A Pastor’s Perspective

“31 Flavors” by Mike Hill, pastor of Calvary Chapel Aberdeen (mjhill@ida.net)

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      Recently I had two sweet ladies come to our front door and ask me, “Why do you think there are so many religions in the world today?”  Great question.  How would you respond?  I have a thick book titled, Eerdman’s Handbook to the World’s Religions.  I’m amazed at the number and diversity of the religions available to choose from.   This book describes Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Parsis, Zoroastrianism, Baha’i, Sikhs, Judaism, and Islam, among others.  Christianity is also presented.  Everyone has the right to believe in the god they want and worship in the way they choose.  However, which one is the right way to the true God?  Our culture of tolerance would insist that all religions are true, a “You have your truth, and I have mine” approach.  This makes me think of visiting an ice cream shop with the freedom to choose from 31 flavors.  Many people have the idea that the world religions are like spokes on a wheel.  Each spoke signifies a religion and the hub in the middle represents God.  All the spokes lead to the same hub in the middle.  Likewise, many people mistakenly believe that all religions lead to the same God.

      Jesus does not leave room for a diverse approach to God.  Nor does He tolerantly say, “Everyone has their truth and every way is right.”  Jesus said, “I the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  He indicated that His way is narrow and all other ways lead to destruction (Matthew 7:13, 14).  Paul boldly pronounced eternal damnation upon anyone, including an angel, who would teach a false gospel, that is, any another way to get right with God (Galatians 1:8, 9).

     Why are there so many religions?  God has placed within every human being a “God-shaped vacuum.”  Solomon taught that God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11b).  Deep down within each one of us is a hunger and thirst for God.  Religion is man’s attempt to reach up to God through rituals and works in order to fill that vast void.  Christianity is God reaching down to sinful humanity through the person of His Son to establish a love relationship and to rescue us from sin.  Only Jesus can satisfy our need.  Jesus, who is the Creator of all things, is the only one who is able to quench your thirst for God (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:8-12).  Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13, 14). 

     There is only one way to a right relationship with God:  Jesus.  And, there is only one right way to come to Christ:  as a humble sinner (Luke 18:13, 14; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 10:9, 10).  Do you thirst for God?  Come to Jesus.  Ice cream is sweet to the taste, but with Jesus your heart will become filled with the sweetness of heaven.