doallreligions

Has everyone had a chance to see Star Wars The Phantom Menace, yet? I thought it was killer. Well, in the April issue of Time magazine, Star Wars creator George Lucas said, "I remember when I was 10 years old. I asked my mother, 'If there's only one God, why are there so many religions?'" Lucas went on to say, "I've been pondering that question ever since, and the conclusion I've come to is that all the religions are true."

Well, if this isn't a huge bit of irony, I don't know what isYou see, when I was in high school, there were a couple of guys I knew that from my freshmen year through graduation were workin' on me to make the case for Christ.

And today's question, not unlike Lucas' question, was one of the top 2 deals that kept me from coming to terms with Christianity. And that question is: "Don't all religions really lead to the same place?Aren't they all basically the same thing, except they use different words to mean the same thing?"

O.K. now, before we get started,We're going to go through some new territory today and some of it may get a little "interesting," so I really need to know that I haven't lost you. So when I ask you a question like, "Are you with me?" I would love it if you would all respond by saying, "I'm hip."

O.K. enough of thatfor now. Well, let me just start by saying that in our culture right now, "diversity" is one of the hot buzz words. And to clarifyDiversity is the practice of recognizing and accepting differences cultural, racial, social class, physical, religious, politicalyou name it. It is respecting and valuing the uniqueness of others.

So, in the spirit of diversity, let's take a closer look at a non-Christian religion and see what is unique to it and what if anything Christianity might share with it. (change tone) And this is why we're doing this

If it is true that all religions lead to heaven or are basically the same but with different terminology, then, when we peel back the layers, we should see basically the same types of things. We should see important commonalities. "Are you with me?" _________.

Now, disclaimer #1: I am going to take us through a "cliff notes" version of a religion in a very short amount of time. Just like if I had 10 or 15 minutes to talk about Christianity, I would not have time to talk about the different denominations and specific styles of worship. So, if you have experience or know people who espouse this religion and I don't capture it in exact detail, it's because we just don't have the time to do that today.

And I feel that I need to say one more thing before I startMy intention in talking about this religion is not to give anyone ammunition to bash or disrespect anyone who believes in it. Leviticus 19:18 says: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Period. If he or she is Buddhist, Islamic, or whatever, we are called to show them respect, love and grace.

This morning, we're going to look at (D)Taoism. (Show slide) I just randomly chose Taoism out of about 7 religions. And about the only determining factor for me was that you see this "yin-yang" symbol a lot with young people right now; In fact, it's not new. It's been seen a lot in our culture since the 1960's and has been around about 2,500 years. So, let's take a closer look at Taoism.

The main "force" behind Taoism and the reason I use the word force, is because "what" it is seems hard to describe and understand. This "thing" is called the "Tao." I suppose the best Christian equivalent would be God. So, in our terms, the Tao would be their version of God, for lack of a better word.

And one of the main religious books of Taoism is the Tao Te Ching. The authorship of the Tao Te Ching seems to bea little clouded. Basically, some believe it was all written by one man named Lao Tzu. One book I read said there is considerable doubt whether he actually existed, since there is very little historically to corroborate him coupled with the fact that Lao Tzu is not an actual man's name, but means literally "the old philosopher" or the "old man". Still, scholars are divided whether the Tao Te Ching was written by this one man or by several men over the course of several centuries.

What do you think about this? Sound familiar at all? I think it sounds very similar to the God of Christianity. "It does not change." "It operates everywhere" so it's omnipresent, like our God. "It is free from danger", so it is omnipotent-- all powerful, like our God. Am I making anyone uncomfortable yet?

"The great rivers and seas are kings of all mountain streams because they skillfully stay below them. That is why they can be their kings. Therefore in order to be superior of the people, one must, in the use of words, place himself below them"

This passage resembles what Christ taught about servant leadership when he washed the disciple's feet in John ch 13 and when he said in Matt. 20:28 "The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve."

