Jesus We Talk About A Good “Something Else”
Dear Thomas,
Your eleventh question asks, “Is the Christian any better than a good ‘something else’ like a good Hindu, a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good Jew, or a good New Age? It seems that every Christian I have ever talked to thinks their belief system is the correct one about life and God. Why are there so many different Christian beliefs, and who is to know which is right?”
You are certainly correct in recognizing the variety of belief systems out there. As we travel the world or even our own country, the variety of beliefs we see and the variations within each belief make each of us reflect on your question.
How do we relate to all the different belief systems outside the Christian faith as well as within it? Within our country’s diverse society, religious pluralism seems to be the norm, so how do we choose one expression of faith over another? The differences between them can sometimes seem vast.
In speaking of the Christian community, I find that the different brands deal primarily with two things. One is the emphasis a particular church places on a specific scriptural or theological understanding.
The other is the type of liturgy or form of worship expressed when meeting for worship and fellowship. These differences are expressed in their outreaches as well as in their architecture and music.
The old idea that form follows function certainly holds true for the various expressions of Christian beliefs reflected in their architecture.
Which one is right or more right than another is difficult to answer. Certain basic tenets of faith are common to most Christian denominations.
The very fact that a group calls itself Christian means their faith is centered on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I think it is important that regardless of the way a particular Christian denomination expresses itself, theologically and liturgically it must at least portray a God who loves. It must portray a God (in Jesus Christ) who comes to redeem.
It must portray a God who desires a relationship with each of us now and forever, who desires a response from man that confirms these truths in every particular.
It must portray a God who communicates that man’s greatest end is to return that love to Him and to love others as he loves himself.
These are the basic foundations of the Christian belief system, but as I said, they are expressed in different ways in different churches.
Man wants to be happy, to enter and maintain a state of bliss, to be free from pain and want, and to be a seeker of personal gain—all without being molested by the natural world or others.
Mans striving for meaning, a sense of belonging, physical ease and comfort, as well as life beyond the grave is universal. As we have discussed in the previous questions, he has adopted a vast array of religious and philosophical thoughts to advance him toward those ends.
I also must say that through timeless ages past as well as in the present, many have found spiritual connectedness and community in which Christlike love is expressed within or in spite of the person’s belief system.
This is done by the work of the Holy Spirit acting upon the heart of every individual, irrespective of the particular religious or philosophical belief and worldview practiced within any culture at any time in history.
That being said, I must also say that my understanding and worldview on a variety of the world’s belief systems are just that—mine. Certainly, others within their cultures, periods of history, and worldviews might think differently.
A belief system might give the basic message to “get over it.” Happiness comes only when people lose their desires through understanding the nature of the temporal life.
Another might conclude that the goal of life is to live in balance and at oneness with nature, physical health, and spiritual awareness by a variety of means.
And when suffering comes, another belief system might pursue freedom of spirit by self-deprivation and austerity. Still, another might work at focusing on aesthetics, balance, and harmony of nature and how one can input that into their life.
If one asserts that man is neither good nor bad but neutral and needs to be trained in the virtues of life, that belief system might establish ethical and moral rules to follow. All these ideas for belief systems are nontheistic and require personal performance.
If a belief system sees all living things as having a divine life force that is eternal, then it follows that one should pay attention to how one lives so that when that life force returns after death, it has the potential to achieve its divine essence.
This is done by one’s current life of devotion, meditation, good works, and self-control. This can be theistic but with impersonal transcendents.
A belief system might be monotheistic, but where the transcendent is only conditionally gracious, personal, and loving. The condition upon which we can experience God’s favor is based on one’s choices and actions.
Keeping the law as given directly by God or indirectly through prophets is the precondition for a relationship. Suffering and disease are consequences of breaking the law or not submitting to God’s requirements.
Some belief systems might use many of the same terms and share some of the same elements of Christianity, but they can have different meanings. Their Christology, the who of Jesus Christ, is understood in different terms.
Within these groups most of life’s rewards and any rewards of a life hereafter are based on a person’s performance in the current life.
It’s sad to say that even in Christianity there has been the tendency to take the route of self-help redemption. Some Christian practices spring from the desire to meet the perceived requirements of God in order to obtain His blessings either here in this life or in life after death.
There is a plethora of should/ought-to within the variety of belief systems found the world over. If you do not like it, deny it. If you cannot deny it, join it. Where it seems to work, follow it.
And if it does not work, hope for another life where it might. In other words, overcome the insecurities, brokenness, meaninglessness, and pain of this misbehaving world by doing what you must in order to mitigate life’s uncomfortable situations in the here and now.
