Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

1 Peter 3:13-17 and John 14:1-6

John Wesley, the famous revival preacher in the 1700’s and organizer of the Methodist movement had a dream that he died and went to hell.  When he got to hell, he asked the Devil, “Are there any Methodists here?”  The Devil smiled and replied, “Yes!”  “How about Presbyterians?”  “Of course,” the devil replied.  “Baptists?”  The Devil assured Wesley that there were Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists in hell. 

Then in his dream John Wesley pictured himself in heaven.  He approached God and asked, “Where are the Methodists?”  God responded that there was no such group in heaven.  “Presbyterians?”  God responded that there were none.  “Lutherans?” “Baptists?” The answer was the same.  Finally, John Wesley asked, “Then who is in heaven?” 

Before I tell you the end of John Wesley’s dream I want to consider how the dream might have been different if he had lived in today’s pluralistic culture.  How might the dream have gone if Wesley had lived in India and included Buddhists and Hindus in his questions?  Might there be Hindus and Buddhists in heaven? If Wesley had asked God if there were only Christians in heaven what would have been the answer?

Read John 14:1-6.

The doctor concluded his examination of the patient.  The man was told that the doctor would get back to him with the test results within a few days.  A few days later the doctor’s office called and asked the wife to come alone to the office to discuss her husband’s condition. 

The wife sat down as the doctor explained the results of the tests.  The doctor explained that her husband had a very serious heart condition.  “In order to keep him alive, he must be kept from any form of stress.  I suggest that you do everything you can to keep his stress level down.  You will want to have breakfast ready when he awakens each morning.  As soon as he gets home, you should have his slippers ready and let him watch sports on T. V. while you serve him dinner.  Avoid any arguments.  If some matter comes up which may cause disagreement, always allow him to be right so that you can protect his blood pressure.” 

When she arrived home her husband asked what the doctor said.  She answered, “The doctor says you are going to die.” 

I want to use this silly story to reflect on how Christians understand our role in spiritual conversations with people of other religions.  Some Christians, like the doctor, avoid any disagreements and work for harmony at all costs.  Such people are quick to say that all religions are essentially equal parallel paths to God.  Everybody is going to heaven.  Other Christians are like the wife in the story.  They are committed to defending Christianity with a blunt, uncompromising approach.  “Jesus is the only way so everybody else is eternally lost.”  All who are not Christians are going to hell.  We could call this an exclusive approach to other religions.  Are those the only two options?  Is the best way forward in a spiritual conversation to debate who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? 

When we choose a belief that is either rigidly exclusive on the one hand, or unqualified inclusive on the other hand, we pre-determine how we will engage in spiritual conversations with our neighbors and friends.  Neither universalist nor exclusive views of other religions tend toward positive, respectful spiritual conversations.  Who wants to tell their friend they are lost and going to hell?  (Most of us prefer to avoid that uncomfortable conversation.)  Who needs to discuss spirituality if it doesn’t matter what you believe anyway?  (Hey, if everybody is going to heaven anyway, spiritual beliefs are a non-issue.)  Let me suggest another approach.

Both exclusivists and universalists point to John 14.  Next weekend I will spend some time on the exclusivist approach to others.  This position loves to quote John 14:6, where Jesus says “no one comes to the Father except through me.”  I get that.  We will explore those implications next week. 

This week let me focus on the popular universalist approach to faith.  I have heard John 14:2, “My Father’s house has plenty of room,” interpreted as Jesus’ statement that everybody will make it into heaven.  There is room for all.  Heaven is not an exclusive, gated community.  Since Jesus taught that there is plenty of room, does that also mean people can come to God through many different religious paths?

I am thinking of a conversation with a couple of Bahais who used this verse for their beliefs.  It sounded so winsome and amiable.  Everybody has their own religious path and all ways lead to God.  Soon, however, these Bahais explained that the Christian religion was a lesser path to God.  They had the latest (and best) prophet with the latest and best truth.  While it sounded so accepting at first, it turned out they thought their own religion was actually a better way to God. 

