The Issue: “Few will choose to totally dismiss the Bible and believe instead in The Da Vinci Code; there is a greater danger, though, of many choosing to believe both the Bible and The Da Vinci Code.”
- I imagine that relatively few people will choose, after having read The Da Vinci Code, to completely buy into its line of thought and totally reject the Bible. There will be some, but they will be relatively few.
- The greater likelihood, I believe, is that people will come away from the novel or the book thinking that some of it is probably true while still believing that the Bible is also true.
- The fact that the two books makes conflicting claims is not a problem for the mindset of most Americans. George Barna (Virtual America, 1994) asked Americans if they agree with the following statement: “There is no such thing as absolute truth; two people could define truth in totally conflicting ways, but both could still be correct.” The results? 72% of Americans agreed with that statement! 72%! Despite the fact that it is an obviously ridiculous notion.
- The idea in play here is called “syncretism,” or to put it a more colorful way - welcome to the salad bar! Syncretism is a fancy word for the very common belief today that you can combine elements of different “belief systems” - a little Christianity, a little Buddhism, a little American dream, etc. - and create your own custom faith. It’s kind of like going to the salad bar - choose what you like and leave what you don’t like.
- For example, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar argues, “I consider myself a spiritual person. I believe in an idea of God, although it’s my own personal ideal. I find most religions interesting, and I’ve been to every kind of denomination: Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist. I’ve taken bits from everything and customized it” (from Christianity Today). Her misuse of the term “denomination” notwithstanding, she’s a shining example of syncretism.
- It doesn’t really matter, syncretism says, if some of those beliefs are contradictory - just choose what you like and put it together. (For instance, Gallup found that 20% of born-again believers believe in reincarnation and 26% believe in astrology, despite that fact that those ideas are ardently anti-biblical.)
- People often utilize a salad bar approach to their opinion of the teaching in the Bible. They like the idea of God’s unconditional love, so they’ll keep that; but the idea of an eternal hell seems a bit harsh, so they’ll ditch that. They like the idea of Jesus’ compassion, so they’ll keep that; but the idea of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross pointing to our desperate sinfulness is unpleasant, so they’ll ditch that.
- In our situation this morning, many may choose, despite the conflicting claims of the two books, to choose to syncretize a little Da Vinci with a little Bible. Maybe Jesus did die on the cross, but maybe He was also married to Mary Magdalene. Maybe He did rise from the dead, but maybe there also are secret societies that are withholding some of the truth about Jesus.
- The idea that the Bible puts forward is the idea of absolute truth. That’s the idea that what the Bible puts forward is 100% true, without mixture of error, and (this is important) that it’s still true whether you choose to believe it or not.
- Let’s look at three questions that will help us to understand how empty the idea of syncretism really is.
Three Questions:
1. “Does it really matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere?”
- We put a premium on sincerity. In fact, we prize it to such an extent that we say things like, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” The only problem is that if you think about that for longer than two seconds you realize what a nonsensical statement that is.
- You can be sincere in your beliefs. . . and be sincerely wrong. I can sincerely believe that I can jump off our church and not be hurt, but that’s not going to make a difference when the ambulance is taking me to the hospital with two broken ankles.
- When Evan (our oldest child) was young, when we went to put him down for the night, if he would cry for longer than a couple minutes, we would go back in and pick him up and rock him some more. We sincerely thought that letting a baby lie in bed crying was bad parenting. . . and we were sincerely wrong! By the time we had our second child, we realized that even if they cry a little bit at first, letting them know that bedtime is bedtime is better for them. . . and Mom and Dad.
- I’ve been reading Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air, which is about the deadly climbing season on Mt. Everest in 1996. One of the stories the books in the book is about Andy Harris: “One of those who died was Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders. Harris had stayed at the peak past the deadline, and on his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed his predicament to the base camp, telling them of his need and that he had come upon a cache of oxygen canisters left by other climbers, all empty. Those who had passed by the canisters on their own return from the summit knew they were not empty, but full. Even as they pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them, it was to no avail. Already starved for oxygen, Harris continued to argue that the canisters were empty. The problem was that the lack of what he needed so disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by a restoring supply he continued to complain of its absence.” (summary statement written by Ravi Zacharias)
- So many of the sincerely-held beliefs that our society holds to are simply lies: “Having more stuff will make you happy.” “You should always ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’” “It’s not your fault; you’re a victim.” “It’s alright to sleep with whomever you want, as long as you’re both consenting adults.” “You have the right to be entertained at all times.”
