Many Paths to God
TCF Sermon
February 13, 2011
Last week, many Americans were glued to their televisions for an annual shared cultural experience – it’s hard to say if it was the game or the commercials most people tuned in to watch.
Last May, many Americans were glued to their televisions for a different cultural phenomenon – that kind of group experience that only television can provide, for good or ill. Unfortunately, one of the things this particular group experience did, was promote a prevailing cultural myth – we’ll look at that in a moment.
How many of you watched some seasons of, or the finale of, the TV series Lost? Barb and I enjoy science fiction, and though this wasn’t purely sci-fi, it had elements of fantasy and sci fi, as well as some great character development, and a storyline that kept you guessing, that is, if you were inclined to stick with it through all the twists and turns.
For fans of any popular TV show, especially a show that has a serial format – that is, each new show brings revelations that build on things you’ve already learned – the ending of a show is a shared experience. That’s why when Lost ended, it was a shared experience for many, and provided many opportunities for conversations about what it all meant.
The show had what you might call a “feel good” ending, even if it didn’t answer all of the questions we had about the mysteries of the island where the survivors of this plane crash were Lost.
But the very end of the program seemed pretty clear in its message. The message as this series ended was this cultural myth that I mentioned a moment ago. This particular cultural myth is this: There are Many Paths to God.
Lost brought you this message in such an emotional way that you had to notice, and had to pay attention. Christianity Today noticed.
Despite its strong spiritual themes—many of them quite biblical—Lost ultimately embraces many religions. Without Jesus as Messiah, we are left with a do-it-yourself path to salvation, and no matter how many religions, statues, symbols, and icons you pile upon one another—as Lost did at the church in the finale's closing moments—it lacks true hope and any inkling of radical grace. Chris Seay, Christianity Today
A writer with the Chicago Tribune also noticed the message, though she viewed it positively. Let me read some of her thoughts about the series finale.
…after all the present-future-past machinations on this show, time did seem to stop in the last 20 minutes of the "Lost" series finale. The closing sequence was a (sort of) hymn, it was an emotionally cathartic sendoff, it was a beautiful reunion and a testament to what the show was about: Creating your own world. Creating your own fate. Creating a community of people that you can't exist without -- in any sphere, before or after death. “This is a place that you all made together so that you could find each other," (this is what a character in the show named) Christian (Shepherd) said (and (she writes) he did turn out to be a Christian shepherd, guiding his lost sheep, didn't he?). So, here's how the finale landed for me (she writes): The emotional part of the finale worked so well that I don't care much about the analytical/structural stuff. It felt right. It felt right" won't work as the basis for someone's PhD thesis, but I'm really glad things turned out. The emotional delivery of the finale quiets my logical side. I don't know [that] all has to be answered. But sometimes I don't want to analyze things, I simply want to feel, and on that count, "The End" (that was the title of the finale) delivered.
So here we see another example of how a cultural myth is widely spread through TV in this case. The producers create compelling characters – and you start caring about them, and become interested in their lives and their fate. Then, you want everything to turn out OK. So, if there are many paths to God, as this show’s ending proclaims, then all these characters you care about end up OK. It’s an ending that feels right. And television and movies are a huge contributor to this particular cultural myth.
Another significant influence is Oprah. It’s hard to underestimate this woman’s influence on spiritual themes in our country. Speaking of Oprah, let me use the mention of her as an excuse to tell you about our guest speaker in three weeks – that’s March 6 – the week after our missions conference ends.
No, Oprah’s not speaking – but someone who’s written a book about Oprah and her influence is speaking. He’s Dave Sterrett, an author and apologist, who wrote a book with Josh McDowell called “O” God, and has written other books too. He’s speaking at our leaders retreat that weekend, then will stay to speak Sunday morning, and to the BASIC youth on Sunday night. Anyway,
(Oprah) dismisses the idea that there is “one way” to God, when she says, “There couldn’t possibly be just one way. One of the mistakes that human beings make is believing that there is only one way to live,” she said. Instead, “there are many paths to what you call God.” Steve Rabey
So we have these significant cultural influencers proposing, and reinforcing, something so many people really want to believe. We have friends, family, neighbors we want to be OK when they’re gone. We know people who want to be OK with whatever path they’re pursuing in this life. But unfortunately, that’s not the truth. There are not many paths to God. Jesus said, “I am the way…no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Peter reinforced this when he said, referring to Jesus:
Acts 4:12 (NIV) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
So, why am I telling you this? When I began to sense direction for this morning’s message, I really wondered about it – I even sort of argued with the Lord. Why should this fellowship hear this message? Is there really anyone here who thinks that there are many paths to God?
