No other name

6-25-06

Christianity

Acts 4:12

Review:

            Today we finish our series on world religions. This has been for me a long journey; not so much in time, but it has been a long journey through the burden of the world.  We are a religious, searching people here on planet earth. 

•Buddhism - 376 million  6% -no concept of God but a path of self help in hope of “spiritual enlightenment” toward reincarnation

•Hinduism 900 million 14% -(1 of 6 in the world)  and its chains of karma toward reincarnation

            Abrahamic religions

•Islam 1.3 billion       21% (1 in 5) Muslims follow Mohammed’s life and teaching in rejecting Jesus as Son of God and Savior.

•Judaism14 million .2%  - with whom we have common OT roots but who reject Jesus as the Messiah.

All of which is a heartbreaking burden about our world.

•Christianity 2.1 billion         33%

            Gary Poole, a graduate of Indiana University and a staff person at WCC is going to speak for Christianity.

(Videos) God-Holy Writings-Life after life-Jesus-Mistakes “Jesus is the only way…”

This claim was probably the most difficult for people in the Greco-Roman world of Jesus’ day to accept.  It was shocking.  It was revolting. It was difficult to accept.  It is the same in our day. It is probably what you felt when we read it in Acts 4:12.

“Salvation is found in no one else,

for there is no other name under heaven

given to men by which we must be saved.”

It is important to recognize that this was just as repugnant in that culture as it is in ours.  The Roman empire was every bit as pluralistic as ours and as committed to religious relativism (that every religion was equally valid) as our culture is today. In the Roman world everyone would have believed two things:

1. There were many gods.  There were many religions.  Everybody had his or her own gods. 
2. Every god had limited sovereignty. So, it meant that you had a God of Ephesus, and one over Sparta.  Regions and spheres (agriculture, love, war, etc.)  But, one thing was understood in that society and that was that no one’s god was supreme over all the rest. So when Christianity said things like Acts 4:12, it was as implausible and dangerous as it is today.

Christianity was not born into a world that said, “Oh of course, Jesus is God’s provision for our salvation.” It raises a question, “If they were as put back at the thought as our culture is, why did so many come to believe it?  What overcame their revulsion?”  Many became Christians, so many that it changed their whole society.

Four realizations that overcame their revulsion and caused them to embrace this shocking claim:

1. They came to see this claim as implication not arrogation.   People say, “It is okay to believe in Jesus as long as you don’t believe he is the only God.”  Let me try to believe.

Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am”. 

“I am the beginningless God who created the universe.” 

Is it okay to believe in that person?  Did the Buddha or Plato or Mohammed or Moses, Abraham, Confucius claim anything close to that.  No, of course not.  Can I believe in Jesus as we have him in the Bible?  (He is the only Jesus we have got.)  You can’t recreate him with only your desired qualities. He is just love and no justice?! No.

      Why did the Jews, the only monotheists in the world, begin to worship Jesus as God.  When worshiping a human being was punishable by death under Mosaic law.   (Answer)They saw Him.  They didn’t create him as a superior way.  They saw him live and lay down His life and then rise from the dead.  They drew the implications.

1. They came to see that this claim (that Jesus was the only way) was no more exclusive nor absolute than the claim of religious relativism.

Back in v. 7 the religious leaders were asking, “Do you have a license to practice this religion?” 

The Roman empire did not give Christianity a license for over 300 years because it was committed to religious relativism.  You know why? (answer) It was an issue of power. 

In religious relativism, there is no agreed upon standard in a culture by which you can judge what is right or wrong.  There was no vying for accountability with Imperial Rome.  Those in power determined what was right or wrong.  In actuality, relativism is a bid for power.  

