IS CHRISTIANITY INTOLERANT?
I want to tell you about an imaginary character –although, in truth, we all know people who think just like our imaginary character. We’ll call our character “John Doe”. Now John prides himself on being a tolerant person. Because of his exposure to good, hard-working people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, John has come to believe that it doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you are sincere about your beliefs. Interestingly, John himself goes to church every Sunday. But because he is so tolerant, he would be the last person in the world to impose his religious beliefs on anyone else ---like his neighbors or his friends or his family. John thinks these other people will find their own way to God, in the end. After all, Hinduism has it’s way – Islam has it’s way --- Buddhism has it’s way --- John has his way – and the people in his life will find their way.
John kind of views all religions like the longitude lines on a globe --- eventually they all wind up in the same place. After all, he reasons, God wouldn’t be so intolerant as to let only Christians into heaven. So, the other day one of John’s elderly neighbors came to him, holding an unmarked bottle of pills. The neighbor said, “John, somebody gave me these pills and said they would help my arthritis. But I’m not sure how many I should take. Can you help me?” John looked at the unmarked bottle and the tablets inside. He thought they looked a little like the tablets of rat poison he had seen at the hardware store. But what did he know? I mean, he would hate to take away this poor neighbor’s hope that these tablets must might help her. So, John said, “As long as you really believe these pills will help, they should take care of your problem. Go ahead and take as many as you like.” After all, he reasoned to himself, it doesn’t really matter what you believe, just as long as you are sincere about your beliefs.
Now you may be thinking, “Come on, preacher, that’s a little over the top. There’s a big difference between religious choice and advising someone to take something that you think may be poisonous.” But is there really such a big difference? You see, at the heart of what I want you to consider this morning – is the issue of TRUTH. To say that it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you’re sincere – or that all religions are the same down deep --- to say that all spiritual paths lead to God --- well, that’s just logical nonsense. And it really is on the same level as claiming that any pill can cure arthritis.
The plain fact is that different religions offer very different and mutually exclusive descriptions of God – of salvation – of eternity – and of how to live your life. For instance, Hinduism claims that there are many gods --- and they are all subservient to the one impersonal god, Brahma --- and that Brahma transcends good and evil. They claim that this world is something like a dream, in which we are working our way toward Nirvana through numerous cycles of reincarnation. Buddhism teaches that there is no Supreme Being at all – and that there is no standard of good and evil – no standard for universal truth. Islam, like Christianity, believes in one true god – Allah. But Allah is very different from the god of the Bible. Islam, like Christianity, offers an eternal afterlife --- but such a reward is earned, not given freely by grace. And heaven to the Islamic man is highlighted by the promise of sexual favor from 72 virgins. I’m not sure what the Islamic women have to look forward to, but the men get virgins.
So, friends, when someone says to you, “All religions are basically the same” --- I have a good answer for you. You can say, “No, they’re not. Hinduism and Islam are very different beliefs. Christianity and Buddhism are very different beliefs. These beliefs are so different that they cannot possibly all be right.” And by saying that, you are not being intolerant – you are simply acknowledging that it is completely illogical to say that they all could be right. The truth is simply this --- one of them is right and the rest are wrong --- or else they are all wrong.
So, as we get to the subject of today’s message --- is Christianity intolerant? --- I want to start with something Jesus said in answer to that question. Open your bibles to John 14:6 –“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Are there many different ways to get to God? Our imaginary friend, John Doe, and a whole lot of other people today, want to believe that all paths and all faiths eventually lead to God. In other words, they want to believe that all religions are equal --- and all religions are equally good ways to discover God, to live a quality life, and to get to heaven. In their minds, Mohammed and Buddha and Confucius and Jesus are all equally real and equally capable of getting us to God and heaven.