These Bahais said Jesus was fine for a prophet of his own day.  Mohammed, however, had more truth than Jesus.  Their own prophet, they believed, revealed more truth than the previous prophets.  Then with a friendly smile they affirmed, “You see we all believe the same thing.”

Here is the challenge.  How do we remain civil and respectful, while pointing out that we don’t believe the same thing?  I believe Jesus is THE Son of God, not merely a prophet.  I believe Jesus was the only God-man in history, not one among many ways to God.  He was not just another prophet whose teachings were helpful at that time.  Isn’t it healthier to have an honest disagreement than to pretend we all believe the same thing when we don’t?  Can’t we disagree without being disagreeable? 

I appreciate Ravi Zacharias, a Christian from India who has explored in depth the various religious traditions in a land of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism.  He writes in his book Jesus Among Other Gods, “Every religion at its core is exclusive.”      (p. 7).   Let’s be honest, our religion like every other religion has an exclusive aspect.  To deny this is to be dishonest in a spiritual conversation.

Universalists love the old story of the three blind men finding an elephant.  One blind man, according to the story, felt the leg and thought it was a tree trunk.  Another blind man felt the tail and thought it was a rope.  The third blind man felt the elephant’s ear and thought it was a fan.  The conclusion of the story is that they were each convinced he was right and the others were wrong.  Thus, it is argued, when it comes to God nobody is right and nobody is wrong: just different parts of the elephant.

We can draw a different lesson from that familiar story.  The truth is: it is an elephant.  It is not a tree trunk, nor a rope, nor a fan.  All three were wrong because they refused to listen to each other and change their minds.  If they had compared notes they might have discovered the whole elephant.  For Christians, the primary goal of spiritual conversations is to help each other move toward truth and encounter the true God.  Movement towards truth involves listening and sharing.

When we forget the goal is to move toward truth, we get sucked into right or wrong, heaven or hell options that force people into extreme views.  All are saved and going to heaven.  All non-Christians are lost and going to hell.  These are sucker options.  The truth is more complex than this.  Neither of these views help us move toward more truth.  What if, instead of extremes of right/wrong, good/bad, heaven/hell, we learned to approach spiritual conversations looking for more truth and identifying together the ways we wander away from truth.  More and less truth is discussable.  Heaven and hell is not. 

Now, let me clarify.  I believe in absolute truth.  I believe that some forms of religion help move people closer to truth and other forms of religion move people away from truth.  Seeking more truth does not mean we give up on Jesus.  In fact, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth” (John 14:6). 

When we are genuinely searching for truth, discussions about how Jesus fits into the conversation comes naturally.  The Bible tells us that Jesus is the truth, not Christianity as a religion.  Perhaps the problem is that we tied Christianity as a religion to truth and then felt the need to defend our religion as true and others as false.  What if we stopped defending Christianity, the religion, and instead engaged in searching for more truth? 

A few years ago, I was greatly influenced by a speech by Dr. Bruce Larson describing his hopes for the Christian church in the twenty-first century.  He hoped more followers of Jesus would invite their neighbors and friends to “come, follow Jesus, but you don’t have to buy the baggage.”  Like it or not, Christianity as a religion has picked up some negative baggage.  I suspect that we are better able to have healthy spiritual conversations if we can separate Christianity as a religion from Jesus as the truth.  Lots of people love Jesus, they just don’t like Christians.  “Discuss Jesus and ways we can move closer to truth, I’m there.”  “Debate your religion versus mine, no thanks!”

Back to that dream of John Wesley in the 1700’s.  John Wesley, in his dream, found there were no Baptists, Methodists, or Presbyterians in heaven.   I think if he had been in India today the same could be said of Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians.  Are we ready for the shock?  If we asked “Are there any Christians in heaven?”  God would say, “No, there is no religion here.”  When Wesley asked God, “Then who is in heaven?” God answered, “The only ones here are those who seek the truth—people who love Jesus.”