James Meehan - Is Christianity the Right Religion?

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If there are so many different religions, how can we be sure that Christianity is the right one? And if it is, what about people of other faiths who sincerely try to live for their God? Doesn't that count for something? Well, my name is James Meehan, and today we are talking about the exclusivity of Christianity, which can be a difficult thing when we consider there are billions of different people, thousands of religions, and Christianity claims to be the only true one. So how can we be sure that Christianity is actually true? Well, the answer to all of these questions comes back to one thing, the identity of Jesus. Because if Jesus really was the Son of God who died and rose again to rescue us from sin, then Christianity is true. And if Christianity is true, then Jesus is the only way to God.

Here's what He said in John 14:6. He says that "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me". Jesus doesn't make room for other religions. He says it clearly that He is the only way to God. Nobody comes to the Father except through Him. And while that may sound really unfair to us today, imagine if we were talking about the cure to cancer instead of the cure to sin. If a team of scientists and researchers discovered the cure for cancer, everyone would celebrate because this thing that has plagued humanity for far too long can finally be fixed. But they don't stop there. They announced that they're going to give this new cure away completely for free to anyone who needs it! This would literally change the world.

But you've got this group of people over here who are pretty ticked because this team of researchers only came up with one medicine that cures cancer and this group of people doesn't want that medicine. They want a different one. So instead of celebrating, they start complaining that this being the only cure to cancer isn't fair to people who want to take a different cure. Are you starting to see the problem here? It was 2,000 years ago that God showed up in human form to announce that a cure to sin and death was available to anyone and everyone who wants it. All they have to do is trust in Jesus and they will gain eternal life. Jesus is the once-and-for-all cure for sin and death, and that is really good news. His exclusive claims are not Him being unfair, it's Him being clear because telling someone with cancer that continuing to take their allergy medicine is fine as long as they're sincere isn't actually gonna cure their cancer. That type of advice is misleading at best and manipulative at worst.

Now, even hearing all of that, you may still struggle with the fact that there are other people around the world who have grown up being taught a different belief system than Christianity, and you are wondering, what about those people? Because we, like God, want everyone to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that "The Lord isn't really slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed, but He wants everyone to repent". And this is what's super cool though, is that Jesus is really good at introducing Himself to people. Like at one time in history, the only people who knew who Jesus was were the people who lived in the same tiny village as Him. But now people on every continent know His name and have heard His gospel.

And what's even wilder to think about is how just about every other religion acknowledges Jesus in some way, like the religions that came after Him found a way to fit Him into their belief set, and the religions that came before Him modified their beliefs to create space for Jesus. Because even though Jesus doesn't make room for other religions, other religions make room for Jesus. Buddhists see Him as an enlightened one. Hindus believe that Jesus is divine, that He's a saint and a wise teacher. Muslims call Him a prophet. Even secular humanists see Him as a good moral teacher and an example on how to live with compassion, because Jesus doesn't make room for other religions, but other religions make room for Jesus. Because of that, it is now our job to help people move from being acquaintances with Jesus to actually being in relationship with Him because He is who He said He was and He did what He said He'd do. He is the Son of God who died and rose again to rescue us from sin.