Archive for: Christianity
Have you ever heard the saying “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”? There’s a very good application to consider on the topic of religious pluralism.
Some would say that Christians are arrogant, narrow-minded, bigoted, myopic…etc. for insisting that Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life…something that of course He said about Himself. (John 14:6)
Based on the raw, unfiltered and a-contextual definitions of those terms, they may be right. Funny thing is—so are we. The problem with being concerned about our exclusivism is that it’s not a problem. When you do have the truth—don’t be ashamed to say so.
It’s not a matter of denigrating an unbeliever as a person because they believe differently than you do; it’s the importance of unashamedly admitting that you believe there is only one way to know the Creator—The God of the universe revealed to us in His Son.
The Truth is simply what it is. We shouldn’t make apologies for believing in it because if we didn’t believe it was the (absolute) Truth, what would be the point? Ultimately, the question we should be asking religious pluralists is what they do believe in. Without having a conviction or taking a stand on something, they are on shaky ground. Is it logical to think that there are multiple spiritual truths when fundamentally those very systems are in conflict at the core of their principles?
Can one discuss an opposing position without a starting point to begin with? From that perspective, criticisms of Christianity that originate because we believe in absolute truth are ungrounded. Simply put—everyone can’t be right when the very issues that divide various perspectives are at odds with one another.
Ultimately the barriers are spiritual—not intellectual. (2 Cor. 4:4) The Truth requires accountability. By rejecting it, the unbeliever can sway and bend without concern for direction until they eventually fall. We should encourage them to stand for something–Jesus!
People often ask, “How could there be just one religion? Is it arrogant to say that your religion is superior and people can only come to God through your religion? Everything else is null and void.”
First of all, no religion is better than the foundation on which it rests. Christianity stands or falls on the empty tomb. If the empty tomb is true, then what Christ said is true. If the empty tomb is not true, what Christ said doesn’t matter. He said in John 14:6, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Therefore, the empty tomb, which is the proof that He is who He said He is, has to be studied.
While visiting in the Mormon’s visitor’s center in Salt Lake City I met a pilot who was acting as a guide. I said to him, “What would you say is the one thing on which your religion, Mormonism, stands or falls?” He answered, “I’d have to say Joseph Smith.” I then explained to him that he had more courage than I do. He wanted to know what I meant and I continued, saying, “I understand you’re a pilot. I fly enough to know that pilots are extremely smart people. It amazes me that you’re willing to put everything – your hope, your future, your eternity – on someone you have no proof ever came up from the grave. If you did, you’re okay. If he didn’t, you couldn’t be worse.” I don’t think I’ll ever forget his comment. He answered, “I guess I never thought about that.” Once again, no religion is any better than the foundation on which it stands or falls.
Some feel to claim that there is only one way to God is most arrogant. I would agree that it could easily be perceived that way. Arrogance is not always wrong though. For example, I do a tremendous amount of flying. I’ve found that airplane pilots are most arrogant. Never once in more than 37 years have they ever let me fly the plane. They seem to think they can fly it better than I can. They’ve never offered that privilege to anyone on the flight. Quite frankly, I’m glad they didn’t. Arrogance can sometimes be a good thing. If you know the truth and it’s a matter of life or death, you ought to be arrogant about it. I’m using arrogance in the sense, of course, not of pride, but of conviction.
Two words often used are, “True religion”. It’s worth asking, what’s true religion and what’s false religion? What has a basis and what has no basis?
http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1152277
One of the frequent things people often say today when you discuss spiritual things is, “But I don’t believe the Bible”. Many people feel that at that point there’s nothing more they can do. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
There are many things you can do that I’ll be discussing at our Igniter Lunch on June 17th, but two things are paramount. One is that it’s always important to take the offensive, not defensive. When people say, “I don’t believe the Bible”, one of the things I ask is, “What part of the Bible don’t you believe?” In other words, I put them on the defensive and I take the offensive. That’s very important because many of them have never read the Bible. It’s helpful for them to see that for themselves by posing such a pertinent question.
The second thing I remind them is that Christianity does not stand or fall on the Bible. Christianity stands or falls on the most attested fact of history and that is the resurrection. The evidence of the resurrection is far outside the Bible. It’s been called the most attested fact in history. Even historians who are not believers have said that the one thing they could not deny is that there was an empty tomb on the third day. Therefore, I encourage people who say they don’t believe the Bible to turn their attention to the empty tomb. I remind them that if they disapprove the empty tomb, they will enter the Guinness Book of World Records because no one has succeeded in doing that. Interesting enough, I’ve never met one person who studied the empty tomb objectively that did not come to Christ.
When people say they don’t believe the Bible that’s not an obstacle; it’s an opportunity.
A Response by David Souther to the following statement by Andy Stanley regarding the gospel:
“If we were able to rewrite the script for the reputation of Christianity, I think we would put the emphasis on developing relationships with nonbelievers, serving them, loving them, and making them feel accepted. Only then would we earn the right to share the gospel.”
While I agree with Pastor Stanley’s emphasis on developing relationships with non-believers, I don’t believe it is necessarily a prerequisite to sharing the gospel. As believers, we are called to be “salt and light” in our dark world. This involves both loving people and sharing the gospel. The two go hand in hand and balance is key. As we love and build relationships with people, God may give us the opportunity to share Christ at any time. It could be in the first five minutes or it might take months to get to that point.
In addition, the gospel itself is the “power of God unto salvation.” Anytime we share the gospel, it alone is enough to lead someone to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. I have seen people come to Christ by hearing an evangelistic message, reading a tract, or watching an evangelistic film. In all of these situations, the question was not whether or not someone earned the right to share. The message alone was enough. “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17), and anytime we communicate the gospel, it has the potential of changing someone’s life and eternal destiny forever.
I recently responded to the following statement by Andy Stanley regarding the gospel over at Church DNA:
“If we were able to rewrite the script for the reputation of Christianity, I think we would put the emphasis on developing relationships with nonbelievers, serving them, loving them, and making them feel accepted. Only then would we earn the right to share the gospel.”
While I agree with Pastor Stanley’s emphasis on developing relationships with non-believers, I don’t believe it is necessarily a prerequisite to sharing the gospel. As believers, we are called to be “salt and light” in our dark world. This involves both loving people and sharing the gospel.
The two go hand in hand and balance is key. As we love and build relationships with people, God may give us the opportunity to share Christ at any time. It could be in the first five minutes or it might take months to get to that point.
In addition, the gospel itself is the “power of God unto salvation.” Anytime we share the gospel, it alone is enough to lead someone to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. I have seen people come to Christ by hearing an evangelistic message, reading a tract, or watching an evangelistic film. In all of these situations, the question was not whether or not someone earned the right to share. The message alone was enough. “Faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17), and anytime we communicate the gospel, it has the potential of changing someone’s life and eternal destiny forever.
Evangelism.net has a great podcast this month on the topic: “Dealing with people who have been turned off by Christians.”
In this episode of the Evangelism Encouragement Podcast, host Mark Rae talks with Dr. Larry Moyer as they consider some of the reasons non-Christians give as to why they have been turned off by Christians.
It is also available on iTunes here.
Enjoy!
