In John's Gospel, Jesus proclaimed, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So, how can we as Christians be clear about our convictions without coming off as arrogant or intolerant? Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg explains how our conversations should be marked by authenticity. Humility. integrity and sensitivity. Let's open our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 46.
Philosophical pluralism suggests. That All religions by their expressions, are simply mediating They're simply mediating reality. A reality which is beyond whatever expression Hinduism may give, or Buddhism may give, or Christianity may give.
So that if you get beyond the way in which they mediate that notion, then you will find a reality which lies behind the reality, because they possess no reality in themselves. They simply mediate a reality which you can find, if you like, in a black hole somewhere. John Dixon, in his books, is very helpful on this, and observing on that, he says, by describing religions, as true in a manner none of them has affirmed before. You see, that the truth is not in the specifics of Hinduism, of Buddhism, or of Christianity, or of Judaism. The truth is not in the specifics.
The truth is in what these specifics mediate, it is behind. Says Dixon, by describing religions as true in a manner none of them have affirmed before, and false in all the ways they have always affirmed. Pluralism assumes an intellectual high ground. that far exceeds any of the claims of world religion. But we need to understand something of this.
and then be able to approach it. I want to mention just briefly three factors In In seeking to establish contact. First of all, what I refer to as the arrogance factor, the arrogance factor. In a context which we consider this morning where there is no truth. Only truths.
Where there are no principles. Only preferences Then we face inevitably the charge of being arrogant. in proclaiming Jesus. And if you've endeavored to tell people that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me, then almost inevitably someone will have told you, well, that's such an arrogant thing to say. And if they've had time with you, their argument goes along like this.
I thought you said you were a Christian.
Well, I am a Christian.
Well, I thought Christians were nice people. I thought Christians were supposed to be humble. And you are obviously not humble. If you were humble, then you would not continue to suggest that Christianity has got it right and all the rest have got it wrong.
So, the temptation then is to shy away from anything like that because we know that's exactly what's going to happen as soon as we say it.
So, in fearfulness, we just say nothing.
So, how do we deal with this?
Well, we have to recognize that truth is not a matter of pride or humility, it's a matter of fact. It's a matter of fact. Peter Cartrow. A wonderful man who's now getting old deals with this quite masterfully in a little book that I've had for a long time when he says: Islam says Jesus wasn't crucified. We say he was.
Only one of us can be right. Judaism says that Jesus was not the Messiah. We say he was. Only one of us can be right. Hinduism says that God has often been incarnate.
We say only once. And we can't both be right.
So we're stuck with this. And that's what I always say to people. They say, well, the fact is, I'm just stuck with this. I actually am a Christian. And I believe that the Bible is God's inerrant word.
And so, if I'm going to be a Christian and believe my handbook, then I can only tell you what it says in the handbook.
So, I'm stuck with this. I mean, I would like, in terms of interpersonal relationships, to accommodate you, but I'm sorry I can't accommodate you.
Now that I think is important, even just to acknowledge that is good because part of the problem for some of us lies not in what we're saying, but in our tone. And I think some of us need to face up to the fact that we are actually arrogant in the way we speak. We are actually arrogant in the way we present the claims of Jesus, who was not arrogant at all. That we are actually rather bombastic in the way we take the high ground in conversation and look down our theological noses at people because they don't understand what we so clearly grasp. I think we need to put look in the mirror and see whether we're not actually guilty of ridiculing other religions and those who are the adherents of other religions.
Of saying things about other religions and people who hold to other religious positions in a way that is very unchristian. That is actually unkind and is arrogant. That is negative. And we feel that we're able to do so largely because we don't know anybody who's engaged with that ism, be it Hinduism or Judaism. or Islam or whatever it might be.
As soon as you have as your obstetrician A wonderfully nice Muslim doctor.
Now you're going to have to engage in dialogue in an entirely different way. You're not going to be able simply to dismiss things out of hand. Because this is a living person. This is a man of high moral standing. This is an individual who is devoutly committed to the truths that underpin his existence.
What do we believe about that?
Well, believe that there are no other gods. Why? Because that's what the Bible says. When we read in in Isaiah 47, You'll notice that Isaiah doesn't say that these are just other ways of referring to the one God. He doesn't say that at all.
He says the other gods are non-gods.
So, in other words, we have to have a clear understanding of what we mean when the Bible talks about idolatry. And we don't have time to expound Isaiah 47, but it is a wonderful chapter and will repay your study at home. It is so terrific, isn't it? 46, I should say. The prophet of God stands and watches the New Year festival coming down the street, and he says that's bunk.
What could a God that needs to be carried do for you when you need carried? That's what he says. You need a God that can carry you, not a God you can carry around on your cart or in your pocket. He doesn't for a moment get into any kind of syncretistic nonsense. No.
No, he declares who God is, and God stands out separate. from these idols.
