Just a thought really...
I preached last Sunday on an area that I considered borderline controversial. In a nutshell, part of my sermon explained my conviction that all religions are essentially the same and yet, they all lead to Christ. It was pretty convoluted and to be fair I was mostly concerned that the essence of my argument couldn't be properly conveyed to the congregation in the length of a sermon. So, nervously, I stood up and delivered my sermon.
It was not only not controversial, but apparently the congregation rather liked it.
In hindsight, I realized that all of the blogging I've done over the years where I've tried to weigh in on a controversial topic has finally paid dividends. Though I wasn't aware of it until Sunday, this has all been great practice for writing sermons of substance.
Thank you all for your praise, but mostly for your criticism. It has made me a better writer.
And now, I will resume my practice...
6 comments:
I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't at least a little controversy. Your brief statement isn't quite orthodox, but I'd love to hear your complete development of it.
The gist of my argument was that all people everywhere worship God in the culturally relevant form available to them. No matter what the form of their religion, they are seeking God in all that they do. But if they are truly seeking God, then eventually - whether they ever recognize it or not - they will come to know Jesus.
You know, I may just have to post the sermon. It took me pages to develop the theory - and that was just scratching the surface of the idea.
It's similar to Paul's Mars Hill sermon, so you have a good starting point. One has to be careful not to take cultural relatavism too far. Some cultural practices are downright evil. I'm not convinced every religous practice is earnestly seeking to know the God who is revealed in the Bible.
I'm with Ranger Rick on this. I think it's fair to say that the worship of Christ will look different from culture to culture (heck, the worship service in my church looks different from the worship service down the street). But not all religious roads lead to Christ...not when Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
And those roads can't lead to Jesus unless we speak the truth about Jesus to them.
It is fair to say that we humans have a need to worship something or someone greater than ourselves - but only one road leads to Him.
That said, I too understand what you were trying to say - but just because one is Muslim or Jewish doesn't mean that the practice of said faith will lead them to Christ.
Read my sermon and you'll be able to decide for yourself. Of course, if you still think I'm off base, I may have to explain this in more detail. I've spent twenty years backing up my opinion with the Bible. The funny thing is, this isn't even the most radical notion I have... ;)
Yeah, I did read it and actually I concur with your primary argument - and yes, at our very core as humans we have a need to worship something/someone greater than ourselves. For you and me, that's God - not Allah, not Buddha, etc.
But you can't say that all faiths are essentially the same and lead to Christ...because only one faith does and the others don't. And fortunately you don't actually say that in your sermon. Only one faith doesn't require us to do good works to be saved, since we can't earn our salvation and only have it through our faith and belief in the person of Christ.
More to the point (which I think you're making) is that the Muslim, the Buddhist and folks of other faiths need people like you and me to help them make the connection that the hole in their hearts can only be filled by a relationship with God through His Son Jesus. I like where you ultimately went with your message - although I hasten to add, a reminder of the Gospel message would have worked really nicely! Romans 10:9 - If you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
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