Sermon from September 20, 2009
"Is Christianity the Only True Religion?"
John 14:6

Several hundred of us have read the book Just Walk Across the Room by Bill Hybels. It presents his belief that hearing someone else’s story and telling that person your faith story could make all the difference in that person’s life.

But how do we earn the right to hear someone else’s story? One way is how we respond to people who have questions about God. They have them, even if they have never put them into words. So, if a person asks one of those questions, or if you raise the question, how we respond to the person who asks the question will be crucial. If we do it well, the ensuing conversation could go on for a long time. I’d like to talk about one such question that comes up often and how we might respond to people who ask it.

Here’s the question: “Do you think Christianity is the only true religion?” That question carries a lot of emotion. Let’s begin with two statements that represent the concerns that lie behind that question.

First: “How could there be just one true faith? It’s arrogant to say that your religion is superior and try to convert everyone else to it. Surely all the religions are equally good and valid for meeting the needs of their particular followers.” (Tim Keller, The Reason for God, 3)

Here’s another sample: “Religious exclusivity is not just narrow – it’s dangerous. Religion has led to untold strife, division, and conflict. It may be the great enemy of peace in the world. If Christians continue to insist that they have ‘the truth’ – and if other religions do this as well – the world will never know peace.” (ibid)

Those are not statements by seasoned atheists. 20-year-olds living in NYC made them. Their statements may make you angry, or you may find them reasonable or at least understandable.

Feelings aside, what would be the first words out of your mouth in response to their statements? If you are a good listener, the first words out of your mouth ought to be a question. For example, “Why do you feel so strongly about that?” And then just listen and ask more questions.

I could understand if you said to me, “Why should the first words out of my mouth be a question?” Here’s my thinking about that.

First, Christianity no longer has a privileged place in American life. It is just another set of beliefs for people to choose from. Diversity of beliefs, which compete for our attention and allegiance, now characterizes American life, especially in the metropolitan centers of our nation. Diversity is the basis of pluralism. Pastor Mark dealt with that last Sunday in the companion sermon to this sermon. I’ll come back to that.

Second, Evangelicals (and Baptists) have a bad reputation in some quarters. Some people think we are nothing more than the right wing of the Republican Party. Others associate us with a narrow personal morality. Still others think we are fanatics who haven’t had an original thought in a hundred years.

Our faith is one voice out of many, and some people may have a low opinion of us. If we want to walk across the room and start a conversation about God, we need to speak and act in a way that makes us worth listening to and dispels misconceptions about the kind of people we are. We do that by being good listeners, who ask good questions.

What We Believe
Back now to the original question: Do we believe that Christianity is the one true religion? The answer is, Yes, but! The answer is yes. But why do we believe that? And what do we not mean by that? And how do we express that belief? I need to propose some answers for you to consider.

First, why do we believe that Christianity is the one true religion? Because that is how Christianity understands itself. We don’t make up Christianity as we go along. As with our genetic code and our citizenship and Basic Training at Parris Island, we inherit something we didn’t invent, and it proceeds to shape the way we think and live. So, how does Christianity understand itself? Let’s look at four statements from the New Testament. They say dramatically that Christianity is the one true religion.

First is John 14:6. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The definite article, repeated three times, carries enormous weight: the way . . . the truth . . . the life. The exclusive nature that Jesus claims for Himself continues in the next two words: No one. Do you really believe that Jesus is a great moral teacher? If so, then, you can’t ignore the exclusive claim He made about Himself, no matter how awkward His words are to skeptical people.

Here is a second statement in Acts 4:12. The Apostle Peter said: “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 name he referred to was Jesus Christ. The phrases no one else and no other name restrict salvation to the actions of Jesus Christ. Pretty exclusive!

Peter was speaking to an unfriendly, skeptical, Jewish audience when he said that. The Apostle Paul was speaking to an unfriendly, skeptical, Gentile audience, when he said what Acts 17:31 reports. God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” The man he has appointed is Jesus Christ. Christ will judge the world with justice. That makes Jesus unique among Mohammed, Buddha and Moses.

Let’s look at one more remarkable statement of Christianity’s claim to be the final, decisive revelation of what God is like and what He is doing in the world. Ephesians 1:9-10 says that God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, and His will is to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. God’s purpose is to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. That, says the Christian faith, is where history is headed, and when it gets there, Christ will be supreme.

Back again to the original question: Do we believe that Christianity is the one true religion? The answer is: Yes, because that is Christianity’s understanding of itself! By becoming Christians we inherit something we didn’t invent, and it proceeds to shape the way we think and act.

When we say that Christianity is the one true religion, we mean that Jesus is Lord. We learn what God is like from Jesus, and Jesus is the one who has overcome death and evil and will restore the human family to happiness.

Being Good Listeners
Now, what do we not mean, when we say that Christianity is the one true religion? First, we do not mean that other religions are completely false. Anytime we can find common ground with people we disagree with, the conversation will be smoother. For example, devout Buddhist families honor father and mother in a way that is entirely consistent with the Fifth Commandment that Jews and Christians honor.

