Objections to Christianity - Exclusivity

Was listening to Tim Keller (Redeemer Presbyterian Church - NYC)  teach on an objection to Christianity "exclusivity" that was so convicting that I sent these notes a friend of mine. This is long but well worth the read.  Based on 1 John 4:1-10.  Enjoy :-)

Exclusivity: (1 John 4:1-10)
Problem that people have with all religions. How can you claim that you have the only truth. 40, 30, 20 years ago the barrier to peace was the cold war. But now it is religion. Agree that religion generally speaking has a strong tendency to divide people. Creates a slippery slope for people. Religion erodes peace between people. What do you do when you realize this. 2 ways that don't work as you address this divisiveness and one way that does work

Two Ways that Don't Work -
1) - People are hoping for or helping that religion would weaken and go away. Religion used to help us a adapt to our world, but now people think that it doesn't relate. But that is not what is happening in the world. Africa in the last 100 years has gone for 10% to 50% Christian, China over the next 100 years will be more Christian. Governments have taken control over religion, but Christianity continues to grow rapidly. Why is it that religion doesn't go away. It only gets stronger. 1 John 4 1 - John is talking about teachers. Commentaries - don't make the assumption that he is talking about religious views, there is a spiritual realm that people sense. People will worship something. That is not all good. You could worship something that can enslave you. Rather than free you. Worship is not a just an intellectual thing. Stamping religion out will not work.
2) - Confine religion to the private realm. People say - "We are not against religion - but keep it in the private realm". People say that we need to agree on 2 things 1) That all paths to God are equal and 2) Faith / religion gives you strength in private live, but never bring it into public life. Neither of these things hold water. 1 John 4:5 - they = critics of Christianity. They are coming from a religious faith view point, even as they are criticizing ours (1) all way are paths to God - why? Fact is that we all have truth and use an illustration = Group of blind men that come up to an elephant. All grab hold of it, and say what it is like - elephant is long, elephant is short and stiff, elephant is huge and flat. They begin to argue. Everyone of them is right and everyone is wrong. The are see part of reality, but not all. So they conclude that religion is the same. That is how we need to view religion. Book - "Gospel of a Pluralist Society" - only way you could know that the blind man didn't have the true reality, is if you could see the whole elephant. In religion - you say you are the one that knows the whole truth about religion. An arrogance that you know that all religion is equal. (only an appearance of humility) What is that absolute vantage point that you claim to relativize all scripture claims? When you say that no one has a spiritual take on reality, that is a spiritual take on reality. 2) Keep religion private - leave truth and reality at the door when you come to the public square. Simply look for strategies that work, not ones that are in line with religion and spirituality. We live in a society that tries to enforce this. Totally impracticable - what is religion? Not institutional! Religion is a set of answers to the big questions, Why are we here? What is right and wrong? What should we be spending our time doing? Those things can't be answered in a lab. It is a faith assumption. You cannot leave faith at the door when you go into public. Example - divorce. Lets just decide on divorce laws that work for people. Depend on your view / purpose of marriage. But impossible - individualist western societies - the needs of the individual more important than the group. You will make the divorce easy, but people in a traditional society - the family is more important than the individual. You are going to make divorce hard. You can't come to any conclusion of what will work in divorce with out deeply held belief about human flourishing. To say religions reasoning should be kept out-of the public square because it is faith based is on its own a faith based reasoning that should be thrown out.

So everybody has a set of exclusive beliefs, therefore what matters is which set of exclusive beliefs that can produce loving, exclusive reconciling peaceful behavior. Every body has exclusive beliefs! Even when you don;t think you do, you do.

One way that does work -
1) Strategy that deals with the divisiveness of religion - look at the things about the christian gospel that are unique to Christianity that are different from all other religions. Most people don't like that, the say "don't stress what is different, but what is in common." But those (similarities) are not the features that will lead you into the reconciliation and peace in the world. It is counter-intuitive, but turns you into an agent of peace. This text show us how unique Christianity is from other religions.
1) Origin of Jesus salvation - 1 John 4:2 Jesus Christ has 'come' means that he was somewhere before he came into the world. Every other religion in the world is that the leaders founder is a human being only, but God came into the world, in the flesh. Why is it like that? Because that is a reason why Christianity is different from other religions.
"GOD CAME INTO THE WORLD" = origin of Jesus Salvation
2) Purpose of Jesus salvation - Eastern religions = to liberate you from the flesh. That is the problem - the 'physical world'. Western religions = flesh is real but it is bad, and through an spiritual experience you can get out and go to heaven. All other religions the goal is to escape the world and go to heaven. But Christianity - God received a body in Jesus Christ, and at the resurrection of Jesus - the body experiences redemption. Not an escape from the world, but a redemption of the world. Getting rid of death, disease, poverty in the world. Christian salvation means a transformation of the world, not an escape. If some one says there is salvation in other faiths, "What kind of salvation are you talking about?" No other religion holds out the salvation of the world like Christianity. The resurrection - If religion says that the only thing that matters is heaven, the next life. Then what happens is that you are interested in converting people to your tribe and getting more people converted to it and the hell with the rest of the world. But if you believe the gospel you are working to make this a good world. Making the city a good city. Serve the city, make it a great place for all people. To make a new heaven and new earth.
"RESTORATION OF MATERIAL WORLD" = purpose of Jesus Salvation
3) Method of Grace - in all other religions, if you want to be saved you have to perform the truth, you have to love god, your neighbor, your family and if God sees you doing that he will save you. But that is not what the Gospel says at all. 1 John 4:10 - ...This is love not that we loved God.... God comes and sacrificially pours himself out for those that don't love him, others. Jesus is not mainly a teacher comes to die in our place, he dies for those that are not performing the truth that could be saved by his grace. The gospel says you are not saved by performance. If you are a performer you believe you have to be better than people - that creates a slippery slope - that you are saved by what you do, that is not what the Gospel says. The gospel is the only faith system that leads you to expect that people that don't believe as you believe are better than you (more disciplined, more self controlled, etc). Your not saved by performance - you cannot experience grace unless you admit you are not as good as those around you. If you believe the gospel you will see people that don't believe as you do, as better than you, the gospel humbles you. No other system does that! Jesus - he is not just a good person. He is God in the flesh. People say that leads to self righteousness. It didn't! When Christianity began to grow initially - it seemed to be inclusive. Christians proclaimed Jesus lord of all (seemed exclusive). Christianity created the most inclusive community in the history of the world up to that time. Greek and Romans didn't mix the rich and poor - Christians did. Jews didn't mix races - Christians did. Christianity ended up being the most inclusive community - because Jesus isn't just a great guy but God! Ultimate reality of a Christian is that you see a man on a cross loving people who don't love him. Forgiving people who abused him. Sacrificially serving people that oppose him.

Summary Statement -
Everybody has exclusive beliefs - Christianity is no different. Which set of exclusive beliefs leads you to the most inclusive behaviors? Take the Gospel into your life and you will live in the humility and see how people who don't believe what you believe are better than you are.


1 John 4 (NIV)

Test the Spirits

1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
God's Love and Ours

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.