Recently, talk show host and comedian Bill Myer had a moment of brilliance when he tweeted:
Isis- “one of thousands of Islamic militant groups” (NYTimes) “beheads another. Lets keep pretending all religions are alike”
Not only are they not all alike! But, the implication of the above is ALSO, that not all are serving the same God.
Yawn, so what, who cares, says the society that trumpets all roads lead to heaven. Culture cries: “it doesn’t matter which God or which book (Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon, etc) one turns to… they are all the same…all seeking their version of God….aren’t they?”
Well, I would love to take another post to lay out the HUGE differences between the Bible and these other books – another time…. But, in this post I will keep my focus narrow.
Is there any difference between praying to Allah, or the god of the Jehovah Witness, or ______ and the God of the Bible?
The answer is YES! And we need to look no further than the Trinity. The Trinity shouts loudly – “Yes, there is a difference that is bigger than epic proportions!”
Culture: We live in a many god culture. We have gods of money, fame, materialism, relationship, substance, and then there is Buddah, Allah, and on and on it goes.
What is idolatry? Idolatry is devotion. It is anything that rules and controls you – including anything that controls your emotions, decision making, and your loyalty. What controls us, what we build our life around, or what we faithfully serve…. that is an idol and that is our god or God. And…. wow, have you noticed…..culture has many gods!
But, that is nothing new. This has been true ever since Genesis 3. Remember, it is in this “many gods” culture – the Bible’s opening words are… In the beginning God…
Eve’s temptation in the garden wasn’t hunger or better fruit from a better tree. It was a temptation of:
- Being like God
- See Genesis 3
- She essentially sought to dethrone the true God and become like God herself! Imagine the created seeking to become the Creator. No longer worshiping God, she became an idol to herself…. thus, she was seeking to worship herself.
Christianity: What does the above have to do with the Trinity? A lot! Christians are monotheistic. Meaning: We believe in ONE God. But, so does the Muslim… right? Well yes and no. They believe in one god but that god is NOT the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is: 1 God in 3 persons.
The Father is God
The Son is God
The Spirit is God
Islam, or any other religion, does not believe in the God of the Bible. The 3 in 1.
As Christians we need to wrestle with WHO God is. Christian, it can not be both! One cannot say: “she is a moral, good person… she believes in HER VERSION of god, she is going to heaven…” Either the God of the Bible IS God or He Is NOT God. But, it can’t be both. You can’t have the God of the Bible and the god of the Muslim and the god of the Mormon and say: “we are all good to go – you pick your god and I will pick mine….it doesn’t really matter.”
The reality of the 3 in 1 tells us something. It tells us IT MATTERS! To live for, worship, and serve a god who is NOT the 3 in 1 is to NOT worship God. Because this IS who God is!
The Point?: My point is to stress to 2 things:
1.) The doctrine of the Trinity is no small matter! It is greatly important. It has incredible implications for the Christian. So, let’s not entertain some “wishy – washy” – or hold to a vague understanding of the Trinity.
2.) The Trinity IS WHO GOD IS! We should labor to know and understand God as best and as accurately as we can. This labor will have great and lasting implications on our lives!
A Parting thought:
For the believer ask: How has the Father / the Son / the Holy Spirit each brought about your salvation?
Thanks Tim! This is so very important today.
“The Trinity is who God is” This truth I know, but for some reason this group of collective words when read or spoken communicates something much more to me. Like a WOW factor!
The Parting Thoughts question leave me feeling insecure in my answer but “eyes wide open” to dig into Gods word to find out, to be shown all over again how awesome He is.
Thanks Tim for your willingness to share God’s truth and love!
I really enjoyed reading this as I just spoke at my church’s youth group about this same topic. Thank you!
Thanks for commenting and reading! And George – thanks for preaching to those young people! For anyone who would like – check out George’s blog at 116anthem.blogspot.com