Pastor Seeks Christian/Muslim Union

Mega-church pastor Rick Warren, known for his best seller ‘The Purpose Driven Life’, has again raised some eyebrows in the evangelical community. This time it was for his attendance and remarks at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America.

Warren told several thousand American Muslims that "The two largest faiths on the planet must work together to combat stereotypes and solve global problems.” The pastor described the problems as the “five global giants" - specifically war, poverty, corruption, disease, and illiteracy. During his 20-minute long speech Warren urged Muslims and Christians to “respect each other even while disagreeing”.

Pastor Warren cannot be faulted for extending a friendly hand to those of another faith. Jesus would no doubt have done the same. He cannot be faulted for addressing the “five global giants” that plague humanity and cause universal suffering. Jesus would have felt likewise. And Warren cannot be faulted for speaking about destructive stereotypes – something Jesus would also have seen as sin. But with that said, there remains the questionable matter of working together for good in the light of those little spiritual and religious ‘disagreements’. That might have raised the eyebrows of the Lord depending on what those disagreements are, where they lead, and how they are handled.

It is all well and good to treat people well, break destructive stereotypes, and work together for the common good. But when dueling religious systems converge during those efforts there must be, at some point, a serious spiritual encounter. There must come from the Christian context a moment when a ‘disagreement’, if it is over the path of salvation, must be addressed. For a true disciple of Jesus Christ to be concerned and involved in righteous causes is admirable. But to somehow stop short of sharing his or her faith along the way is eternally dangerous, negligent, and a basic denial of God’s primary plan and purpose.

The symbolic linking arms for good causes with those outside of Christ, although quite profitable, can make it quite difficult to share what matters most. It can make nearly it uncomfortable if not impossible to explain the wretched destiny of those who fail to accept the Savior and gain Him as their eternal advocate. A difference in theology concerning forgiveness of sin is not just some ‘disagreement’. It is paramount! It is simply and surely all that really matters in this life and the next!

The Bible is clear that ‘disagreements’ are not acceptable or valid in matters of redemption. Acts 4:12 puts it this way. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Then the Savior Himself worded it as clearly as He possibly could in John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The Bible teaches that there is simply no theological wiggle room for ‘disagreements’ in this single most crucial category. There may be more than one way from point A to point B on a road map. But the journey to heaven is a single unbroken line running from forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ to life everlasting with the Creator God.

Life in the real world often means associating with and working along side of lost people. Some will have no religion at all and other may be fully entrenched in some ‘world-class’ false one. But for the believer in Christ, all such relationships should be bathed in prayer and based on the premise of the eventual sharing God’s true plan of salvation. In the final analysis, the ‘five global giant’ problems will someday end when Christ returns. On that day, all worthy efforts to have dealt with these issues will be complete, but also quite incomplete, unless they were somehow intertwined with reaching people with forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Bill Breckenridge