A Christian’s Response To Other Religions
6 July 2011 Hits:20265
This question is usually asked because of the exclusive nature of the Christian faith. That is, Christians believe it is only through the completed work of Jesus on the cross and His subsequent resurrection, that a person can have a relationship with God. I believe that! Bible verses such as these are used to substantiate this:
In John 14:6, Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:12 states “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
The problem arises when the exclusiveness of the Christian faith leads to a lack of tolerance and respect towards those of other faiths. Some Christians have been guilty of this for centuries – and those of other faiths have been equally guilty.
I believe that Jesus calls all people to live lives of love, tolerance and respect towards others. This is particularly born out in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, in which he illustrates what it means to love our neighbour. A Jewish man is robbed. Two people of like faith show no compassion towards him. Then along comes a man of another faith – a Samaritan – and it is he who shows the qualities of compassion, love and respect. Jesus teaches that loving our neighbour means showing these qualities even towards those with whom we disagree. People of all religions would do well to heed Jesus’ teaching on this.
Even a casual look on the internet reveals the amount of persecution that is still going on in the world today – Christians being persecuted by Muslims; Muslims being persecuted by Christians; Buddhists being persecuted by Christians and Muslims; Christians being persecuted by Buddhists; Christians persecuting Hindus and vice versa – you get the picture? No wonder many people sit back and want nothing to do with religion.
As Christians we need to learn to move beyond the stereotypes. Yes, there are people with evil plans in every religion, but there are far more people of each religion who are good.
While we were on holiday last year in Malaysia I met two such people – two Muslim guys from Saudi Arabia. They were in their mid-twenties and we met over a game of water volleyball. Later that afternoon we sat together drinking tea and chatting about the differences and similarities in each other’s culture and faith. It was one of the most enjoyable conversations I’d had in ages and, dare I say, the presence of God was very evident while we chatted. This encounter reminded me of how similar human beings are. We might have differences in skin colour, eye shape, language, religion and culture; but we are all made in the image of God and we all came from the same parents – originally.
So, while we continue to hold to the exclusivity of our faith, let us also reach out in love, compassion, respect and tolerance to those who are different – and discover the similarities. One thing I know – this pleases the heart of God.
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Rob Buckingham
Senior Minister
6 replies on “A Christian’s Response To Other Religions”
Great post Rob, and if we are to have any hope of reaching out to people of other beliefs then we need to let go of any attitudes of intolerance and disrespect, but rather reach out with compassion and understanding. I know if someone treated me disrespectfully, I would find it hard to respect what they say.
Rob, this post is very important – I get asked the question about Christians and other religions all the time. I find that the most important issue for Christians is that it is NOT our place to judge other people, that’s up to the father (thank goodness!). We actually have no idea for those that do not accept Jesus into their heart who will be in heaven and who will not be. What the scripture does state is the assurance that we have through Jesus. In my opinion to say that all Muslims or all Hindus for example will not be in heaven is a very dangerous position as it’s NOT our place to judge but to openly share our faith in consideration and respect. For example, your experience with the two Saudi’s
Keep up the great blogging…..it’s been a life saver while I’ve been traveling!
When people ask the question, “Do people of other religions get into heaven if they are good?”, the problem is that they are basing their entry into heaven on their “goodness”.
Problem is -NO ONE is “[b]good[/b]” enough, as we have ALL sinned. Being good is not the issue, being sin-free is. The only reason Christians are any different is not because we are “good enough”, it’s because of Jesus. He is the ONLY ONE out of ALL the religions, who dealt with the sin issue. He did it on the cross once and for ALL people who believe in Him. No other religion, can do this. That’s why only christians (who truely believe in Jesus as their Lord & saviour) can enter the kingdom of heaven – not because they are good, but because of Jesus.
That is a great way to outline the attitude we should have towards people of other religions. While it is important for us to understand who we are and what we believe. If we don’t respect people of other religions we miss many opportunities to reveal God’s love and compassion. I’ve twice had conversations with Muslims about my faith that they started (while having my hair cut)only to have them share about their beliefs and one even opened up that she had been visiting a Christian church as well but her family didn’t approve. She was seeking Godly wisdom so I was able to share that when I changed from one church to another I prayed and God revealed to my heart where He wanted me. What a great opportunity and I didn’t have to do anything because God was able to direct our conversation.
Hi Rob
Was this the blog relating to Halloween or is it another link?
Blessings, Ant
Rob,
I haven’t heard from you in a long while. I urge you to listen to this one minute podcast by leading apologist, Ravi Zacharias, where he explains that all major religions are exclusivistic. Listen at: https://www.rzim.org/listen/just-a-thought/all-religions-are-exclusivistic.
At their core, all major religions have a non-negotiable core of beliefs. It’s a misnomer to focus only on Christianity being exclusive.