All the streets in my town lead to Chicago. Yes, it’s true: you can take any street and get to Chicago. For instance, you can even get to Chicago by going West on Oak Street. Now, Chicago is in the opposite direction, but people are using that route all the time. . . because they recognized that, in order to get to Chicago, they need to get OFF of Oak Street at Orchard Road, and turn Left. Then, they recognize that, in order to get to Chicago, they have to get off of Orchard Road at I-88, at the eastbound on-ramp. And it all started by going the wrong way on the wrong street.
Of course, the route is no secret: Oak Street has a number of signs directing drivers to the tollway, but if a driver ignores the signs, there’s no telling where that driver will end up. Wherever it is, though, it won’t be Chicago.
One of the cants of non-scripture-based churches is that all faiths lead to heaven. In a way, they’re right, but not the way they think. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, through Whom, all can come to the Father (John 14:6), but from what I’ve observed, every faith has at least one signpost, so to speak, that points its adherents toward Jesus, if they recognize it. When field workers who help Native Americans have visited the church, they have mentioned how a lot of the tribal religion is consistent with what God has revealed about Himself. When the field workers from Southeast Asia visited, they have commented on how much of Islam is similar to Christian belief. As a matter of fact, some of the teachings urge Muslims to read the writings of Moses and Issa (Jesus). BUT! It’s the parts of those faiths that are inconsistent with the revealed nature of The Maker of All Things (John 1:3) that are keeping them on the wrong road, and end up leaving them lost. Like those field workers do, when we know the route, we need to point out those signs.
A number of years ago, I heard an Unshackled episode (broadcast #2518, from March 21, 1999, I believe) about a Tibetan monk who ran across a prayer: "Lead me from darkness to light, from untruth to truth, from death to life." The search for what it meant led him to another injunction about conversion, and to writings of Buddha that pointed to a resurrected savior. No one could explain the words to him, until he met a cobbler in India. Gradually, the cobbler helped him recognize the fulfillment of those words in the words in the Bible. The monk recognized the signposts in the teachings of Buddha, but they only made sense in the person of Jesus Christ.
As that monk had learned from his earliest days, "he who seeks truth correctly will find truth correctly." If you truly want to know God – and that, after all, is eternal life (John 17:3) – you'll recognize the signs He's posted that show the way. And – nothing against Chicago – He's a grander destination!
