Living midst a religious reality

We are living in a world in which a high proportion of the world's population is aware of the existence of other religions apart from their own. Furthermore, the people who adamantly hold to their religious beliefs and expect others to follow suit are labeled as a militant minority. There is a common view that all religions are basically paths to the same destination, and that the most important thing is that we love each other and be happy (as long as we don't lose our own personal creature comforts).

Welcome to the pluralistic secular world in which we live! It is a world in which a great divide has been created - the "public world" of "facts", and the private world of values and beliefs.

And we as Christians are supposed to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no-one gets to the Father except through Him! For us to be living in accord with this proposition, let alone begin proclaiming it, defend it, and ask others to join with us, must surely seem like a foolish thing to do. And yet, it is actually the most sensible thing to do, because truth is by definition exclusive.

Let me explain. Someone who says that all religions are basically the same has understood none of them. In reality, every system is implicitly exclusive. Buddhism was born out of a repudiation of two cardinal doctrines of Hinduism. Sikhism rejected both Buddhism & Hinduism. Baha'ism excludes the exclusivists. Islam is exclusive theologically and linguistically. Atheism rejects all theistic viewpoints.

The question basically boils down to which exclusive system is the right one, and as addressed in Alpha, only the system taught in the Bible, as centring on Jesus Christ, is true to reality. (For an extended treatment, see "Can Man Live Without God" by Ravi Zacharias, Word, 1994).

This is not to say, however, that the other systems mentioned don't contain elements of the truth! A thousand times no! In fact, it must logically be the case from a Christian perspective, since we are all one people, with the same natures, living on the same planet created by the one God, thus examining the same data when formulating our own systems on life. And since every human, when they start reflecting on life, naturally is seeking for happiness, peace, love, etc, it stands to reason that unbiased objective investigation will converge to the same truths, no matter from what direction you start! But the point is that people are biased, and that there is also a devil who is trying to mislead people from the Truth. That's why we as humans need revelation directly from God Himself, which we have in its clearest form in the life of Jesus Himself (cf Hebrews 1:1-4).

Furthermore, it is a false presumption to believe that God has been silent toward other cultures beyond the Jews (in OT times) and Christians since then. Just as God spoke to Abram the idol worshipper, and to Cyrus, and to Balaam, and to Melchizedek, it stands to reason that because God is not willing for anyone to perish, He is giving every person the opportunity to faithfully obey what He asks of them. It is when a person has faith in what the true God asks of them that they are counted righteous, and the blood of Christ (whether they know of Christ or not) washes them of their sin and gives them access to the Father. So Jesus Christ truly is the only way to the Father, but knowledge of Him is not absolutely necessary for salvation. Faith in what God reveals to you is necessary. (But if Jesus is preached to a person and they refuse Him, then we can know that they do not have the faith of Abraham! Jesus said: "All that the Father has given me will come to me" and that those who do not acknowledge Him have not truly acknowledged God either). (Please note that what I am saying here in no way undercuts the imperative for Christians preaching the gospel, for this preaching is one of God's means of speaking to people! Furthermore, the evidence of the New Testament is that now it IS that God wishes all people to know of Jesus, and those who are seeking God will have Jesus revealed to them! - Consider for example Cornelius, The Ethiopian eunuch, and Saul (Paul): to each of these God fearing people Jesus revealed Himself either personally, or via an angel and a person, or the Spirit telling someone to go and preach Jesus to the person! The evidence is that NOW, in New Testament times, "there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved!" (Acts 4:12))

So when we as Christians come to live out the truth in our lives, we are definitely not doing it the midst a 'truth-vacuum' in society! Far from it. When we come to talk and interact with other people, we are definitely not 'writing on blank blackboards'! One of our chief tasks is to first help others make sense of what is already written on the blackboard of their life!

Beyond that, we are also required to 'limit our freedoms' if they would be misunderstood by someone else and thus hinder them from responding to the gospel (cf 1 Corinthians 8-10). This means that whilst before God I may eat pork, if a Muslim I intend to talk with would be offended by it and through my eating there would be less of an opportunity for him to hear the gospel, then I should not eat pork before him. For the sake of the gospel we need to limit ourselves and try not to 'turn-off' anyone - whether Christians or non-Christians (1 Corinthians 10:32).