3/4/2012 The latest Rick Warren project is aimed at “building
a bridge to Muslims” and ending “the 1,400 years of misunderstanding between
Muslims and Christians”. He calls it “King’s Way”. (Orange County Register;
2-26-2012) He claims it is based upon Jesus’ teaching about loving God and your
neighbor. It is part of the outreach of Saddleback church’s PEACE Plan, “a
wide-ranging effort to solve major world problems…”. Did Jesus tell His men to
go “solve major world problems”? Wasn’t taking care of man’s sin problem the
purpose of Jesus’ mission?
Granted, Jesus said that we must love God and love our neighbors (Mat. 22:37-39). But, I read nothing in the Bible suggesting that such love will refrain from trying to evangelize neighbors of another faith. (Warren and his Muslim next door neighbor made such a pact.) Didn’t Jesus tell His men to take the Gospel into all the world? (Mark 16:15) If Muslims are in this world, they need to hear and obey the gospel too.
I vehemently deny that I am worshiping the same God as the Muslims. But at a dinner attended by “300 leaders from both faiths that included discussion of theological principles…(it was decided—kd) that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.” The God of the Bible IS NOT the same God as the God of the Quran!
Jehovah sent Jesus from heaven to the earth to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). If a Muslim is a sinner then he needs to heed Jesus. Jesus said,“except you believe that I AM he, you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). Later, Jesus referred to His eternal nature by noting, “before Abraham was born, I AM.” (John 8:58), thus proclaiming His deity. The Jews immediately tried to stone Him for blasphemy. But, Muslims do not believe that Jesus is God—we do NOT worship the same God!
Jesus also made it clear that NO ONE can gain access to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Since the Muslims deny Jesus’ role in God’s plan, they are not worshiping the same God—they cannot come to God any other way. Jesus is THE only Way!
If God wanted “bridges built” to people of other faiths, why didn’t He tell His apostles to forget about preaching the Gospel, lest it cause misunderstandings that would have to be repaired? The brokeness of today’s world is the result of sin, not mere misunderstandings resolved by a man-made “out reach” program based upon cowering, capitulation, and compromise. True love for God and men, including Muslims, means that we passionately proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all men. KD |
Articles >