What Should We Do?
We have no excuse. No one who has read this chapter will ever be able to say, “I never heard about Jesus.” So we also have no other escape. As the writer of Hebrews warns us all, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).
As far as others are concerned, our task (we who are Christian) is to tell them the Good News about Jesus. If the early Christians had not been willing to tell the Good News about Jesus to those who already had a religion of their own, Christianity would have died in a generation.
The Christian points to the one Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of all men; the Church does not apologize for the fact that it wants all men to know Jesus Christ and to follow Him. Its very calling is to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. It cannot make any restrictions in this respect. Whether people have a high, a low, or a primitive religion, whether they have sublime ideals or a defective morality makes no fundamental difference in this respect. All must hear the Gospel.
Of course, we need to be humble and sensitive. Christians are not better than those of other religions or no religion. We are all in the same boat; we all need a savior, and there is no room for arrogance.
Second, we need to be positive. Peter, in Acts 4, did not attack other faiths. He preached the good news about Jesus.
Third, we need to be respectful. We need to respect everyone because they are made in the image of God, whether they are Christians or not.
Finally, we need to be courageous. The early Christians were unashamed witnesses to Jesus. Their message was unpopular and it got them into trouble. But they did not stop. We need to do the same in an age when tolerance, not truth, is the order of the day.
It is important to remember that “the pluralism of the first and second centuries A.D. was the greatest in extent and intensity the world has ever seen.” But, as Michael Green goes on to say, “Far from closing our options, pluralism allows us to proclaim an undiluted gospel in the public square and in the supermarket of faiths, allowing others the same right. Let the truth prevail and let craven silence be banished.”
