CO-EXIST doesn’t mean CO-DEPEND!

We live in the era of "COEXIST", where the word is cleverly written in seven symbols representing seven major religions. Accepting the concept that word describes – coexisting with other beliefs – is a no-brainer for Christians: we are taught to love not just our allies but our enemies as well. But the implication of the meme is something completely different: we are told to accept others’ beliefs as just as legitimate as ours.

On a cursory reading that might sound similar, but in reality it’s VERY different than saying that just because you don’t believe in Christianity doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help you discover the truth. You may not believe that standing in the middle of a highway could get you killed, but it WILL, and more than that, it’s our responsibility as caring individuals to try to save you from both the erroneous notion and its lethal consequences. You may not believe in the law of gravity, but it exists, and it will be the instrument of your death if you step off a five-hundred foot cliff whether you believe in it or not. So, isn’t it our responsibility to help those who believe in erroneous world-views to learn the truth? Especially if we know the dire consequences of their mistake?

Which of those religions is the “truth”, though? At the risk of giving away the plot of this essay, I suspect you already know my answer:

Only one religion provides tangible proof of its veracity.

Only one religion has as its holy text a book which is not only filled with prophecy, but is filled with prophecy fulfilled: the entire campaign and reign of Alexander the Great and his immediate descendants, described in such detail in Daniel chapter 11 that skeptics tried (and failed) to prove it couldn’t have been written five hundred years before the events it described…the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of Rome in 70 AD, foretold by Christ in Matthew 24…the re-establishment of both the nation of Israel and the language of Hebrew, more than eighteen hundred years after their elimination by Rome, in Ezekiel 36 and 37…and most significantly, the raising from the dead of its founder, which he himself predicted multiple times during his life and which was predicted in the Psalms and in the book of Isaiah hundreds of years earlier as well.

And it is this very resurrection of Jesus Christ, not only predicted ahead of time and presented in advance as proof of his deity, not only written about in the gospels but witnessed by literally thousands of people in and around Jerusalem in 30 AD, not only celebrated by his believers but admitted to by foes and never denied by any of his enemies despite the obvious huge advantage of doing so…it is this very resurrection that has never been duplicated by any religion’s prophets or leaders or revered figures. This is the proof of deity that all other religions lack. This is the proof of truth which all other religions wish they had.

Christianity is the only proven truth.

And Christianity is very clear: there is a Heaven, and there is a Hell. The only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ, and not because God wants to send us to Hell: we are ALL sinners, even the best of you (and certainly me!), and because God is without sin He cannot have us clothed in sin and with Him in eternity. So He sent His Son Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to live a sinless life and then be punished not for HIS sins but for OURS, so that we have complete repentance for our sinful lives and can be accepted into eternal life with God.

In order to HAVE that acceptance, though, we have to do ONE SIMPLE THING: we must accept the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. When we do so, we’re essentially admitting that yes, we are sinners, and we need this gift to get into Heaven when we die. If you aren’t ready to accept that, you have that choice. God gave us free-will. The Bible tells us that in the end, “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess” that Jesus is Lord, but until then, you are allowed to choose your path…even if that path is in the middle of the highway or off the edge of the five-hundred foot cliff.

But, forgive me if I refuse to translate COEXIST as CO-DEPEND.

Because God WON’T forgive me for doing so.

Just because you insist on believing something that’s not the truth doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try to keep you from stepping off that cliff or walking on that highway.

Don’t get mad at me for wanting to save you from the consequences of your decision, as someone else saved me from the consequences of my prior ignorance.

As Christians, we are taught to COEXIST, and God really DOES love you no matter what you believe. In fact, God loves you more than you think He does – He loves you far too much to “coexist”, or to let His people be your “co-dependents”. He – and we – are going to do whatever we can to keep you from walking into traffic.

BUT…

He gave you free will. In the end, it’s your choice whether to believe in the truth or not.

That cliff will still be there, if you insist.