Exclusivity
Author: Rustin Rawlings, Kaleo Church
Personally, what amazes me most about Jesus (second only to his death, burial, and resurrection for our sins) is how counter-cultural he was and still is. If ever asked why Jesus were executed, beyond the theology, an answer as simple as those two words would suffice. Even more amazingly, 2,000 years later he is as untamable and causes as much controversy as ever. Jesus’ most recent counter-cultural moment hit me as I was looking over the results of a study done by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life of over 35,000 adults who were surveyed about their faith and eternal life. Most notably, the study found that 57 percent of evangelical church attendees said that many religions could lead to eternal life. Of that 57 percent, 82 percent were what the study labeled “mainline Protestants.” (In Scripture, it is made clear that Jesus is the only way to attain salvation and is our only hope for Heaven. Acts 4:12, John 14:6).
At first, the results were shocking. Thankfully I wasn’t in the middle of drinking anything or else I would have spewed it across the room like a character on Saved By The Bell (“You’re going to the dance with Screech!?”). But after much pondering and deliberation I can’t say that I was necessarily surprised by the results. The study reveals that the United States has done well at separating the church from the state (our culture) but struggles with separating the state from the church. Despite the fact that this distinction more so plays itself out on a governmental level, the way in which these two entities affect and bleed over into the other can result in either amazing revival or frightening study results such as these.
The Church & State In America, we fight hard to be tolerant of all people groups. Although we will always struggle with intolerance and injustice, the United States has done a lot to promote peace amongst all people in the wake of tragedies like the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, and 9/11. As a nation, we detest racism, sexism (although with not nearly as much fervor as racism, i.e. Howard Stern vs. Don Imus), and anything else comparable to the superficiality of judging someone based on anything but the content of his or her character. The shocking heinousness of hate crimes in America never fails to drum up a media circus that puts the Ringling Brothers to shame. Combining all of these factors plus the social implications and ripple effects they cause have left us as a nation that hesitates to proclaim any sort of exclusivity in fear of a societal reprisal that would exile or put us to shame for being intolerant. As a nation, we do a superior job of promoting tolerance but do a poor job of understanding that exclusivity and intolerance stand in stark contrast, far beyond semantics. It must first be understood that all religions make some claims of exclusivity. In doing so, we are better able to define, label, and categorize them based on those claims. These exclusive claims range from daily customary living to spiritual absolutes. While customary living is debatable among varying people groups, normally they never amount to more than social differences accepted by most as part of a package deal of an individual’s faith. It’s only when religion claims exclusivity in regards to spiritual absolutes that people feel as though their spiritual toes are being stepped on.
Protestant Christianity is the only major world religion that clearly proclaims exclusivity in not only its God but also in attaining salvation, or afterlife (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Islam belief does claim that there is “no God but Allah” (Qur'an 2:255) but claims that any reward to be had after death must be earned by deeds done on earth. Judaism has very intricate laws for customary living but makes no distinct claims of how one is appointed to either heaven or hell. No religion is as clear and direct on how its believers attain eternal life as Protestant Christianity. The difficulty of exclusivity in the arena of faith is that in order to claim that you are right you must also claim that others are wrong. In doing so, though, you must tread carefully because this registers with most as intolerance rather than faith (1 Corinthians 1:18). Biblically, Jesus exclusively claimed that he was King, which then also meant that Caesar was not the King. It was for this reason that Jesus was tortured and executed. It was for this same reason that followers of Christ were persecuted after his death. Followers believed that Christ was the Son of God and the Messiah as prophesied meaning that those who believed otherwise were wrong. In his first letter, Peter addresses his recipients as Christians who were scattered throughout varying regions because of their exclusive belief in Christ as the atonement for sin and our restoration into a right relationship with God.
As the supposed majority in America, those who claim to be Christians have become a timid people group who been overtaken by a seeker-sensitive culture as we butcher the Gospel in an impossible attempt to marry an inoffensive Jesus and accuracy to Scripture. In an attempt to sell Jesus to the world, we have sacrificed Scripture and allowed it to become convenient and comfortable. As a lazy, hesitant people, we have allowed culture to dictate our faith and made Jesus out to be as cowardly as the majority of Americans who know nothing of the life of sacrifice and pain Scripture tells us to expect. This attempted conformity and domestication of the Gospel in an effort to not ruffle any spiritual feathers manifests itself in many ways. The most deceiving way in which this takes place is within the Christian movements that shun tradition and seemingly embrace a more Biblical worldview, namely the Emergent Movement. This progressive, new-age movement that is more intentional about social justice and often incorporates art while embracing prominent cultural trends into services has garnered much attention and gained many followers, especially younger generations. This movement has infamously been about “discussing” or “questioning” doctrine and Christian belief, most of which is clearly made exclusive within Scripture. Brian McLaren, the official/unofficial leader of the Emergent Movement, was identified by Time Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America. When asked by Time about his stance on homosexuality, McLaren responded, “You know what, the thing that breaks my heart is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side.” Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, responded best by saying, “Now you have hurt God.” McLaren’s attempt to please men before pleasing God (Galatians 1:10) demonstrates the damage done to the Gospel by shying away from hot-button issues that are Biblically sinful. Discussion to the extent of questioning to easily lends itself to doing away with clearly proclaimed exhortations and imperatives set forth by God (Gen 3, the serpent and Eve).
The results of this study are further proof that the culture has permeated the Gospel more than the Gospel has permeated our culture. Followers of Christ are not called to stand on street corners, screaming Biblical faults and wrong doings at passersby but we are also not called to be timid and afraid of hurting people’s feelings (2 Tim 1:7). This doesn’t mean that we are insensitive people but it does mean that we take hard and fast stands on doctrine that Scripture speaks clearly of. It means that as a Church, we boast in the person and work of Jesus and proclaim his death, burial, and resurrection as our atonement for sin. And as clearly as we proclaim victory in Christ, we must also proclaim Biblical truths that aren’t polite and startle the monocle right out of the cultural eye of America. We don’t fly a flag of condemnation but we must speak Biblical truth. Believers can argue eschatology or Calvinism vs. Arminianism, but at the end of the world those who believe in the atoning work of Jesus Christ will be with him for all eternity and those that don’t will be cast to hell as is taught in Scripture.
As believers, our greatest hope is to live a life obeying our Biblical calling in a finite attempt to thank God for sending Jesus so that we might be restored into a right relationship with him. Our calling is to make disciples of all the nations and we can look to Scripture as an example of how to do so. In short, it is done through Christ-like love and Biblical truth, all the while knowing that many will reject not only our message but us as well. In those times we must confide in Jesus knowing that he was human so that he could sympathize with us (Hebrews 4:15) since he himself felt the pain and embarrassment of rejection (Psalms 118:22). We must be confident in our belief that the persecution, rejection, trials, and suffering we will face for proclaiming salvation in Jesus alone is apart of our sanctification process so that our faith may be proved genuine (1 Peter 1:7), result in praise and honor when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:7), and so that we might be mature and complete not lacking anything (James 1:4). We are not condemning or judging we are proclaiming the beautiful exclusivities of our faith that make Jesus our great God and Savior. We are confidently proclaiming that God, in his great mercy, has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ (1 Peter 1:3). We must boast in the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross and the grace our Creator has bestowed upon us for setting that work into motion.
Category: Culture