Dear Dr. E: I was talking to a friend this week who was offended by my belief in the exclusivity of Christianity. He argued that my views are closed-minded and intolerant. How should I respond to those who contend that all religions are the same and that Christians who believe Jesus is the “only way” are bigoted and judgmental? — Fellow Christ-follower from Kansas
Dear Fellow Follower: I had a friend tell me once that when he was a kid, he and a buddy would fish in the irrigation reservoir on the other side of a rice field close to his house. To get to their fishing hole, they usually took an old ATV trail that wound its way through the woods. This path was circuitous and meandering, but it was dry and led them right to the comfortable banks of their favorite fishing spot.
But one day, these two boys became impatient and decided to take a shorter route. The pond could be seen clear as day, after all, from their backyard. Why take all the time walking through the woods when their destination was just a stone’s throw away on the other side of the rice field? So, my friend and his fishing partner headed off with their tackle boxes and rods in hand and waterproof rubber boots on their feet.
Well, you guessed it. Within just a few steps, they began sinking deep into the mud. It was so thick and sticky that they were involuntarily barefoot by the time they were halfway across the field. In their tracks, each had left one boot, then another, a sock, and another. It was a mess. It was like quicksand. They had taken the wrong path. They had chosen the wrong road.
I read once of a Christian apologist who was speaking at the Veritas Forum at Harvard University. After his presentation, there was a Q-and-A time when he was confronted by a student who asked the same question as your friend.
“All religions are basically equal,” said the student to the guest speaker. “There are many paths up the mountain, but they all lead to the same summit.”
The apologist’s response was classic: “[Indeed] all religions are the same,” he answered, “except for their understanding about the character of God, of the cosmology and meaning of the universe, of human nature, of human value, of the nature of reality, of ethics, the good life, charity and kindness, sexuality, suffering, joy, hope, salvation, and our eternal destination of either heaven or hell.”
His point was crystal clear. Yes, all worldviews are equal, except in matters critical to life and death, social and physical health, as well as temporal and eternal existence. I guess if you set these “minor issues” aside, then all roads do lead to the same place.
Do we really believe that all paths are equal and lead to the same destination, or do common sense and basic logic tell us that if you want to get from point A to point B, it is wise to get a map and follow a guide? Maybe choosing to follow the one who shows the way, who knows the right path, and who exemplifies the right ideas will help us avoid getting lost.
Robert Frost reminded us that as we approach the diverging cultural roads before us, “choosing the one less traveled” does “make all the difference.”
And Jesus was equally clear. “I am the way, the truth, the life,” he said, “No one comes to the
Father but through me.”
“Broad is the gate that leads to destruction … but narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few will find it.”
There is a road made of rock rather than sand. It isn’t very wide. It may seem more difficult, and it may appear you’re alone in choosing it. But it is the one and only path that avoids the muck and mire of today’s cultural, moral, and political swamp, while hundreds of other options lead you straight into the mess. Yes, it may be less traveled, but it will make a huge difference.
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