Maybe not – but there may be some, or there may be some who waver on this fundamental truth. More importantly, when we are all so completely immersed in a culture that believes this falsehood, when we all have family and friends and acquaintances who believe this, it’s important to re-state and reinforce what the Word of God tells us.
Just like even water can erode rock, given a long enough and steady enough influence on that rock, we must be careful of the dangers of the amazingly pervasive influence of our culture. We must be careful that our culture does not erode the firm foundations of our faith. We have to periodically check our spiritual foundations, and make sure they’re still holding up the buildings of our individual faith.
And no one’s immune to this kind of erosion. So if you’re clear about this truth, consider this a sort of protective sealant this morning – kind of like that sealant you spread on your wood decks to keep them from rotting.
And if you’re not clear about this truth, then listen carefully – because this is a truly foundational truth for all of us as followers of Christ.
We could cite other examples of cultural myths that even Christians sometimes believe, or at least struggle with. In fact, I’ve thought of several that may become the theme of individual messages in the coming months, if the Lord leads me in this direction.
For example, related to this idea that there are many paths to God is the idea that there is no hell. Another clear example of how our cultural influences can erode over time, a previously-firmly-held idea is the cultural myth that homosexuality is just an alternative lifestyle.
Or this one: feelings are all that matter. Or how about this idea, memorialized in movies, TV and commercials: it’s not your fault.
Or the related idea that if it’s not your fault, then for everything wrong, you have to blame somebody.
The common denominators of all these cultural myths is that they are formed and influenced by our culture - they’ve come to be widely accepted after an erosion of previously-widely-held ideas - they’re all clearly unbiblical - they’re ideas reinforced with emotion more than with fact or logic or truth - they are all ultimately a product of our sin nature.
So back to this key cultural myth we’re exploring today: There are many paths to God. If you want to upset someone in our society today, one of the surest ways you can do that is to make this claim: No one can get to God any other way than through Jesus.
Make that claim and many people will call you narrow minded. Make that claim and some people will call you a bigot. Other people might call you a snob. Most people will call you intolerant – which is currently among the worst things you can be called in our culture.
We have so many options in most of our lives – why should it be any different when it comes to faith or religion? Of course, we are free to believe whatever we want to believe. And true tolerance, not the re-defined tolerance our culture expects, means we allow people to believe what they want to believe, without necessarily accepting it.
But that doesn’t make it true. That doesn’t make it right. Jesus predicted that He Himself would be a stumbling block, and this claim to exclusivity is a huge reason that He is, in fact, the stone that makes men stumble and the rock that makes them fall.
Author Lee Strobel thinks this claim of the exclusivity of Christ being the only way to God, is so controversial, because our culture has accepted three great myths about religion. He writes that the first myth about religion is that all religions are basically the same. Of course, as he notes, Christianity’s exclusivity is tied to the uniqueness of Jesus Himself. Whereas other religions promise to help you find truth, to find salvation, Jesus says He Himself is the truth, and He is eternal life, and the way to it.
Strobel writes this:
Other religions are spelled do, requiring works, whereas Christianity is spelled done, signifying Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
There’s a Buddhist parable that’s similar to the story of the Prodigal Son. But in this parable, the prodigal son is required to work off the penalty for his sins. Of course, in our Scriptures, the son is welcomed back with forgiveness and grace.
The second myth about religion is that Christianity is one philosophy among many. As we’ve noted, though we are in fact free here in America, to practice and believe in anything we want to, that doesn’t mean all religions are equally valid – equally true.
One key element Christianity has going for it is that Jesus proved who He was by living a perfect life, by fulfilling prophecies made about Him, by performing miracles, and by rising from the dead. And 500 people saw the risen Christ – this book, our Bible, includes their eyewitness testimony. That’s one reason that so many also want to debunk the Bible, as well as the claims of Jesus.