Now You say, well, if I'm going to hold to that position and the finality of the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. How then can I speak In humility and in kindness to my friends. I want to suggest to you that the only way you will be able to speak with humility and kindness to your friends is if you get clear in your mind the issue of idolatry, the absolute finality of the revelation of God in the person of Jesus. Because if you're not clear on that, All you will do is get yourself in an unbelievable mess by trying to be a nice person. And you will give away the queen before you've even moved a couple of pawns around on the board.
Before you start moving your bishops and your castles around, the jolly thing will be over. You see, it is only when you've got clear in your mind the issue of what the Bible says about idolatry. And when you've got clear in your mind what it says about who Jesus is as the final revelation of God.
Okay you can then actually have a dialogue with people. And a dialogue that is marked By authenticity? Humility Integrity. And sensitivity. For what distinguishes you from your idol-worshipping friend, or colleague, or spouse, or son, or uncle?
is the grace of God. Were it not for the grace of God, which amazes you and opened your eyes, you would believe these things. Because by nature we have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and we have begun to worship created things rather than the Creator. That is the pro forma of man in his natural state. Therefore, if we are not there.
We have been removed from that realm by grace. And only by grace may our friends equally be removed from that. Rao. Therefore, we ought not to offer to them shibboleths. We ought not to dump our wheelbarrow on them.
We ought not to say things that aren't true. We ought not to make professions that we can't hold to. Authenticity, sensitivity, integrity, humility. The arrogance factor. Secondly, in less time, the tolerance factor.
The tolerance fighter. One of the reasons that our tongues are tied and our lips are silent is on account of being thought narrow or intolerant. Right?
Now people say, well, the trouble you beg is, number one, arrogant, number two, intolerant. And that pushes you back when you're just sitting behind a desk and you're going to have to come out and say something sensible. A great help in the in the tolerance find there is just a dictionary. The common mistaken idea is that tolerance means accepting Every view as equally true. and valid.
That's what is suggested by tolerance. Tolerance means That no matter what anybody says, no matter what their view is of religion, particularly per se. If we're going to be tolerant, We have to say that is true. And that is valid. But that's actually not what tolerance means.
Tolerance In the realm of interpersonal relationships, as opposed to the realm of engineering, which I think is the genesis of tolerance in terms of holding things in tension. Tolerance involves treating with integrity and humility Someone whose opinions I believe To be untrue and invalid. That's tolerance. I don't believe That what you're telling me is the facts. I don't believe that there is legitimacy.
in your perspective, vis-à-vis heaven or whatever it might be. But I respect. The right that you enjoy to hold that view. and I am delighted to be able to have a conversation with you concerning it. And I think sometimes when it comes to our Christian convictions, we're a bit like the English traveling on the continent of Europe.
We've spoken about this before, but English people are very, very bad for not learning anybody else's language. They don't learn anyone else's language. They just speak English a little clearer when they travel on the continent of Europe. Or they speak a little louder. What's wrong with you people?
Don't you understand English? What's wrong with you, you arrogant Englishman? This happens to be the Netherlands. We don't speak that here. None of Americans would ever have copied the example of the English in this matter.
Now it won't do for us just to shout a little louder. or speak a little clearer. John Stoddard has helped us, hasn't he, by distinguishing the three aspects of tolerance: legal tolerance. Ensuring every minority's legitimate right to propagate and practice religion. in a democracy such as our own.
We uphold that as Christians. Don't fall foul of that. Don't start phoning up and marching. to shut down the views of others. The very freedom that is built into the Constitution of the United States that allows you to convey the truth of Jesus is the same freedom that allows them to convey the truth of Islam.
We believe in legal tolerance. We believe in social tolerance, because we teach our children To respect others who dress differently. and to worship differently. and to believe differently. And we seek to help them to understand the position of those people.
What we do not uphold is an intellectual tolerance. which seeks to regard every view As equally valid and true. which regards every opinion as having the basis for toleration in it. without ever detecting in it anything That is to be rejected. That says John Stott is not a virtue.
But it is a vice. of the feeble-minded. The arrogance factor, the tolerance factor, and finally the relevance factor. The relevance factor. The uniqueness of Jesus is inescapable.
The incarnation is not duplicated anywhere else. People will come up and tell you in borders and various things that they read something in some Dimwit piece that was akin to this. But it really is, there's nothing that comes close. To the eternality of the Son of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. The claim of Christianity for the incarnation.
is unique. The story of the cross. is unique. This is not a God on a deck chair. This is not a God who beckons us from a high mountain to try and come up and meet him.
This is a God who comes down and takes our place and bears our sin, suffers our penalty, dies our death, enters into our brokenness. It is unique. The story of the resurrection is unique. There is no comparable claim. Or can be made and sustained on behalf of any of the great religious leaders of the world.
There's not one page of the New Testament that has been written apart from the truth of the resurrection. We probably, as we've said before, would never have heard of Jesus of Nazareth were it not for. for the resurrection.