This resembles Matt. 18:21 When Peter asked Jesus how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? And Jesus said not seven times but an unlimited number of times. Jesus also told us to "turn the other cheek" and "pray for your enemies."

You can see a similar parallel in the life of Christ. Jesus was called the "Lamb of God." He told us "the meek shall inherit the Earth." Jesus does not force himself on us or coerce us into making a decision. And at times, at times he exemplified a mild or "soft" demeanor:

So, what can we learn from these comparisons so far? Well, I think we can learn that totally different religions can look or appear very similar. And their can be truths in religions other than Christianity

And I think this fact can make it difficult to discern between religions. Generally speaking, we tend to recognize truth when we hear it. And when we hear truth in other religions, the lines that separate them become blurred. And that's why we have to take the time to look closely and completely at religions before making sweeping statements like, "They're all the same."

This image on the side screens exemplifies the interactive and interdependent relationship of opposites. In other words, Yin-Yang says life is about balance. That 2 opposites come together to make wholeness. If you're a female you're a Yin and if you're a male, you're a Yang. 2 opposites coming together to make wholenessCan I get an Amen?

Ya' know,I have always looked at this Taoist principle of balance in a very positive light. Doesn't it seem to make sense to strive to live a balanced life? In times that we seem to be emotionally drained can't we look at our lives and see that we've spent too much time at work and not enough time with our families or in refueling activities? Doesn't it feel like we're out of balance?Does this idea of balance, on the surface, seem to make a lot of sense? I would say, yes. Yes it does.

But in researching for today, I learned more about what Taoism says about Yin and Yang. I learned more than just about the surface idea of balance in our lives. You see, by peeling back the layers and looking closer, I learned that Taoism teaches that in terms of opposites,

Let's think about the two biggest opposites in Christianity for a minute. God and the evil one, or God and sin. Now lets look at those Taoist statements about opposites and see what that looks like(look at side screens & talk through)

"We should not try to avoid one or the other. We should live in harmony between them both, never having too much of either." Think about that for a minuteLiving in harmony between good and evil. Again back to the BibleDoes it say we are to live in harmony with sin, value the uniqueness of sin? Absolutely not! The exact opposite is true in Christianity. We are to turn away from sin and focus our lives on God. Romans 12:9 says "Hate was is evil; cling to what is good."

How, after this quick look could we say that all religions are basically the same? How could we say that all religions lead to heaven when they are so starkly different or don't even believe there is a heaven? "Are you with me?"_________

The best illustration I could think of that all religions are the same would be to say that football and basketball (or almost any sports) are the same. They both involve skill, they both increase your heart rate, they both are played against an opposing team, you have to develop healthy disciplines or workouts to be good at them, they both use a ball, they both have referees to keep you in line, on and onbut we know if you look closer, they indeed are not the same.

I've spent this time to show you very clearly that the cornerstones of Taoism and Christianity are very, very different. And with so many major differences, it would be hard to convince me that these 2 religions are headed to the same place.

And I want to tell you that Taoism was not in the least bit, unique in it's differences to Christianity from other religions. I could have picked New Age, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Humanism and a whole lot of other "isms" and arrived at the same place. Almost all world religions have a God or Gods that are impersonalnot personal There is no "relationship" available between man and God in them. They are also all about what man has to DO to "earn" his reward, or about "earning" the right to move forward in the circle of life.

Christianity stands alone as a religion that offers grace free of charge, offers eternal life free of charge, to whoever wants to accept the gift that was paid for by Jesus Christ. In Christianity entrance into Heaven and payment for our sin is DONE for us. In other religions, it's about DOING. It's DO vs. DONE.

There is a parable in Christianity that is very similar to a story in Buddhist literature. Both stories are about sons who became rebellious and left home with a head of steam, but who later saw the error of their ways and who decided to return home so they might make things right with their families.

