Last week I came across a clip of a pastor delivering an invitation to Holy Communion. Pointing to the elements, he announced: “This table right there is not my table…it is God’s table and that means everyone is welcome to that table. *You do not have to believe what we believe…you don’t even have to be Christian – you can come up and receive if you so desire” (*as in the denomination he represents).
This is inclusion gone mad! It is precisely what happens when we emphasise one truth of the Christian faith at the expense of other important truths or when we tweak Christian truths to suit contemporary sensibilities.
To be sure, Jesus’ ministry was defined by a profound inclusiveness. This angered the religious establishment of his day so much they gave him a derogatory title, ‘friend of sinners’ because he welcomed everyone regardless of their background, race and status. The Pharisees on the other hand, were practising a form of ‘spiritual apartheid’ which Jesus fiercely condemned.
Yet, his radical, inclusive call was never divorced from His exclusive demands and uncompromising black-and-white teaching, a tension Jesus held together perfectly:
- “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
- There’s a road that leads to life and a road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
- Those who wish to follow him must first deny himself and take up his cross daily (Luke 9:23)
The early church claimed that Jesus was the only name under heaven by which people can be saved. In fact, it was precisely because they refused to compromise this tension that they faced the wrath of Rome. As Trevin Wax puts it, they insisted on “exclusive claim that Jesus is the only way, not the idols of Rome, and also issued an inclusive call to everyone, regardless of ethnicity to repent and believe and become part of a new worldwide family” (Trevin Wax).
Like Paul at the Areopagus (Acts 17), we must engage people of other religions thoughtfully and respectfully with broad shoulders and warm hearts. True respect does not mean hiding our convictions or pretending differences are non-existent. Rather, it means treating people with dignity because as fellow image-bearers of God while having the courage to disagree on the ultimate questions of faith.
Fellow fisher of people,
Mark
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