And do it all in the context of your performance and your understanding of where man came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Yet with all the differences between the various systems, one thing seems consistent.
How a person thinks and acts is the determining factor for the redemptive qualities of the belief system. Performance gets judged as either good or bad.
If performance, however, is not the answer, what is the one thing that quiets man’s self-help pursuit toward being acceptable and worthy of a relationship with one’s self, others, and God? It is the discovery of who Jesus Christ is—that He does not act as judge, jury, and executioner. Remember, Jesus said.
God in Jesus Christ is our Creator, our rescuer, who loves us and deeply cares for us. He is not a stern judge keeping records for our condemnation.
He loathes the idea that He may have to give us up and let us go. Yes, He is a loving Father who wants desperately for us to come home.
But how can we go home to a holy God? In an attempt to answer that question, many belief systems encourage their adherents to work themselves out of being flawed and broken and to remove the inclination toward sin that causes pain, sorrow, and disharmony.
However, that is the thing that cannot be done. We cannot make a bunch of promises and set a course in righteous living in an effort to prove to God our acceptability. In the flesh of this life, perfect performance is not possible, and our past performance is full of failures.
Until we are recreated immortal after the second coming of Jesus Christ, our current mortal life cannot be reconditioned into a perfection of good works that make us acceptable to God. Our acceptability is on an entirely different basis.
So how can God accept us? What is this other basis? It is through God’s rescue plan, that God sacrificed Himself through Jesus Christ.
In exchange for that sacrifice given on our behalf, we receive life, but it is not a life that we merit by our good performances or good works.
Rather, by His grace and our accepting and believing in the sacrifice and person of Jesus Christ, we receive this new life, an exchanged life.
His life was given for us so that we might enjoy life in Him or move into a relationship with Him. As Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
This exchanged life is at the heart and essence of Christianity. It is the “in Christ” motif that takes center stage as the apostle Paul stated so extensively in his letters to the young churches of the first century. “For in him [Jesus Christ] we live, move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
It is not the changed life that proves us worthy, though change does occur through the recognition of all that went into the exchange. It is the exchanged life and our response that makes us worthy and affects the change. Man needs only to choose Jesus’ free gift of reconciliation and live in thankful recognition of it.
Furthermore, the next verse says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
Yes, Christianity is different from other great world religions. The only way to discover that is through personal investigation and deciding that Jesus was who He said He was, that He did what He said He would do, and that He will continue to do within us and for us what He promised.
Christianity is accepting Jesus Christ’s being and doing, not just as history, not just as another way of finding meaning, and not just as another way of gaining a sense of belonging or obtaining a blissful life after death.
No, Christianity is accepting that a new life, a born-anew life, a redeemed life, an exchanged life, and an “in Christ” life can begin now and extend forever. In summary, it is believing in, getting to know, and becoming a friend of Jesus.
In the exchanged life through Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Redeemer, not man. There is no salvation by good works. We do not redeem ourselves. As Ephesians 2:8 says.
However, as long as Christianity remains mere history or as long as believers seek to meet the demands of the law, which was given to show us the extent of our lawlessness, or as long as believers work at proving themselves worthy of God’s love or for some reward after death, they will miss the discovery of what it means to be in relationship with our gracious and loving God.
But the question still remains. What flavor of Christian community should we take part in? Should the emphasis or uniqueness brought to the message of the good news be the most important factor?
Should it be determined by the leadership of an inspiring pastor who possesses the gift of teaching spiritual truths? Should it be about the body of the church as a community and how that community relates to one another?
Is it about location, architecture, or some other external factor? May I suggest that if a church gives primary expression of the gospel as the free gift of salvation from God in Jesus Christ, who is creative, gracious, personal, and loving, then all the other elements are more a matter of personal preference and aids for the exercise of faith?
If the Christology is correct, then the means of expression can vary. If the primary message is there and a person happens to like good architecture and organ music and feels like worship should include an aesthetic component, then he or she will gravitate to a church that contains those elements.
If the person has a personality that wants to feel and not just hear the music and or desires a strong element of emotional involvement, then the church that offers an emotional and celebratory flavor might be more attractive.
If a person needs quiet reflection and a limited number of Christian mentors for instruction, encouragement, and accountability, he or she might not be a part of any organized church at all.
So whether it is high church, middle church, low church, a church with multiple services, or no denominational church at all, we all need to find a community, a fellowship that resonates with our personalities and the Spirit that dwells within.
Your friend,
Matt