Am I right and others are wrong?

One of our campus pastors told me that a guest came to their life group for the first time. As soon as the discussion started, they stood up and asked why those believers thought they were right and everyone else was wrong. Basically, why do you believe that your religion is right and other religions, or beliefs about God are wrong? 

I wish I would have been there. I love honest and real questions like that. I think I would have said, "Great question and I totally see why you would ask that and why that may be offensive to you, but my answer is no, I don't believe I'm right and everyone else is wrong." I did think I was right at one point in my life. Growing up in Pentecost, there was little doubt that we were not only right among other religions, but also right among other flavors of Christianity. Just to be clear, I love Pentecost and thank God for it. I've had to make some adjustments though as we all should if we are alive and growing.

So, my answer is no for a few reasons. Firstly, because now I know in part as Paul says. How can we honestly make the declarations of certainty that we do. I think certainties make us feel more comfortable and help us keep others in line. 

Secondly, in order to receive truth, you have to be willing to be wrong. How else can you receive truth and grow. Thats the definition of learning, right? It's not just gaining knowledge, it's also corrections to what we already know. I've learned to live my life before Christ as openly as I can depending on the Holy Spirt, not my certainties to guide me. 

Lastly, I believe the Holy Spirit is at work in the world drawing all humanity to Christ. That is the need for religion that we all feel. It's the sense of longing for something supernatural beyond our own natural reality. So, the Holy Spirit is at work in other religions as well as Christianity. The differences come when those trajectories of faith take a turn away from Christ. Christianity can be a mix as well. It's not like we don't have idols, self being the primary one. I spoke with a Buddhist monk for an hour one time, and we agreed on many things, particularly on living a selfless life. I disagreed that this could be done by our own efforts, and he disagreed that we needed Christ, but I could not say he was fully wrong, and I was fully right. 

Oh, and one more reason, because telling people they are wrong all the time is just unkind and unnecessary.

I do believe I am right about my faith in Jesus Christ, but like I said, I have to be open enough to let God show me that truth and reality of existence over and over again. This is what it means, as Paul talks about many times, to walk in the Spirit and to live in freedom.


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