a very important and fundamental way. It is the one belief system that has a
savior, because it tells us we can’t save ourselves. It is the one that asserts that a right
relationship with God can’t be based on what we are to do, but rather on what
God has done. It is the one that teaches
us our good behavior can be done out of gratitude, rather than obligation.
In the end, Tom declined to take additional information that
compares the religions of the world. I
guess he would rather keep a safe distance and I respect that, but I hope he
will realize that one can’t honestly pursue God without getting out of their
comfort zone once in a while.
See video of our conversation HERE
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