Month: February 2021

Jesus and Belial, Part 2

In my previous blog, I told about reading a newspaper ad for an “interfaith” prayer meeting to be held online as a way to show, in the sponsors’ words, “the kinship of all Faiths.” I commented on that assertion and request by stating that other than some idealized moral values, such as the Golden Rule, Christianity is not kin to other faiths. Nor are they kin to each other, because their beliefs are not only different, but at times, polar opposites.

In addition, by participating publicly in a joint prayer session, Christians are giving subtle approval to, and acceptance of, those other faiths. We are telling people that all faiths are basically the same, each being one of many paths to God – though the ideas of who and what God is, are so different. As Christians, we must continuously demonstrate that Christ is unique, the Only Son of God, and the One Way to the Father. As Jesus himself proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except trough me” (John 14:6).

Jesus’ claims were very exclusionary, and the rest of Scripture agrees. He said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13). He also said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (John 14:9-10). He also told the crowds, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). And later, Peter said of Jesus, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”(Acts 4:12). Also, Paul proclaimed the exclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9). And, of course, this unique claim begins in the Old Testament, when the Lord God commands his people in the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7).

Reminded that there is but one God, the God of the Bible, and only one way to him, how then do we live in and respond to the society around us that affirms “diversity” of belief and extols every religion except Christianity? My answer is not new, but hopefully it can encourage you to hold fast to the truth and set aside any doubts that may arise from constant anti-Christian messaging in our culture. Consider the following:

1. Know what the Bible says, and what Jesus taught. By your own study and learning of God’s Word, you can avoid and refute incorrect ideas and charges made against Christians. Did Adam and Eve eat an apple? No, the Bible just says, fruit. Is the Christian faith racist? No; Jesus commanded preaching the Gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) and Revelation tells us that heaven will have a multitude that no one can count, “from every  nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” That’s as inclusive as you can get! Know the true Gospel, of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ apart from any works or righteousness we can personally achieve.

2. Don’t believe the movie and television trope that Christianity is a prudish, guilt-ridden group of hypocrites. Notice how many shows make Christians (especially preachers and priests!) the villains. Gangsters wear crosses and serial killers have crosses on their walls and mumble phrases like “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!” before doing their evil deeds. Learn what Christians have done to benefit society and alleviate the natural states of poverty and suffering. It’s no accident that so many hospitals have the word “Saint” as part of their name. There’s not enough room here to even list all the blessings Christians have brought about because of their faith, such as written languages, literacy, hospitals, orphanages, disaster relief, nursing, sports (including basketball and volleyball), adult night schools, Braille and American Sign Language, the abolition of slavery, and the  recognition of human worth and dignity. As Christians we have nothing to be ashamed about when we bear the name of Christ.* Paul proclaimed, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. . . ” (Romans 1:16).

3. Remember that the Christian faith is not a fortress faith, living on an isolated island, trying to keep people out. While we are commanded to defend the faith (1 Peter 3:15 says, “. . . always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;”), our faith is not essentially a defensive one. On the contrary, it is meant to be an assertive faith, one which seeks to reach out and proclaim the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. After all, Jesus didn’t say the gates of heaven would shield us, but that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus came, he didn’t set up a secret  monastery where he and his disciples could hide while he taught them exclusive truths; instead, he went among the people and proclaimed the truth openly. As a result, sinners repented, Pharisees such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea converted, and even Romans believed (Acts 10). Jesus pushed back against the devil’s territory by establishing and expanding the kingdom of God, which he proclaimed had now come in him. As Christians, we must not be content in just “holding our own,” but in working to expand the kingdom into which Jesus called us, through our personal witness, evangelism and missions.