Of course, there is nothing new about all this. During the Old Testament period, Israel’s neighbors thought they could get in touch with God by sacrificing their children. 1 Kings 18 details the story of Elijah as he challenges to the people of Israel to make a decision about who God is ---V 21 –“Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is god, follow him.” Baal was the god of the Canaanites, and many Israelites had been worshiping him as well as their own god. They didn’t want to be intolerant, you see. As this story unfolds in 1 Kings, Elijah stands alone against 450 prophets of the god Baal and 400 prophets of the god Asherah. In a dramatic test of their faith, each calls upon their god to demonstrate his power. The prophets of Baal and Asherah prove to be powerless. These prophets dance around and scream and cut themselves with spears, but their god doesn’t show up. But when Elijah calls upon the God of Israel, fire falls from the sky --- and the one true God shows up in a big way.
In the NT, we encounter the Pharisees --- a group of religious leaders that that thought they would earn God’s favor and get to heaven by keeping the letter of the law. Today we have people like Shirley Maclaine – she claims that voices from her distant past have revealed to her that she is god. And she says that anyone of us who are willing to listen to our distant voices will also find themselves to be a god. And people listen to her and they believe her.
A few years ago we had the Heaven’s Gate cult. Remember them? They believed they would get to god and to heaven by killing themselves and joining a group of aliens behind a comet.
The suicide bombers of 9/11 were counting on an instant trip to Paradise with all the virgins they could handle.
Scientologists believe that humanity is filled with negative emotions that were the result of an alien war many centuries ago. The defeated alien army were banished to earth where they became spirits that entered and corrupted human beings. The only way to get back to god is to confront and, ultimately, overcome these alien spirits. Then we become eternal.
I could go on and on. Every different faith has a very different set of ideas. So, how many ways are there to God? Our friend, John Doe, would like to believe there are as many different ways to God as there are different groups and beliefs.
But you know something friends, that just doesn’t make any sense. How can all these different ideas about God be equally right? They cant. And do you know why I say that just doesn’t make sense? Because nobody believes that about anything else.
Suppose you need to get to Cincinnati. You would get on I-71 going north, right? But suppose I believed that all roads led there? I could just get on 65 south and get to Cincinnati – or I could ride on down Dixie Highway to get there.
Suppose you lose electricity in your house and you hire an electrician to come over and fix the problem. He opens up your circuit box and looks at all the red and white and green and black wires and he just decides that it doesn’t really matter where you hook up all those colored wires --- because they are all pretty much the same.
Do you get the picture here? It just doesn’t make any sense to believe that all faiths lead to God – or that they are all equally valid. My friends, we live in a society that has fallen in love with the idea of tolerance. The very word “intolerant” has become something very negative. But there are times when intolerance is a good thing.
In that verse from John 14 that we read earlier, Jesus cuts through all this stuff about other paths, other faiths, and other ways. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Let’s be honest, shall we? That is a pretty intolerant thing to say. And some would say that it makes the Christian faith an intolerant religion.
But the fact is, it’s Jesus himself who is intolerant of any other religion or faith. Jesus tells us there is only one path that leads to God --- and that’s Him. According to Jesus, all paths do NOT lead to God, to eternity, or the heaven. Only one path does.
Let me explain why this is true. Remember I told you earlier that the central issue at hand this morning was truth. So, let’s take that phrase that Jesus used and examine the truth of it. Let’s look at that phrase, “The Way.”
When it comes to “The Way”, Jesus wasn’t the only person who used that expression. Shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven it was used to identify the early church. A Pharisee by the name of Saul, who later came to be the Apostle Paul, went to Damascus to persecute members of “The Way.” Acts 9:2 –“He asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there that belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”
And later in the city of Ephesus there was a clash between some silversmiths and the followers of Jesus. Acts 19:23 –“About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.”
When Paul stood on trial before Governor Felix, he said ---Acts 24:14a –“However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way.”
But the idea of “The Way” isn’t just a NT concept. It also appears lots of times in the OT. The Exodus out of Egypt, for example, was talked about as The Way out of slavery and into the Promised Land.
Throughout the Psalms we read of “The Way.”
Psalm 27:11 –“Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path.”
Psalms 32:8a–“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…”
Psalms 119:30a–“I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.”