If what the word of God says is true and accurate, then these myths all fall apart.
The third myth, is that Christians are narrow-minded to think that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Yet, if we have any understanding of what sin is, what an incredible offense sin is against the absolute holiness of God, we realize someone has to pay the price for this offense.
The Bible clearly reveals Jesus as the only One qualified to pay it. Strobel tells the story of some friends of his. They had a baby girl who developed jaundice, a disorder of the liver that caused her skin and the whites of her eyes to turn yellow. The pediatrician told them jaundice can be a serious disease, but it’s also easily cured. All they had to do was to put the baby under a special light that helps the liver function normally.
The parents could have listened to this course of treatment from the doctor and said, "That sounds too easy. Just put her under a light? What if instead we scrub her with soap and water and dip her in bleach? Certainly if we worked hard enough we could get her normal coloring back."
The doctor would have looked at them and said, "You don't understand. There is only one way to cure your daughter." The parents might have replied, "What if we just ignore all this and pretend everything's okay. The jaundice is your truth, doc; it's not our truth. If we sincerely believe that, things will turn out for the best in the long haul."
The doctor would have said, "You're going to jeopardize the life of your child if you do that. There is only one way to cure her. You're hesitant to pursue treatment because it sounds too easy. But look at the credentials on my wall. I've studied at medical school. I've used what I've learned to treat and to cure countless babies. Trust me."
Now, think about this: Would anybody accuse those parents of being narrow-minded if they trusted a doctor with credentials, and pursued the only course of treatment that was going to cure their little girl?
Of course not! That’s not being narrow-minded. That is acting rationally, that’s believing the evidence.
Every person in this room has a terminal illness called "sin." The reason those of us who follow Jesus cling to him so tightly is that he is the Great Physician who has the only cure. We could try to scrub away our sins with good deeds, but it will not work. We can sincerely think that there are other ways of dealing with it. But we would be sincerely wrong. The truth is that only the Great Physician offers a treatment that will erase the stain of sin. He has credentials and credibility to back him up. So when we turn to him, we're not being narrow-minded. We are acting rationally and in accordance with the evidence. Lee Strobel
Jesus’ claim to exclusivity begins with the passage from John we read earlier:
John 14:6 (NASB95) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
The word here translated “way” means:
a road; by implication a progress (the route, act or distance); figurative(ly) a mode or means :- journey, (high-) way.
Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
But what the Word has to say about this way doesn’t end there. Many passages of scripture, in addition to Peter’s proclamation in Acts, which we read earlier, reinforce the exclusivity of Jesus’ claim about Himself. This is not an isolated idea or theme in the New Testament – just a single statement of Jesus.
Let’s spend a few minutes to explore just a sampling of the scriptures that teach this claim of the exclusivity of Christ as the only way to God. How about:
John 10:7 (NIV) Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
Hebrews 10:19-22 (NIV) Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Jesus is that new and living way described in this verse in Hebrews 10.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
It’s interesting to note, according to a Los Angeles Times story cited by Randy Alcorn in his book Heaven, that for every American who believes he’s going to hell, 120 people believe they’re going to heaven. This tells us how widespread this cultural myth is.
But Jesus said He is the gate. And in Matthew, in the passage we just read, Jesus tells us that only a few find it, and that the gate is narrow.
Taking into account what this passage tells us, the opposite of the narrow gate, is the broad road that leads to destruction, and that broad road must include those many paths to God that so many seem to believe in.
John 1:10-13 ESV He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This passage explodes a related cultural myth: If it’s true that there are many paths to God, then we’re all children of God.
How many times have you heard that? We’re all God’s children. Maybe you’ve said it yourself. But you know, according to Scripture, there’s one big problem: It’s just not true. We are not all children of God.
John tells us that all who receive Him, that is, receive Jesus, those are the ones who become children of God. We may all be God’s creatures, but again, here’s an exclusivity that goes against the grain of our cultural myth – we’re not all God’s children.
John 3:18 (NIV) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This sounds pretty exclusive to me, too. As do these verses from 1 John:
1 John 5:10-12 (NIV) Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 2:23 (NIV) No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
We see from these many verses from the gospel of John, as well as the epistles John wrote, that this was a recurring theme of his – the exclusivity of Christ as the only Way to salvation.