4. Remember the twin Greatest Commandment, affirmed by Jesus himself: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). This means we must love, honor, and worship the true God and hold fast to his teachings, yet at the same time love others as much as we love ourselves – even if those neighbors don’t love us or God. This means we owe every person respect, even if we don’t think he or she deserves it. In the context of cross-faith relations, it means we respect the other person and their attempt to do what is right. We look for non-religious ways in which to cooperate, such as on sports teams, at work, or in school. We help our literal neighbors when they have a need, letting God work in their hearts and minds through our kindly witness. And we explain the true faith in loving and patient ways, so the other person knows clearly who Christ is and what he accomplished for the world. Remember Peter’s words which followed his command to defend the faith: “. . .  do it with gentleness and respect.”

One day a Sikh man with bloody bare feet came to my church office, asking to see Jesus. I spent several hours with him, talking about Christ and taking him to a church where he could see a large crucifix in the sanctuary. After that, I drove him to a nearby Sikh Temple, where he could get food and perform one of his religion’s rites. In all those things, I was bearing witness and showing him personal respect and brotherly love. I even went into his temple and met one of his fellow Sikhs near their altar. But when they offered me what was their equivalent of communion (a ball of sweet wafer material), I declined, explaining that my God is a jealous God, and would not allow me to participate in another religion’s ceremony. Years later, the man showed up again at my office, thanking me for caring for him as I did.

5. Finally, when it comes to prayer, we must absolutely pray for all people, and work for their health, well-being, and their salvation. We should never rejoice in their failures, hurts, or demise. We should never assume a haughty air of religious superiority, for that is what Jesus condemned in the Pharisees, the religious “stars” of their day. They did all the right things, said all the right words, and knew all the right Scriptures, but had no love, so they were like the “noisy gong or clanging cymbal” which Paul decried in 1 Corinthians 13:1. We must remember that it is by God’s grace alone that we have salvation in Christ. We are no less sinful than anyone else, but we are beneficiaries of God’s love and mercy through his only Son, Jesus Christ, and not by our own righteousness or membership in any group. Only because we are in Christ are we saved, and therefore we are compelled to love all for whom Christ bled and died – which is the entire world.

We must love everyone just as they are, but we must love them enough not to leave them where they are, but to show them Jesus in word and deed, that they too may rejoice in the salvation which he alone has brought the world.

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine to upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: John 14:1-14; Acts 4:1-22; 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 1:6-10.

*The book, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? by D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1994, has 275 pages telling the many ways which Christianity has benefitted the world. 

Jesus and Belial

This week I was invited to a prayer session. Actually, everyone was. The newspaper display ad read, “In service to the Elk Grove community, invites you to a virtual Prayer Devotional . . .” The fact that this was not a complete sentence is not what caught my attention; what the ad said next, was: “. . . demonstrating kinship of all Faiths through prayer.”

This ad was placed by the Interfaith Council of Elk Grove, whose members state their purpose as, “Working together – building a just and caring society.” Those are noble goals, even if not everyone seeking justice these days is very caring toward those they oppose. People of every faith, or none, should seek to pursue such goals in both their own lives and that of the societies in which they live. But does such striving indicate the “kinship of all Faiths”? If I invented a religion in which I was the high priest of toad worship, would my religion be part of that kinship? (Don’t laugh – ancient Chinese venerated toads as symbols of wealth and longevity!)

Does a common desire to have a peaceful society where people respect and care for each other mean that all religions and personal faiths are the same? What do the many religions and faiths around us actually believe? Do we indeed share “kinship” with any and all other religions, aside from certain almost-universal moral tenets such as the Golden Rule?

Specifically, considering the newspaper invitation, should Christians pray with non-Christians? To whom are we praying when we pray in unity with believers in other religions?

1. With Hindus, to which god are we to pray: Ganesha (pot-bellied elephant god), Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, or Kali, the goddess of death?

2. With Muslims, to Allah, the moon-god? Or Allah the only god, who has no son? Or to Issa (Jesus) who escaped the cross and had Judas die there in his place?

3. With Buddhists, to devas and brahmas that exist in five-layered heavens, or nagas that live in snake form on earth? Or to the impersonal sea to which we return when we die from this illusionary world, like droplets of water?