            Ill. Hinduism is a very tolerant religion. Right?   “It is better to believe something than to believe nothing.”  So why are the militant Hindus killing Christians in Uttar Pradesh?  Why is it that Samuel Thomas, who has planted churches, built hospitals and schools and seen thousands convert to Christianity, has broken no laws and yet is harassed by dozens of lawsuits, threatened for his life, and thrown in jail on charges of disturbing the community.  It is an attempt to retain power through a bid for power by the Hindu leaders.

            All truth claims are bids for power.  They say, “I am right.  You are wrong.  My bid should hold sway.”  To say that there is no truth is also a bid for power.  It is the biggest bid for power.  When you say no one has the truth, that is a truth claim.

            Every single statement for spiritual reality is a bid for spiritual authority. 

            Ill. All religions are equally true. 

            How can this be if at the heart of the various religions, there are contradictory claims.  Remember the Muslim Imam Fisel saying, “Jesus, peace be upon him.”  But at the core they cannot believe that any human being can be God.  That would be blasphemy. 

            At the core of Christianity, we say Jesus is God.  How can they both be true?

During the European Enlightenment Immanuel Kant said, “Religions are subjectively helpful, but not objectively true.”   If you accept Kant’s construction (All religions are subjectively true) you are saying that if you believe that Christianity is objectively true you are an “infidel”.  You don’t believe the Kantian construct.  On the surface it looks tolerant.  But in reality you have thrown every other construct out.  There is no way to avoiding claims to spiritual reality.

To say that Jesus is the only way to God is an exclusive claim.

To say that Jesus is not the only way to God is an exclusive claim.

            So, it is a wash!  There is no difference in the claims.  They are bids for spiritual authority. (Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Christian)

            Where does this leave us?  Is there no way to tell?  Oh yes, there is a way to tell.

The claims may be equally exclusive on the surface, but the life is different.  How do these claims lead you to live?  (next two realizations)

1. They saw that this exclusive claim led to a transformation of identity.  (v.13)

These men had been with Jesus.  They were undaunted. They had courage.  They did not have schooling. They had a poise.  They had a joy.  They had a confidence because they had been with Jesus. 

If Jesus is God…I am loved now!  God has provided. 

Jesus is not one more teacher among others.  He is taking all the burden of performance off of you and putting it on him.  He is the Savior.

I have heard people saying, “I just don’t believe that you have to believe in Jesus to be saved.  I believe that all good people can find God.”  What you are really saying is that good people find God.  Bad people don’t.  In your effort to be inclusive, you have become more exclusive.

You just left me out.  I know that I am a moral failure.  I know my own heart, and I wonder if you really know yours.

You have set up a way of salvation, the good people are in and the bad people are out.

In Christianity, it is not that the good are in and the bad are out.  It is that the humble are in and the proud are out. Somebody is still out, but Christianity is the most “inclusive exclusive” religion there is.  It is exclusive.

      But the most inclusive possible way of salvation was to recognize that if you come to Jesus, he has done it all for you.

1. This exclusive claim that Jesus was the only way to God led to the most inclusive community that the world had ever seen. 

v. 31 They prayed.  The Holy Spirit strengthened what they knew about Jesus.

Two responses

1.      They spoke the word of God boldly.

2.      They opened their purses.

One of the leading characteristics of those who see who Jesus is - they are radically generous with their money.  The proof that they got it was their radical boldness and generosity.  The gospel brings fearlessness and freedom. 

            When the Greeks looked at the early church they saw uneducated and educated, cultured and uncultured, rich and poor.  They saw moral and immoral together in one church.   The Christians brought together the religious and prostitutes because they realized that we are all sinners saved by grace.  Your identity is based on something else; it was based on what Jesus has done.

            This most exclusive claim created the most inclusive community the world has ever seen.

            The heart of the heart of this claim is a man who was rejected but died for people who did not believe in him or in the right things.  He died for people who didn’t believe in him.  He gave up the power to serve them.  Make that the main dynamic of your life.  Make that the reason you get up in the morning.  You will not bash people or feel contempt for people or seek to coerce people.

The content of the gospel turns you into the most inclusive people ever. 