So the bottom line is this. If you're a Christian, then you're not free to believe what you want. Said Augustine. If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like. It is not the gospel you believe.
But yourself. In 1952, addressing Yale Divinity School, James Stewart warned the students at Yale 1952, 58 years ago, about a quote theologically vague and harmlessly accommodating Christianity. Which was, he said, less than useless. You get it? A theologically vague and harmlessly accommodating Christianity less than useless.
It won't do for us to offer to our friends and neighbors a God who does everything in general and nothing in particular. And church history affirms the fact that whenever the church in any generation has lost confidence in the truth, the relevance and the power of the gospel, it loses its edge in urging men and women on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. Read church history and check for yourself. And if you doubt it, you could have read the article in July 2nd, Wall Street, this year, entitled How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire. The writer makes the point that the term missions itself now carries a negative connotation.
even in politically and theologically conservative circles, Christians today typically travel abroad to serve others, but not necessarily to spread the gospel. The purpose of their visit is to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality, but not to spread the gospel. Why? I think in part. Because the church has lost a conviction regarding the truth, the relevance, and the power of the gospel, which is founded in the exclusive, inclusive claims of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You are sensible people. You need to figure it out. We began this morning with the Archbishop of Canterbury. We will conclude with the Archbishop and a brief quote from C.S. Lewis.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was in conversation with None other than Jane Fonda. The Archbishop said to Jane, Jesus is the Son of God, you know. To which Fonda replied, Maybe he is for you. But he's not for me. To which the Archbishop replied, Well, either he is, Or he isn't.
Either he is Or he isn't. People don't like that compelling logic. But you must authentically, sensitively, humbly. Push them back. Push them back.
In order. that they might see the absolute futility of finding meaning and significance and answers. And gods which they have to carry around, who become in turn burdens. them. I like books.
Such as this. Which says on the back that it is for ages eight and up. Oh, I love a book that says ages eight and up. I know I'm going to be able to read and understand it. Here it is.
The silver chair in the Chronicles of Narnia is the encounter between Jill and Aslan. Remember, she's desperately thirsty. She wants a drink of water. She comes and she sees the lion who is guarding the place where she might drink. Aslan says to her, if you're thirsty, you may drink.
This was the first she'd heard for a little while since Scrub had spoken to her at the edge of the cliff. The voice said again, if you're thirsty, come and drink. And of course she remembered what Scrub had said about animals talking in that other world and realized that it was the lions speaking. Anyway, she'd seen his lips move this time, and the voice was not like a man's, it was deeper, wilder, and stronger, a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she'd been before, but it made her frightened in rather a different way.
Are you not thirsty? said the lion. I'm dying of thirst, said Jill. Then drink, said the lion. May I?
Could I? Would you mind going away while I do? said Jill. The lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Joe, see, I'm getting ready to read this to my granddaughter.
And as Joe, and as Joe gazed at his motionless bulk, She realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. Will you promise not to do anything to me if I come? said Jill. I make no promise, said the lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that without noting her sake she'd come a step nearer. Do you eat girls? she said. I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms, said the lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry.
It just said it. Oh, I daren't come and drink, said Jill. Then you will die of thirst said the lion Oh dear, said Joe, coming another step nearer. I suppose I must go and look for another stream then. There is no other stream.
said a lion. There is no other stream. There is no other fountain filled with blood. That may cleanse the sins of men and women. There is no other who stands on the stage of history.
and calls out if you are thirsty. Come to me and drink. and out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. There is no one else who can say to the idolatrous woman wrapped up in her sexuality at the well, if you would take a drink. From the one who offers it to you, you would drink and never be thirsty again.
Why is that? Because there is no other name. Under heaven. Given among men. by which we must be saved.
And it is that. which will compel you. to take this news to your neighbour and your friend. Not the utilitarian value of what it will mean to them, vis-à-vis their finances or their kids or their felt needs. but what it will mean for them.
To give up every substitute, God. By bowing down before the living. and true God. What a wonderful time in history we live. What an amazing privilege is granted to us Let us commit ourselves afresh.
Do with authenticity. and humility. and integrity. Seek to see. Others Coming to Trust in Christ.
You're listening to Bible teacher Alastair Begg on Truth for Life.
Now, if you've never read the complete Bible from Genesis to Revelation, I want to recommend you do that in 2026. We have an easy-to-use daily Bible reading plan that will guide you through four passages of Scripture each day, so you can read through the entire Bible in one year. This Bible reading plan is built into the Truth for Life app. It's free to download from our website at truthforlife. org slash Bible reading plan, or you can purchase it in booklet form for just one dollar at truthforlife.
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Next week, we'll begin a series called The Hand of God. Do you sometimes think your past is just too messy for you to be forgiven, or that you're not good enough for God to use you? Join us Monday for an encouraging message about God's sovereign kindness. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
