The Fallacy of Inter-Faith Relationships
As a church, it’s our responsibility to teach what the Bible says, and not what certain preachers may say. While there are many television preachers that I wish our people would ignore completely, my hope is that as we teach the Word of God, our congregation will begin to make these choices on their own. So while I generally don’t single preachers out for their comments to their congregations, I do feel that recent comments made by Rick Warren to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) do warrant examination. He wasn’t preaching to a Christian congregation, and in fact wasn’t preaching at all. He was asked by the ISNA to come and speak to their group.
I do NOT believe that Rick Warren is a heretic. Unfortunately, many mega-church pastors get nit-picked by other pastors simply out of jealousy. He preaches the gospel and leads a church that focuses on people outside the walls, not just inside. However, Warren knows that he is closely scrutinized by the media as a major voice of Christianity. As a result, I fear that he attempts to measure his words to the point that sometimes the message is watered down. Warren called on Muslims and Christians to enter into a “coalition of faith”. Warren said, “Muslims and Christians can work together for the common good without compromising my convictions or your convictions.” Herein lies the fallacy. Is building houses good? Is feeding people good? Is bringing medicines to those who don’t have them good? Obviously all these things are good, but they are first steps. Should we be ok to meet the physical needs of people and completely ignore their spiritual needs? Am I holding to convictions by silently saying “Jesus is my Savior and Lord”, but failing to share it with others? I would argue that the answer is no.
The Bible is clear that there will one day be a coalition of faith. Revelation 13:8 says that “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast (AntiChrist)-all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” Even at the end, the coalition of faith will exclude those who truly believe in Jesus alone. I do not believe that Rick Warren is ushering in the time of the AntiChrist. I do not believe that Rick Warren is attempting to pervert the gospel. I do believe that this type of interfaith thinking is what makes the final chapter of God’s Word so easy to believe.