The paradox is that you have to believe this. You have to see him as savior.  There is one exclusive claim that turns you into the most inclusive person ever.  That is how people can know.  In spite of their repulsion.

            The rejected stone is the cornerstone of salvation.

            Come to him.  Be saved.

If you want to be part of the most inclusive community in history you have to hang on to the most exclusive claim.  “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  

Announcement of Transition

“For this reason and others, I want to announce a transition today that is taking place at OBC.  A few months ago, I submitted to the elders a proposal that I transition out of the Lead Pastor role into the role of the Global Missions Pastor.  We discussed it for several meetings in an ever-expanding circle of examination and affirmation.  With overwhelming support, (no one opposed this), I was given green light to pursue this transition.

            I have been sharing with you, even today, some of the theological reasoning and global picture of what has gone into this burden/ decision.  Because our lives overlap in this community at OBC, the elders have asked me to share a bit of my personal journey in this adventure.

            So, I’ll try.

It really is your fault that I feel the way I do about this opportunity.  Over the past 28 years (10 in Indiana and 18 here), I have been in approximately 50 countries. I have tried to be a keen observer of what I have felt and seen to bring it back to you.   We have worked alongside 30+ missionaries in different settings.  Being pulled back and forth emotionally by the world’s needs and the compassion of God has kept missions simmering on the back burner of Sue’s and my lives for all these years.

            As we looked at the developmental needs here at OBC in the area of global missions, we began to ask personal questions about our involvement.  Full time leadership in missions is long overdue.  We looked at the gift mix that exists in the leadership culture of OBC and came to the conclusion that God was opening a door for us to pursue a dream that he had carved out in our hearts.

            It is our proposal that Pastor Mike Bickley’s role shift from the Pastor of Ministry Development to the Lead Pastor role.  He will move from vision implementation (which he does now) to vision casting.  Mike and I will change places on the teaching team.  He will be the primary teaching pastor (about 30 times per year) and I will be the secondary teaching pastor, (preaching about ten times a year).

            We have a history at OBC of a healthy leadership culture that allows us the possibility of doing an amazing thing that has biblical precedent.  That is, to extend the church into other cultures by giving senior level leadership to it. 

            Remember the Church at Antioch that prayed and sent Paul and Barnabbas (two of their five pastors) to extend the gospel beyond their local church.  The missionary journeys of Paul resulted, and we of European descent eventually got the gospel.  Aren’t you glad that compassion won the day! 

So, officially starting this September my focus will be shifted to allow me to develop three areas.  It will give me the opportunity, in what is likely the last third of my life to pour myself into some people that God raises up and a vision that will outlive me.

Three areas:

•Global missions

            I believe that this church is well positioned to make an impact on this globe.  Last fall when I said we could plant 500 churches, and you looked at me like I was crazy, I meant it. We can.  I look forward to saying more in time.            

•Young Leader Internship Program

            Intensive discipleship (explain)

            Intensive community  (explain)

            Intensive ministry       (explain)

                                    Next summer!

            •A Center for Church Based training for aspiring ministry leaders

            We want to establish a school for those who want to prepare themselves for ministry but don’t believe that they can uproot their families and head off to seminary.

            We believe the need exists and that there are advantages in doing it in the context of a local church and we want to start moving into that need.

All of this probably raises a lot of questions that I have not touched on and can’t take the time to right now.  We will have a page on the web site to address questions that we anticipate.  This afternoon, we encourage you to go there as a place to start processing this transition together.  And we will be available to you during July and August to answer any other questions that you have before the transition actually begins in September. 

Seeing this church’s influence in this community expand,  and now to anticipate us being able to see God do over and above anything we would ask or think in some of the least reached people on the globe continues to excite this old heart of mine.  I don’t know that I have been as excited about a new ministry opportunity as I am about this one. 

            We sincerely ask for your prayers and support as we move through this transition.”