Talk about bad timing. I could have used this survey as a sermon illustration. Let me explain: I just preached this weekend on the fact that Truth is under attack, specifically the truth about God, the bible, sin and Jesus. No surprise there, the Truth has been under attack since the Garden of Eden when the serpent began the war of disinformation.
The gist of my sermon was that the Truth about God is being attacked by those who say there is no God and that we all just got here by accident. Therefore, the bible is questioned, since if there is no God then the bible is not God’s Word, by definition. If the bible is not true, then there is no scriptural basis for right or wrong and we have no standard as Christians to base our faith.
And finally, that means that the truth about Jesus is under attack. The truth about Jesus, according to the bible, is that he is the Son of God, the one and only way to be saved. You can believe this or not, but it’s what the New Testament teaches. We’ve seen that truth being attacked more and more, not only from unbelievers, but from those who claim to be Christians yet are so gracious as to assert that he is not the only way to the Father. A lot of the guys who are “big names” in the Christian world today are not willing to claim that Jesus is the only way to be saved, yet they are speaking at our conferences and are best-sellers in Christian bookstores.
Some people call this “tolerance”. No, tolerance is respecting other people and not persecuting them for their beliefs. But it’s not intolerant to assert that what the bible says about Jesus in John 14:6 is true.
Now this survey comes out, as reported on the Fox News website. The results are astonishing. 57% of evangelicals believe that other religions can lead to eternal life. Evangelical Christians. That’s astonishing because that goes against basic evangelical doctrine. 83% of mainline Protestants believe that, which doesn’t surprise me, but 57% of evangelicals does. 59% of black Protestants responding and 79% of Catholics also believe that other religions can lead to eternal life.
Should we in the evangelical church be alarmed when even folks who are in the evangelical church believe this? I should think so… it should make us look a little more carefully at what we’re preaching and who we’re reading. I’m not a big fan of the tactics that the discernment ministries use, but this survey kind of makes you wonder if their cries about the erosion of the Christian faith in the evangelical world are not on target, even if their methods are a bit grating. 57% of evangelicals think that Jesus is not the only way to be saved– doesn’t take a lot of discernment to see that this is a problem.
Somewhat of a contradiction huh? If an evangelical’s goal is to “Go into all the world and make disciples – hmm, I guess Jesus should have been more specific – oh wait – He was specific, “baptizign them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Yep, it’s a contradiction alright. Like the saying goes, “The reason we have so much trouble communicating with others is because our lives are so full of contradictions we can’t even communicate with ourselves. God bless. Stay close and may you enjoy Him forever and ever.
I would sure love to have those names so that I could track them down and ask them if they have read the BIBLE!!! Sad world when the leaders of our churches don’t believe what has been written. Wonder what they preaching? Lets continue to pray for those who don’t believe.
I’m not entirely sure the results of the survey are accurate. Check out Matt Dabb’s evaluation (perhaps preliminary) and my comments at http://tinyurl.com/43u9ug
Great post. I think so many churches and Christians are so afraid to offend anyone that the truth gets watered down. then again…there are a lot of Christians who don’t know what the truths really are–we’ve become lazy and “go with the flow”. We don’t have to be mean or jerks about it…just firm in what Jesus and the Bible teach.
I am a follower of Jesus and think other religions lead to heaven. Let them slam me among my ears with the Bible
What most Christians do is take a few Bible texts out of context and manipulate others with it. They do not understand Jesus’ teachings. There are enough texts that show that Jesus is the Way but there are also texts that tell if you are naturally doing His way (by acting through love and kindness), you are ok. You are a law for yourself because you naturally do as is in your heart. I have seen Christians turn angry when I said that; yes of course, because their little world and doctrine falls apart.
Kind regards,
Chris
Chris you should read your Bible more often. You don’t understand the sin topic very well. You are sinful by nature. Whatever you do on your own is like a garbage in eyes of God. Truly mercy comes with Jesus. He gave his life because you and me and anybody else can’t make it without him.
Now the topic about these who will never see/hear Gods word during their life. You underestimate God. He made beautiful world and even in today shape it shows His glory. Missionaries made to very remote and surprising places. God also never gave up His miracles. He doesn’t use them often between western people. We was given powerful civilization and our fathers has the obligation to pass the knowledge. But don’t think the Lord is out of control. You don’t see the president every day and he is doing his job anyway.
Hope it helped a bit
Lopata