Second, when we say that Christianity is the one true religion, we do not mean that Christians should coerce anyone to believe in Christ. 1700 years ago, an unknown Christian said that “the God of Christians ‘saves by persuasion, not compulsion.” (The Letter to Diognetus, quoted in George Weigel, Against the Grain, 81) Coerced faith is no faith at all.

Many years ago, I was invited to part of a panel on the campus of Syracuse University. We were to talk about religious topics. I was the only evangelical on the panel. Someone raised a sticky moral question, which I no longer remember. But I remember how I answered, and I remember what one of the more hostile members of the panel said to me afterwards.

I answered by telling a story I had heard from Paul Harvey, a radio personality from the 1950s and 1960s. He said, “There are some jokes I will tell among men and women. There are some I will tell only among men. If that seems like a double standard, I can only say there are some jokes I won’t tell at all.” The point I made that day was that the answers we give to sticky moral questions will not be equal in value, and we need to take the time to sort through the answers before we reach a conclusion.

The more hostile member of the panel said to me afterwards with kindness in his voice, “I didn’t expect you to say that. I thought you’d just tell us the right answer and pay no attention to what other people were saying.”

The word for what I am talking about is respect. It goes a long way to tempering the emotions that accompany important questions, because it takes the person raising the questions seriously. Once the person really believes that you take him seriously, you can have a good conversation.

Here’s the point. When someone asks you, “Do you think Christianity is the only true religion?” it is important initially to direct the conversation away from your answer to the person’s question and what lies behind it. You might do it this way: “Yes, I do believe that, but I’d like to know what you think.” And then, listen, listen, listen. And ask good questions to let the person know you are listening, not just thinking what you are going to say next.

Conversation Seasoned with Salt
I don’t mean we should just be passive. I do mean that we have a better chance of being heard, if the other person knows we are listening to him. There is a wonderful text of scripture in Colossians 4:6: Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. We are to be good listeners and salty conversationalists. Here are some suggestions about how to do that, when people raise tough questions.

First of all, know what you believe. When someone asks you, “Do you think Christianity is the only true religion?” it is good to say first, “Yes, I do believe that. I’d like to know what you think.” But at some point someone is going to ask you, “How can you believe that?”

That’s when you say, “Because that is how Christianity understands itself.” And then you need to be able to talk about the four New Testament passages I talked about earlier. There are many others, but the four I mentioned make the point clearly.

Second, there is a salty, all-purpose question that we often never think to ask in these conversations. “How do you know that?” “You say that all religions are equally good and valid, but how do you know that?” That is a devastatingly powerful question, and we need to ask it with great gentleness and respect and then listen carefully to the answers people give.

You might follow it up – ever so gently! – with a second question that goes something like this. “You say that all religions are equal and valid. Do you really believe that those religious cults that allow a man to have multiple wives and to marry off girls at age 14 are as good as Christianity? Do you really believe that the religion of the Taliban that destroys schools that teach girls who want to learn is equally as good as a faith like Christianity that promotes learning among boys and girls equally?”

By the way, if it were me, I’d probably try to soften the moment by saying, “These differences bother me. I see video footage of a smoldering girls’ school in Pakistan, and it makes me angry. I disagree strongly with that; and I just don’t see how that is equally good as my faith that encourages the education of my daughters and granddaughters.”  And then see where the conversation goes.

There is a third question that would definitely spice up the conversation. I hope you would be able to raise it very gently. “You say that all religions are equal and valid. You seem really sure about that. In fact, you seem to be as sure that you are right about that, as I am sure that Christianity is the true religion. I respect your convictions. You are obviously sincere. But aren’t you trying to persuade me to change my mind as much as I might try to persuade you to become a Christian? Don’t you really believe your way of thinking is superior to my way of thinking? No offense! It just seems that way to me. I wonder what you think about that.”

There is a fourth question that you might pull out at some point in the conversation. “You say that all religions are equal and valid. Do you have a personal faith that matters to you? Would you tell me about it?”

We’re back where this sermon started. Bill Hybel’s book presents his belief that hearing someone else’s story and telling that person your faith story could make all the difference in that person’s life. When you ask someone to tell you about her personal faith, you are about to hear a part of that person’s story. That opens the way for you to tell your own faith story about how Jesus Christ has changed your life. Has Jesus Christ changed your life? Could you put it in a hundred words or less?

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
Listen to this! Pluralism is . . . “‘Creeds intelligibly in conflict.’” (Weigel, ibid, 100) “True pluralism is an exercise in tolerance; and true tolerance . . . is not the avoidance of differences, or an indifference to differences, but the thoughtful engagement of differences within the bonds of civility.” (ibid, 100-101)

People have questions about our faith. Our answers and their answers to those questions can be very different. In this sermon I have encouraged “the thoughtful engagement of differences within the bonds of civility.” That will get and keep for us a place at the table in conversations about Christ within our secular culture.

Now, before I pray, I’d like you to respond to what you’ve heard today. What stands out? What can you take away from this sermon that could help you this week? Identify it and then speak to God about it. After a minute or so, I’ll conclude in prayer.