And then there were the words of Isaiah the prophet who foretold the ministry of John the Baptist ---Isaiah 40:3 –“A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord…”
My friends, when Jesus said He was “The Way”, He was wrapping all these things around Himself --- and more!
So what is it that Jesus was actually saying when He claimed to be “The Way”? Now, “The Way” was not something handed down from the rabbis of Israel. It’s not learning about the doctrines of Jesus. It’s not what Jesus said or did. It’s not what the Apostles wrote about Jesus --- and it’s not what has been written in the thousands of theology books you can find in the Christian book store.
“The Way” is Jesus Himself. John 14: 5-6 –“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, ‘I am the way…” The Way is Jesus. The Way means following Jesus --- and that means so much more than any system of beliefs or doctrines. So even if you know theology backwards and forwards --- have a Master’s degree from Seminary --- know all the characters and all the stories of the OT and NT --- attend church regularly --- give to the poor – serve the needy --- even if you have done all those things, but do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are not following “The Way.”
To follow “The Way”, you need to have a personal, living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ where you love him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.
The Way is Jesus. The Way is also a road that is going somewhere. It is not an aimless, wandering path. It has a definite destination – a definite endpoint. When Jesus say’s He is The Way, He’s saying that He is The Way to the Father --- The Way to the Father’s House --- where Jesus says –“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”
The Way is also the way of salvation from our sin. Don’t forget, Jesus made this incredible statement about being “The Way” just before He hung on the cross until He died. He said, “I am the truth”, just before the lies of evil men nailed Him to that cross. He said, “I
am the life”, just before He was placed dead in a tomb.
My friends, Moses could meditate on the Law --- Mohammed could brandish a sword --- Buddha could give personal counsel ---Confucius could offer wise sayings --- But none of these men was qualified to offer an atonement for the sins of the world. But because of His death and resurrection, Jesus is the Way of Salvation. Jesus is “The Way” because He died in our place and for our sins.
You want a picture of Jesus? There it is right there. We broke the rules. We are the ones who fall short of God’s glory. We have offended God’s righteousness and holiness. Yet it was Jesus who paid the price for our offense by His death on the cross.
And what was the result? Through Jesus Christ – through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead – we have The Way to God – to heaven – and to eternal life.
How many ways are there to God? Jesus says –“I am the way …. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Friends, we live in an age where tolerance has assumed one of the highest positions among human values. But as we have seen from the words of Jesus himself, intolerance really isn’t a misconception about Christianity. Remember this sermon series is all about the misconceptions about our faith ---- but, as it turns out, intolerance isn’t one of them. In fact, Christianity is about as intolerant of other religions as you can get. But I am not making any apologies for that --- and I am not going to try to explain that away. Jesus said there is one way—and that was Him. And when liberal Christians try to appear as though their faith has room for any other interpretation, they are belittling these words of the Christ. And if I try to soften these words of Christ to make someone else feel better, then I am watering down the message of Christ. And I will not do that. I am a minister for the Gospel of Jesus Christ --- and I believe every word He ever spoke was truth. So, if He says He’s the only way – then I say He’s the only way.
Now, our friend John Doe would say –“That’s too exclusive. That leaves out too many good people.”
But listen to me now. While Christianity is certainly intolerant of other beliefs based on what Jesus said in John 14:6, our faith can never be described as exclusive. In fact, it is the most inclusive faith that the world has ever known. When Christ died on the cross He did it for the rich man and the poor man – the educated and the uneducated --- He did it for every race of people in every nation on earth --- He did it for the kind and the cruel --- the loved and the unloved and the unlovable ---- He died for the infant and the elderly --- He poured out all His blood and He died upon that cross for every single man and woman ever given life. The shadow of the cross covers you and it covers me and it covers all who ever come to it.
Jesus made it very clear that He would not tolerate any thing other than the truth of His Father --- He made it very clear that there was no other way to get there than through Him. But Jesus also made it very clear that “The Way” was for everyone. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” WHOSOEVER!!