SEPTEMBER 2005
Dear Mt. Olive Family and
Friends,
This
summer I was asked by the Faith & Values editor of the
Invitations like this from
the media don’t come along often. I
viewed it as an opportunity to publicly share my Christian faith and accepted
the offer. You may not find the topic
particularly intriguing, but it is a weighty issue in today’s increasingly
anti-Christian environment.
I did some
reading on the subject and found some good definitions:
"Pluralism is an affirmation of the
validity of every religion, and the refusal to choose between them, and the
rejection of world evangelism...."
"Religious Pluralism
is the view that all religions are equally valid as ways to God. Pluralists
often refer to the fact that, just as there are many paths up
"...religious
pluralism is the theory that the great world religions constitute varying
conceptions of, and responses to, the one ultimate, mysterious divine
reality."
Seena Fazel, member of the Baha'i World Faith
I also asked a
couple people how they might respond to the question. John Mueller, chairman of our outreach
committee, had an excellent reply:
“It is interesting to consider how many of the original citizens
of our country came to this land to escape religious intolerance. In the Old Country where you lived determined
what you were supposed to believe; the religion of the ruler was the religion
of the people. In America, the founding fathers did not all believe the same,
but they did have a world view that acknowledged a deity who was and is most
commonly associated with the God of the Bible.
“It was perhaps simpler then, but today with the many competing
beliefs in our society there a tendency to fragment into sub-groups who share
an equal belief, with its counter tendency of toleration. It is unfortunately common today to think
that “all roads lead to
“There is, however, a common thread that permeates the religious
pluralism like so many brands of cereal calling out to “Try me!” True religion tries to answer the ultimate
questions, “Why am I here?” ”Where did this world come from?”
“What is there after death?” To these
questions comes the non-changing answer of the Bible: You are separated from
God because of your sin, but there is a Redeemer, God’s own Son, Jesus, who has
paid the ultimate sacrifice, because of God’s eternal, boundless love. The ageless book, the Bible, has survived the
shifting sands of religious pluralism to tell about sin and its consequences,
and God’s eternal love demonstrated by His sending His one and only Son.”
Pastor Norb
Meier had the following to say:
“I'm glad they asked you and not me -
they know whom to ask for a good answer.
“Nothing more has come to mind than my initial reaction I
mentioned on the phone. On the one hand, religious pluralism means also that we
have religious freedom. As we believe we can worship. On the other hand, I
believe religious pluralism leads to moral relativism. There is no absolute
right or wrong. The impression is given that all belief systems are valid.
However, because they often contradict each other obviously they cannot all be
true. And religious pluralism leads to the thought that it is not politically
correct to be exclusive in one's religious faith.”
This, then, is what I wrote
and what appeared in the Star Tribune:
Religious “diversity” presents the freedom of observing
other faiths without participating in them.
I’m grateful that
Religious
“pluralism” is understood by many to mean that there is no absolute
“Truth” but many “truths”. What is red
to me may be green to you, but that’s okay because truth is relative. Pluralism calls for tolerance, but often
translates into “I’ll tolerate you as long as you’ll agree that red is
green.” “I’ll accept your opinion that
Jesus is the only Way, Truth, and Life so long as you
agree that all religions are equally relevant.”
Religious
“gobbledygook” is the tragic result of such pluralism. It leads to chaos, confusion, and
catastrophe. To recognize diversity or “plurality”
is one thing - accepting the reality that we can live alongside one
another. But to insist that the reds
embrace the greens necessitates stationing a hearse at every stoplight.
Interestingly, the answer
given by one of the other respondents serves as a prime example of the
“gobbledygook” I referenced. She wrote:
“But no one has a hold on “The Truth.” We
are all searchers. The purpose of
religion is to search for that which is true and honest and decent and
holy. There are many paths to that
truth. Religious pluralism reminds us of
that fact every day…”
I heard the other day that
a growing number of Christians now believe that it is not necessary to believe
in Jesus to be saved. I don’t understand
how a person can say he/she believes the Bible and still allows for salvation
apart from Christ.
What I do understand is the
erosion of Biblical absolutes as a result of the widespread tolerance and
popularity of Religious Pluralism. Pick
a god. Any god. Makes no difference who your god is or what
your god teaches. Just follow the god of
your desires and everything will be fine.
In the aftermath of what
may well be the most devastating disaster on American soil since the Flood of
Noah’s day, put yourselves in the shoes of the millions of folks in Louisiana,
Alabama, and Mississippi who have no house to go home to. No possessions to call their own. No longer an address in the
phonebook. There are no words to
describe their hurts, their loss, their suffering. Our hearts go out to them.
Were I in their shoes, the
one thing I would want and need in this dark hour is the rock-solid assurance
that there is a God who loves me – cares for me – and will bring me through
this – even if I can’t fathom why He would allow this to happen. A God who promises that
beyond this life there is – for me - an eternal home in heaven through Jesus
Christ.
In our darkest hour, we
don’t need meaningless gobbledygook. We
need the sure, sound, solid, security of our Savior God, and the reliable,
trustworthy truths of His infallible Word.
The distressing hurricane
scenes we are seeing on our TV screens should serve to remind us that we are so not
in charge! But what a gracious privilege
to know the One who is in charge! We may
not understand – we may never understand – but we trust the One who holds the
whole world in His hands.
Religious Pluralists don’t
know that peace. They can’t know
it. Gobbledygook doesn’t bring
peace. Jesus brings peace. He brings His peace through the absolute
Truth of His inerrant Word.
Folks, be thankful that you
still hold to the conviction that the Bible is the absolute Truth of God. Through the Bible you know, believe, and
trust the One who is The Truth.
And that, dear friends, is
what will bring you through the hurricanes of life and land you safely on the
shores of heaven!
In peace,
Pastor Carl
Henkel