- Rabbi Schmuley Boteach puts the point for the importance of sincerity succinctly: “I am absolutely against any religion that say that one faith is superior to another. I don’t see how that is anything different than spiritual racism.”
- Yet Jesus, in John 14:6, stated that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Acts 4:12 says that there is no other name to call on by which people may be saved but the name of Jesus. 1 John 5:11-12 states that the person who has the Son has life and the one who doesn’t have the Son doesn’t have life.
- It’s important to be sincere, but it’s also important that what you sincerely believe is actually true.
2. “Just because you say the Bible is true for you, does that automatically mean The Da Vinci Code can’t be true for me?”
- Here we’re talking directly about the idea of absolute truth. Is there truth that is always true, whether you believe it or not?
- George Barna (Virtual American, 1994) found that 71% of Americans agree with the statement: “There are no absolute standards that apply to everybody in all situations.”
- Further, he found that this type of thinking has become entrenched in the church. 53% of those who claim that there is no such thing as absolute truth identify themselves as born-again Christians. 42% of those who identify themselves as evangelical Christians agree with the statement: “There is no such thing as absolute truth; two people could define truth in totally conflicting ways but both still be correct.”
- Harry Blamires, in his book The Christian Mind, writes, “Ours is an age in which ‘conclusions’ are arrived by distributing questionnaires to a cross-section of the population or by holding a microphone before the lips of casually selected passers-by in the street. . .. In the sphere of religious and moral thinking we are rapidly heading for a state of intellectual anarchy in which the difference between truth and falsehood will no longer be recognized. Indeed, it would seem possible that the words true and false will eventually (and logically) be replaced by the words likable and dislikable.”
- To put the question directly: is religious truth more like ice cream flavors or arithmetic?
- Your favorite ice cream flavor is a matter of your taste. You can say you like strawberry, but I’ll always say that I’m a chocolate guy. And we can both be right because it’s just a question of our personal preferences.
- Conversely, if you say 2+2=4 and I say 2+2=5, one of us has to be wrong - both of those answers cannot simultaneously be right.
- As Blamires alludes to, most people today think that religious truth is like ice cream flavors: you can have your favorite and I can have my favorite and we can both be right. In fact, though, religious truth is like arithmetic. There is a right answer and there are wrong answers.
- There is a story told about Lloyd Douglas, who was the author of The Robe. It has to do with a tradition from the boarding house where he stayed while he was in college: “On the first floor resided a retired music teacher, infirm and unable to leave his apartment. Every morning they had a ritual: Douglas would come down the steps, open the old man’s door and ask, ‘Well, what’s the good news?’ The other would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of his wheelchair, and say, ‘That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat, the piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C!”
- God’s truth is truth - yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God’s truth is truth - and that presumes that Da Vinci’s conflicting claims are false.
3. “As long as we’re all seeking after truth, aren’t we all going to end up in the same place?”
- 62% of Americans believe that it doesn’t matter what religion you believe because “all faiths teach similar lessons about life.” It’s the old idea: “It doesn’t matter which road you take up the mountain as long as you get to the top.” That idea sounds so good, but simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
- The basic idea here is that, although they may have different names, all religions are at their core basically teaching the same truths. That is not the case, however. Let’s look at a few examples.
- On the issue of salvation, Islam teaches that it is earned by your works. Conversely, Christianity teaches that it is impossible to earn and can only be received by grace. Both of those cannot simultaneously be right.
- On the issue of heaven, Hinduism teaches that heaven involves you losing your individuality, like a drop of water falling into the ocean. Conversely, Christianity teaches that you will eternally be an individual with a resurrection body. Both of those cannot simultaneously be right.
- On the issue of who God is, atheists teach that there is no God. Conversely, Christianity teaches that there is a loving, personal Supreme Being. Both of those cannot simultaneously be right.
- All religions are not saying the same things in slightly different words. They are saying diametrically opposed things. All of them cannot be true. The Bible and The Da Vinci Code cannot both be true.
Why Are We So Offended By The Bible’s Claim To Absolute Truth?
1. The truth can hurt.
- We all have blind spots. It might be because of our upbringing, it might be because of our personality - there could be a hundred different causes. But most of us like keeping our blind spots blind because it hurts to confront those difficult truths. We’d rather let our marriage limp along that confront our selfish behavior. We’d rather make do with the job we have than confront our deep-seeded fear of failure.