John 17:3 (NIV) Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
And my last example this morning, from among the many more I could cite:
1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV) For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
It’s important to recognize that a study of Scripture shows us that any entry into the presence of God is mediated. That is, we can’t get in on our own – we need a mediator, a go-between. It was true in the Old Testament, and the New Testament, too.
We need someone who can get us in. We need someone who can represent our interests, as well as the interests of the offended party – in this case, that’s God, whose holiness we’ve offended by our sin. Just as it’s practically impossible for just any ordinary citizen to get in to visit with the President of the United States, who’s the one in charge of our country, without knowing someone who has a way to get you in – perhaps a congressman or a senator – we cannot get in to see God, who’s in charge of everything, without someone representing our case, and making a way in for us.
There’s only one person who has the right to enter the presence of God on His own, and the only way we can get to God is through Him. Jesus stated it clearly: I am the way. No one gets to God except through me.
Author Erwin Lutzer writes:
Perhaps now we understand why there are not many ways into God's presence. Only one Person is able to meet God's requirements for a mediator. Only one Person can give us the perfection we need to stand with confidence in the presence of the Almighty: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Mathematics, like all truth, reminds us that there is only one way to be right, but many ways to be wrong.
Think about this. If you live in Tulsa, there are a handful of bridges to get you from the east side of the Arkansas River to the west side. Now, you can choose the 21st St Bridge, the I 44 bridge, or the 71st Street bridge. You can sit by the river all day and discuss which one to use to cross the river, but at some point, you have to commit to a bridge and cross it to get to the other side.
The point of this analogy is, of course, that you have to weigh the evidence, decide which is the best, and then choose – if you don’t choose, you’ll never cross the river.
But this analogy is only so useful, and breaks down here, because you can in fact choose different ways, different bridges, to cross the Arkansas River and still get to the other side.
So think about it this way. Of course, you do have to choose. But, what if there were many bridges to cross the river, yet only one that would not crumble when you crossed? Only one actually strong enough, sturdy enough, to hold you up to get you to the other side. Which bridge would you want to cross then? Easy answer, right?
That’s what Jesus is telling us – He’s the only bridge you can cross, even if it looks as if there may be other bridges to get us to God, there are not. When it comes to eternal life, there’s only one Bridge, only one Way. It’s the bridge that our dear sister Johanna Vesanen finished crossing, from this life into the next, on Friday. It’s the bridge we can cross – if we take the right way there.
"All men are by nature condemned. There is but one way of being delivered from this state-by believing on the Son of God. They who do not believe or remain in that state are still condemned, FOR they have not embraced the only way in which they can be freed from it."
Barnes Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical.
We live in a culture that believes that there are many paths to God. What’s more, our culture also seems to think that one of the worst offenses we can commit is insisting that something is true not just for us, but for everybody.
And I’m not suggesting that we ever be obnoxious about this truth – the very idea of this exclusivity is enough of an offense to people, without our obnoxiousness making it more offensive.
Yes, we need to be winsome and gentle and kind and compassionate in our approach. But these days, spirituality is big, and with that spirituality, we see a growing acceptance that there are many ways to reach God. Creeds are out and feelings are in.
At a state university a sign read, "It is OK for you to think you are right. It is not OK for you to think someone else is wrong."
That’s our culture’s nonsensical, re-defined definition of tolerance. Yet, despite the widespread belief in these myths about religion, and this key cultural myth that there are many paths to God, if we believe Scripture, Christianity is absolutely unique.
We cannot reconcile Christianity with Islam. We cannot reconcile Christianity with Buddhism. We cannot reconcile Christianity with secular humanism. We cannot reconcile Christianity with any other religion.
Jesus said I am the way. He said, “No one comes to God except through me.”
Why do we do what we do at TCF? The next few weeks, we’re going to focus on world missions, with our annual missions conference. We’re going to hear about and learn about another religion. Why would we do missions at all if there are many paths to God? Why sacrifice, why risk, if there are many paths to God?
Here’s why. There are not many paths to God. There’s one way to heaven. And we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and there is none beside Him.
Let’s be sure this truth takes root in us, and becomes a part of our faith foundation, because it’s a critical component of our motivation as believers, and as recipients, and witnesses, of His saving grace.
Pray