But it's the ending of the 2 stories that shows the difference between DO vs. DONE, or the difference between Buddhism and Christianity. In the Buddhist story the son is required to work off the penalty for his bad attitude and disrespectful actions by spending years and years of service to make up for what he had done.

Theologian R.C. Sproul said this: "Moses could meditate on the law, Mohammed could brandish a sword, Buddha could give personal counsel, Confucius could offer wise sayings, but none of these men was qualified to offer atonement for the sins of the world." Jesus alone was qualified. This one thing, alone, sets Christianity apart.

I disagree with George Lucas, that all religions are true. But, I do I believe there is some, some truth in all religions. If you're looking for a way to live a better life, to find some peace, to have better relationshipsif you are ready to adopt the required disciplines, you could choose any of the religions I've mentioned today and improve your quality of life.

I believe that is a true statement. I believe that is a quality that all religions share. ButIf you're looking for a God to do life with youthat no matter what happens he will be thereand if you're concerned about going to HeavenThis church believes there is only one way. And that is through Jesus Christ.

This is probably the most outrageous, politically incorrect, intolerant, non-diverse statement that Jesus ever made. And especially in the context of this agean age of tolerance and a culture where you and I are barraged with tons of choices

We decide if our toilet tissue is scented, unscented, 2 ply, single ply, with lotion, without lotion, single roll, double pack, 4 pack, eight pack, Sams Club I need a cart just carry the mega-pack, white, yellow, blue, green, pink, plain, floral printI could go on We choose the exact color car with just the options we want. We have our house built the way we want it. What?! You only have 50 channels on your satellite dish? We decide which shows make it in prime time. We choose our political leaders.

I'm not sure I can think of any one thing that is more counter-cultural than the idea of not being able to choose from an assortment And Jesus said, I am the only color, the only flavor, the only modelIf you want go to heavenit's through me.

A lot of people still get hung up at this point. They say there must be other ways to eternal salvation"there must be other choicesthis is too simplisticit doesn't make sense to me!" (pause)

There was a young couple who had just given birth to a baby girl. The baby developed jaundice, which is a disorder of the liver that caused her skin to turn yellow and the whites of her eyes to turn yellow.

Of course the parents were very concerned. They brought the child to the pediatrician. The pediatrician told them that this is potentially a devastating disease, but, fortunately, it's easily cured.

The parents could have easily said, "There must be other ways. This is too simplistic. This doesn't make sense to me." They could have tried to scrub the yellowness off of her skin. Tried to bleach it. Surely if they worked hard enough they could do it. But you and I know that this isn't a way to cure jaundice. The disease is on the inside. And we can't scrub it away.

In this analogy, somehow we accept just having one choice. We trust the Doctor's credentials. And if we will look closely enoughspend the time and effort to see that Jesus Christ has backed up all of his wildest claimsperhaps we will trust his prescription for salvation.

Before I take us into the homestretch, I want to make a point: We can't look at any religionany religion and draw accurate conclusions without spending the time to look at it closely and examine all of it. If you looked at Christianity and read only the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament, you might easily think that Christianity and God are all about rulestons of them that seem to make no sense at all and could even be misconstrued as appearing pagan with all of the animal sacrifices that it talks about in great detail.

The first is that God is Holy. Holy is Perfect Purity, Holy is unlike anything else anywhere. He is a perfect and sinless God. He is Holy. And the word Holy translates from Hebrew meaning "other." "Other" or apart from anything else. But the God of Christianity is not so other that we cannot know his love. Which is God's second unique characteristic. Love. Love in other religions, in terms of God is mentioned very little or not at all. The God of Christianity is characterized by love. It says in the Bible that God is love.

In religions other than Christianity, you and I seem very insignificant in the sight of God, or their life force. There is little to nothing written about a higher force "caring" for us or about us. Their role is to provide us with rules to get us to where we need to be, or just get us to the end of our mortal life.