- The problem is that those blind spots can prove to be fatal if we don’t address them. Don McCullough tells an important story: “A couple of years ago, while vacationing in Seattle, I rented a sailboat on Lake Union. It was a beautiful day, and I was gloriously happy: the wind was blowing, the boat was scudding at high speed, and a gentle spray was breaking over the bow. . . . Suddenly my reverie was ravaged by a float plane landing a few yards in front of me. My heart stopped, my body tensed with shock; a few seconds later, I trembled like a man who had seen death wink at him. I had heard and seen nothing of the approaching plane. The pilot idled his engine to a whisper as he glided toward the water, and the sail had completely blocked my view. To my left I had seen water and the beautiful Seattle skyline, with Mt. Rainer in the background, but to my right, nothing but white dacron tautly reaching into the sky. The sail had completely blinded me.”
- Our blind spots can prove to be fatal. In fact, ironically, not long after writing this, McCullough was caught in an affair that forced him to resign as the head of a prominent seminary. He had not payed sufficient attention to the moral blind spots in his life.
- Years ago, Christian singer Matt Redman, best known for his song “The Heart of Worship,” was part of his church’s praise band. The group was well-pleased with the performances that they were giving in worship. The pastor, however, was not pleased with the spirit of the group and confronted them. He argued that while they were technically excellent, they were neglecting the deeper truths and spiritual importance of worship. As a result, the entire band left the church, except for Redman. Although the pastor’s words stung, Redman believed them to be true. It was shortly thereafter that he wrote “The Heart of Worship,” which includes the line: “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about you, Jesus.”
- Although we should be thankful for the comforting words of Scripture that encourage us along, we should also be thankful for the cutting words of Scripture that step on our toes. I continue to believe that if you’re here for a month of my sermons and don’t get your toes stepped on at least once, either you’re not paying attention or I’m not doing my job. It’s not a matter of confrontation for its own sake - it’s simply the fact that all of us are sinners who need the hard truths of the Bible to point us again in the right direction.
2. We like being the Supreme Court of our lives.
- We like being the final say in our lives, because it allow us to choose the path of least resistance. It also allows us to avoid the difficult business of life change. “Don’t change your life; just decide that your life is alright just the way it is.”
- When we are the Supreme Court of our lives, we tend to seek what’s easy for us or what works for us rather than seeking what is actually true.
- We must quit asking, “What do I think is true?” and begin to ask, “What does God say is true?”
- Josh McDowell shares why we should do this: “A friend of mine once contemplated buying the home next to his as an investment property. He lives in an area of town that had seen better days; the house next door had been occasionally rented to drug dealers and users, and had regularly been the site of domestic squabbles that required police intervention. Several times gunfire had sounded in the house or the yard. My friend hoped that buying the house, investing ‘sweat equity’ into it, and then renting it to good tenants would allow him to improve his neighborhood - and protect his family. He persuaded one of his in-laws, who had experience in construction and home improvement, to walk through the house with him and help spot any potential problems. The building was in deplorable condition, and while my friend was disappointed at the amount of work the house required, he remained hopeful - until they entered the basement. There, his companion pointed out gaping cracks in the foundation and a sagging support structure. ‘This place is falling down,’ his companion told him. ‘Nothing you fix up there’ - he pointed his index finger to the upper floors - ‘will be worth a dime because of what’s wrong here.’ He pronounced his judgment that the house would probably have to be condemned - because the foundation was cracked and crumbling.”
- If you don’t have a good foundation, everything else that you build will eventually come crashing down. Jesus once told a story of two men who built homes - one on the rock and one on the sand. When the storms came, the house on the sand came crashing down, but the house on the rock stood.
- Jesus is the Rock. His truth, His teachings, His wisdom is what you need to build your life on. Not the parts of His teachings that you like - all of it. You have to be willing to acknowledge that Jesus is smarter than you and so you’re going to seek to obey all His teaching, not just the ones that strike your fancy. You’ve got to decide that you want to give your life the foundation of His truth.
- You will learn sooner or later that Jesus is the Son of God. It can be now, as you choose to receive Him. It can be later, when you see Him in His glory, too late to accept Him as your Savior. Your belief or lack of belief does not make Him any less the One True God.
- The truth of who He is is absolute.
- I hope today you will choose to put away syncretism and accept Jesus - all of Him - as the Lord of your life, and His teachings - all of it - as the guidebook of your life.
