“Who do you say that I am?” When Jesus asked the disciples
that question, the context was a society with a pluralistic view of who Jesus
was. The disciples replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:14 NIV), but only
Peter had the answer that was sufficient, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God” (Matthew 16:16 NIV).
Jesus
commanded us to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 19:28 NIV). We
live in a pluralistic society. Can we make disciples of Christ if we don’t make
absolute claims about Him? If we say that Jesus was a prophet, a moral teacher,
or just a great man, then we can make disciples of Jesus in a pluralistic
society. Jesus is just one among many wise teachers worth following. Teaching
people to follow Jesus’ teaching would be no different than teaching people to
follow the teachings of Buddha, Confucius, or any number of other wise sages.
But, if Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then we cannot make
disciples of His without acknowledging His unique position among all the other
religious teachers throughout history.
Can
we not follow the teachings of Christ without saying He is superior to other
historical religious figures? Absolutely you can, if you want to follow the
teachings of a lunatic. C.S. Lewis made a powerful observation in his classic
work “Mere Christianity.” Lewis said:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish
thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great
moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing
we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus
said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic— on a
level with the man who says he is a poached egg— or else he would be the Devil
of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of
God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you
can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call
Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His
being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend
to (p. 52).
Religious
pluralism is defined as “the recognition that more than one spiritual path is
validly pursued, since human beings find fulfillment in a variety of ways of
life and thought” (p. 468-469). Although many people might adhere to this
belief, who do they say Jesus is? For me, He is the Messiah, the Son of the
living God and the One who shed His blood for the sins of the world. It is only
by the blood of Christ that anyone is saved.
“But
what about people of other faiths? There are truths in those as well.” I
believe that Jesus came as the fulfillment of all faiths, not just Judaism. The
early church would point to the truths found in the faiths they encountered and
show how Jesus completed those. The Apostle Paul, when speaking to the people
of Athens, pointed to a temple to an unknown God and used that as a way to
introduce the people of Athens to Christ. The message of Christ is hope; hope
for all. Billy Graham once said in an interview with Robert Schuller, “(God)… is calling
people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world,
or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they
are members of the Body of Christ, because they've been called by God. They may
not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need
something that they don't have, and they turn to the only light that they have,
and I think they are saved, and that they're going to be with us in
heaven." That is not saying that Jesus is not the way, but it is saying
that God’s grace is bigger than we may imagine. It is up to us to reveal the
name and love of Christ to them.
Pluralism
suggests that all ways to God are equally valid. That is not the message of
Scripture. Pluralism basically says that we can do it on our own; that by
adhering to a certain set of teachings, it is possible work our way to heaven. The
message of the Gospel is that we don’t work our way to heaven, our way to
heaven has been provided for us. In that we can rest. While religious pluralism
says that it is possible for all roads to lead to heaven; the Gospel says that,
through the blood of Christ, it is not only possible to reach heaven, it is
assured.
Paul
said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans
10:19). Not might. Not can. But will. Let us lift up the name and love of
Christ to all we meet that they might call upon the One who promises eternal
life to all who would say yes to His gift of grace.
References
Goodman,
L. E. (2012, August). Religious pluralism. Political Theology, 13(4),
458-485. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/poth.v13i4.458
Lewis,
C. S. (2009-05-28). Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics).
HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
