It doesn't matter which religion you believe in as long as you believe in something. True or false? Mark Smith has firm views on the matter.
Author Timothy Keller says "Religion is not just a temporary thing that helped us adapt to our environment. Rather it is a permanent and central aspect of the human condition ... robust religious beliefs dominate the world. There is no reason to expect that to change."
Some would struggle with this, while others accept it. However, it begs the question, "Which religion?".
Blue Mink's 1969 hit song Melting Pot asserts that one's religious preference doesn't really matter.
They sang "Rabbis and the friars, vishnus and the gurus, we got the Beatles or the sun god, well it really doesn't matter what religion you choose."
Is this true, or is this just an attempt to be open-minded without really taking the religions themselves seriously? When statements like this are made, there are often underlying assumptions behind them.
One might be that there isn't a God at all. Religion is just a human invention and part of sociological evolution. It is just human notions about the sacred, numinous, spiritual, or divine. If that were true and if religion is just a human innovation it wouldn't really matter which religion you chose, or what you believed in. You could worship Peter Pan or the Easter Bunny.
Another assumption might be that there is a god or gods and they are indifferent to the human condition and couldn't care less what people believed about them, or what mankind did for his fun and amusement. They have no ethical stance, no moral interest, and make no evaluation of the behaviour, attitudes or actions of men and women.
Another belief that finds a ready reception in the human heart today is that everyone is on their own journey and will eventually end up in the same place. All paths lead to the same destination and it doesn't matter which path you choose as long as you are on one.
However, this position assumes that all paths are true, and ignores the possibility that they could all be false. This position never really looks seriously at any religion to examine the fundamental differences concerning the nature of God, if or how people can have a relationship with God, and what is wrong with this world, if anything at all.
Also popular today is a personalised patchwork religion where one takes elements of various religions that are found interesting, to create an individual belief system. This however could only work if there is no god or if the gods involved were totally indifferent to your meddling. You end up as the final authority on ethics and morals.
Indeed everything is subject to your interpretation of reality. You, in fact, are in the place of god. To answer the question, "Which religion?" we first need to ask, "What is religion?". Keller calls religion "a set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are and the most important things that human beings should spend doing with their time".
The reason he uses such a broad definition is because the various religions are broad. As a pastor I have encouraged people to examine other religions and not accept Christianity just because they have been brought up with it. Examine what each religion teaches about the Divine, the human, the past,the present and the future.
Is it logical? Is it consistent? Is it relevant? How does it impact my life? But most of all, as far as you can tell, is it true? For myself, I find many reasons to embrace Christianity, the first being the radical, uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
I find his life and testimony very compelling. I also find it hard to swallow the claim of the universe being a 13-14 billon-year-old accident and that everything came from nothing.
The enormity and complexity of the universe convinces me that there is a power and a mind behind life. The biblical view of the fallenness of this world fits the world in which I live and strive and will ultimately die.
I believe that pain and suffering are not an illusion but a reflection of the reality I see, and that life here is not the way it is supposed to be, but deeply broken at every level.
Lastly the remedy the Bible gives me is not self-help (pull yourself up by your own boot straps), but a rescue mission from the outside; the One who created also comes to redeem, rescue and repair.
I think it does matter what religion you choose. It matters profoundly and it is worth your investigation.
- Mark Smith is pastor of the Grace Bible Church
