Welcome to Part 3 of 10 our Frequently Asked Questions series. These are the top ten questions I receive As a pastor.
Question: Hey Pastor, isn't it kind of arrogant to say Jesus is the only way? Don't all religions basically teach the same thing?
Answer: Great question! Let's get into it.
I get why this question comes up. We live in a world that values tolerance, and saying "there's only one way" can sound narrow, even mean. Most of us have friends and neighbors from other faiths who are kind, sincere, and generous. So let's slow down and think this through carefully.
Do all religions really teach the same thing?
It's a popular idea. You've probably heard the picture of a mountain with many paths that all lead to the top. It sounds humble. But when you actually study the world's religions, you find they don't agree on the biggest questions.
Take the most important question of all: who is Jesus? Christianity says Jesus is God in the flesh who died and rose again. Islam says He was a prophet who wasn't crucified. Judaism says He wasn't the Messiah. Hinduism might say He was one of many enlightened teachers. Buddhism doesn't focus on a personal God at all.
Those answers can't all be true at the same time. They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right. Saying "all religions are the same" actually disrespects every religion, because it ignores what each one really claims.
C.S. Lewis was gracious and honest on this point in Mere Christianity:
"If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through."
Other faiths contain real truth and real beauty. But Lewis went on to say that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. That's not arrogance. That's just taking truth seriously, the same way a doctor does when she says only one treatment will cure your infection.
This wasn't our idea
Here's something important. Christians didn't invent the "one way" claim to win an argument. Jesus said it Himself: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
Peter preached the same thing in Acts 4:12: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." And Paul wrote, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
So if Jesus was wrong about this, He isn't a great spiritual teacher worth following. And if He was right, it's the most important thing we could ever know.
Do versus done
Here's the biggest difference between Jesus and every other path. Nearly every religion in the world says, in one way or another, "Do." Do these rituals. Follow these rules. Climb this ladder. Be good enough, and maybe you'll make it.
Christianity says, "Done." We can't climb up to God, so God came down to us. Paul says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Think about it this way. If there were a hundred ways to God, why would Jesus go to the cross? In the garden He prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me" (Matthew 26:39). If there had been another way, the Father would have taken it. The cross tells us there was no other way to deal with our sin.
Narrow, but wide open
Yes, Jesus said the gate is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14). But here's the beautiful part: that narrow gate is open to absolutely anyone. Your background doesn't matter. Your past doesn't matter. Your ethnicity, income, or religious upbringing doesn't matter. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
Whoever. That's the widest word in the Bible.
One road isn't narrow-minded when it's the only bridge over the canyon. It's good news. And when someone builds that bridge at the cost of His own life, the loving thing to do is to tell everybody about it.
How should we talk about this?
Let me add a word for us as Christians. Believing Jesus is the only way should never make us proud or harsh. We didn't find the way because we were smarter or better. We were found by grace. So hold this truth with conviction and with kindness. Peter told us to always be ready to give an answer for our hope, but to "do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).
Love your neighbors of other faiths well. Listen to them. Ask good questions. And when the moment comes, tell them about the One who said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