4. With Mormons, to Jesus, the brother of Lucifer (Satan) who was physically begotten by Adam-god, and was on earth in his journey to godhood, which we can all attain?

5. With Native American devotees, to Bluejay, trickster god of the Chinook; or to White Buffalo Woman of the Sioux; to Taronhiawagon of the Iroquois; to Old Man Coyote of the Crow;  or to another of the dozens of nature gods and goddesses worshipped by the many indigenous tribes of North America?*

6. With Atheists? To matter and energy? Or to material processes that exclude any divine purpose, entity, or intervention?

I could go on, but you get the picture. How can people who have such widely-divergent beliefs pray together? Or as the Bible says, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3 KJV). Now, you may say that praying together is okay as long as you have in your own mind the biblical Trinity, but in public prayer, no one can tell what you’re thinking; to others, your participation in such interfaith prayers conveys the message that you are in agreement. Your participation validates their religions as being on an equal footing with Christianity.

This is not an issue of praying for non-Christians; I have done this and will do this at any time. We once lived next-door to a Mormon family that had a meltdown one evening. When the teen daughter broke off part of the railing on the staircase, the father came and got me to “be a witness” to what was going on. After hearing them speak (yell) at each other, I asked that we pray for God’s peace for them and the situation. I certainly did not pray to any Mormon god or concept of god, but called on the true God to bring peace to the family, which he did.

Praying for others is appropriate, but praying with them as if we were one in faith or had just different shades of the same faith, is not. Some may view this as narrow sectarianism, or egotistical pride (“I’m right but you’re not!”), or even racism, since some religions are held predominantly by certain ethnic groups, such as Sikhism among the Sikhs of the Punjab and Fiji. But this is not about personal preferences or arrogance. Christianity is the most universal religion of all, with two billion adherents from “every nation, tribe, and language.” No, this is a statement of obedience to God’s own commands, to come out from the world and be separate from them, worshiping the true God and him only (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:9).

This division between faith in the true God and other so-called gods was commanded in both Testaments and was the basis of the kosher regulations of the Law. Kosher food rules against consuming meat and dairy products in the same meal, are based on passages such as Deuteronomy 14:21 “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk,” which forbids the mixing of two forms of food. Likewise, Deuteronomy 22:10-11 prohibited wearing a mixture of wool and linen, and plowing with both “an ox and a donkey together” Many have wondered why the Torah prohibits such mixtures, concluding it is a mystery. Personally, I agree with many Christian commentators who believe these were reminders of Israel being apart from the other nations. Not only would they eat and dress differently, they would avoid mixing with other religions.

As Christians, these kosher requirements of food and clothing are no longer binding. Christ has set us free, and as Paul (a very kosher Jew!) taught us, all things are lawful to us in Christ. Whether we eat certain foods or not is not regulated, apart from the effect our public eating or drinking may have on others.

But the principle behind the Old Testament food and clothing regulations still applies, that there be separation between those who follow Christ and those who do not.

When the people of Ephesus became believers, they burned their old magic books (which were very valuable) in order to follow Christ. They didn’t just add Jesus to their pantheon of other gods, so as to cover their bases. They recognized the incompatibility of belief in Christ with any other religion. Theirs was no “interfaith” religion.

“And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.” (Acts 19:17-19)

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, Paul wrote: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” The point is that you can’t mix Christianity with other religions in the name of “getting along” or seeking fellowship.

So how do we deal with other religions and the people who practice them? Do we attack them, insult them, or just shun them, refusing to talk or work with them in order to remain separate from untruth? Or should we befriend, associate, and cooperate with them in every area except worship and prayer?

I believer the Bible gives us a clear answer to that dilemma, which I will address in the next blog! (Cliffhanger!) So until then:

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Acts 17:16-34; Acts 19; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18;

* To be fair, many tribes believe(d) in the Great Spirit, one overall god, to whom Christians have pointed as representing the true God in their evangelism. The missionaries have quoted Paul in Acts 17:23 “‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”