In Christianity, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who goes out of his way leaving the many while he rounds up just 1 stray. He is an intimate God that deeply cares where you are today this morning. So much so, that he brought you here. Which brings up another point: In other religions, it is up to us to figure it out. The "doing" is all performed on our part. In Christianity, we don't choose to pursue God, although that's what we might think. But, scripturally we respond to God after he has begun to call us. In John 6:44 it says, "No one can come to me (Jesus) unless the Father who sent me draws him." And from the very beginning, in Genesis 3:9, when Adam & Eve were hiding from GodGod took the initiative to seek them out. And that's the way it's been from the very beginning..Because God loves us and cares about each one of us so much, he is constantly drawing us closer to him.

In our early days of coming to OakBrook, many of us here have had the experience of coming to a service for no apparent reasonmaybe it was a random thought to get up early and check it out, or maybe someone we know just casually mentioned it to us.

But, we came out to a service, in the same way we might go to the grocery store, or stop by the mallbut after we got here, we had this unique feelingthat something someone said in the service, or a song that was sung, or a drama, uncannily "spoke to us"and we thought, "Man! Was somebody following me around this week?"

Yessomeone was following you around that weekdrawing you to himself, because he loves you. And if you're here today and something is really impacting you.Then, listen to meThere is more evidence for Jesus Christ in that experience, than I or any other teacher could teach you. "Are you with me?"______________.

So let me tell youafter all that you may investigate or hear about Christianity, in terms of proof, there will still be a gap. The case for Christ is not 100% airtight. If it were, we wouldn't call it religionwe'd call it science.

And I believe that "gap" is intentional. If God gave us everything we needed, in his teachingswhy would we need him? This gap is God's space. In my life and in the lives of all of the other Christ followers I knowthe most convincing evidence for God has not been the books we've read, or the services we've attended. The most defining moments have been in the experiences where God has unmistakably touched us.

That sounds mysteriousbut, it's not. The experience I mentioned just a minute ago of having an undeniable moment during a service, is God tapping us on the shoulderA Christ follower friend giving us advice, counsel, or encouragement that cuts to our heart and seems to be just the perfect words at the perfect timeis God reaching out to usdrawing us to him.

It's evidence in the gap that exists after we've gathered knowledge about God. It's God loving us so much that he won't sit back and hope that we happen to wander into his direction. The God of Christianity is love and in that, can't help but keep his big mitts off of us. When these "undeniable" twilight zone incidents happen in your life, don't dismiss them as fate, or coincidence

God is trying to speak to one of his lambs. There's a song they sing in Kidsville that my 6 year old daughter Meg sings, and the chorus is, "I am number 1 to God." And that's the truth. The God of Christianity wants you to know, that you are number 1 to him.

Now here's the dealComing to terms with a religion is a lot like buying a used car. There's no new ones out there. And from the outside they pretty much all look the same. The only way you can know if it will go the distance, is to get serious about the process to tear it apart and really look inside it.

Earlier I said that when I was in high school, the idea of all religions not leading to heaven really hung me up. And that it made the case for Christ harder for me to swallow. As I've been looking back on that this past week, and spending time looking at other religionsit occurred to me

I hung myself upYou seeI felt strongly that it didn't seem right that only one religion was the wayit disagreed with my sensibilities. And as a logically minded thinkerIt didn't seem to add up. But you know what??.Looking back on itI was just being lazy. I didn't take the time or the initiative to look into it and see if what I believed made sense. And my own actionsor lack of actionskept me from Jesus Christ.

There are people here today who are skeptical. That's O.K. But I believe being skeptical, but not taking the initiative to see if Christianity holds water is not OK. That's a mistake I know firsthand. Do something this week to learn more about Jesus Christ.

Listen to meEventually, your personal case for Christ comes down to trusta leap of faith. If you don't get in the caryou won't go anywhere. If you keep doin' what you're doin' you'll keep getting what you're getting.

Wherever you are today, there's something for you in this song. Listen to it. Be open to what it says. If you feel compelled, come and talk to me or the staff or elders after the service. Please listen