THE ISSUE
Why do Christians think they have an exclusive route to heaven? Aren’t all religions pretty much the same? Each one is just a different path to God, right? And if this is the case, shouldn’t Christians just leave people alone, letting others believe as they wish?
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” Proverbs 14:12.
EXPLORING THE TRUTH
Sadly, too many people today, including a few confused Christians, feel the need to affirm all belief systems and to avoid giving claim to any single religion as the one true faith. This thinking process goes something like this: All religions are equally true and they all deserve the same validation. Plus, it’s not good to “close your mind to vast areas of human experience and knowledge.” Based on this kind of thinking, you don’t have to make any hard decisions that involve a change of lifestyle. You can believe in everything and nothing — all at the same time — without any responsibility.
Guess what. This viewpoint is off base, incorrect, dangerous — not to mention a lie straight from the father of lies: Satan.
As Christians, we’ve grounded our lives on absolute truth: what the Bible says. This means we’re convinced that humankind is more than just a cosmic accident. Jesus Christ is transforming our lives, and we’ve got to tell the world about it.
Consider the words of Christian scholar A.W. Tozer (from his book Tozer on Christian Leadership): “The day when Christians should meekly apologize is over — they can get the world’s attention not by trying to please, but by boldly declaring the truth of divine revelation. They can make themselves heard not by compromise, but by taking the affirmative and sturdily declaring, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ “
Let’s go a bit deeper with this topic. In the paragraphs that follow, I’ve presented a few key questions people often ask, along with some answers from Scripture.
“Doesn’t being sincere count?”
Some people think it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere. Centuries ago people sincerely believed that the gods at war caused thunder. We now know that their sincere beliefs were grounded in superstition. People can be very sincere in what they believe, but they can also be sincerely wrong.
I’m always amazed at how people so often say that sincerity is all you need when it comes to religion, but not to other parts of life. You’d never say this about a historical event such as World War II. You may sincerely believe that Hitler actually won, but you’d be wrong. You’d never apply this kind of thinking to mathematics. No one in his right mind would say that if he sincerely believed hard enough, one plus one would equal three. Why think this way when it comes to spiritual issues?
“Aren’t all religions the same?”
Just ask the actual worshipers within different world religions if each one is the same. People of different faiths will give you a definite “no.” Christians are most certainly different from Hindus and Muslims.
Many religions have absolutely opposing views of what God is really like. For example, the idea of Wiccan deities has been compared to a family tree, with the “all” (or universal energy) at the top. The Lord and the Lady (god and goddess) are the next in line symbolizing the perfectly balanced male and female aspects of Divinity. Finally, closest to humans are the gods and goddesses. And just like you might choose a friend based on things you were drawn to instinctively or emotionally, so you can also choose your favorite traits for a god and goddess.
Buddhism has no god and no type of final existence. The Hindu god is impersonal but can be approached through countless deities and statues. Allah, the Muslims’ god, is personal with no secondary deities and a total ban of idols or any other way of representing God. There’s no forgiveness or supernatural help in Buddhism and Hinduism, only cold-blooded karma. Christianity teaches that God is personal and not only completely forgives a person, but also offers supernatural assistance to handle the issues of life.
When you look at religions that do believe in a personal God, there’s no agreement on how and if He shows himself to us. According to Islam, Allah does not reveal himself in person to humanity. However, Allah does reveal his will and the only suitable reaction to that is Islam, which means “submission,” not “peace” as been frequently suggested since the events of 9/11. In Christianity, God not only reveals himself to us, but He also reveals His will. He did it in the only language that we could fully understand: in a human life through Jesus Christ.
The most significant difference between most world religions is how and if we can make ourselves acceptable to God. Nearly all other faiths stress that by keeping their teachings, a person will be fulfilled or reborn. With many religions this involves a form of karma (cause and effect, paying off your guilt). But this is miles apart from the grace (forgiveness without cost when you don’t deserve it) of Christianity. The Bible teaches that no one is capable of saving himself or making himself acceptable to God. However, the God of Christianity is personal and because of His awesome love for humanity, He longs to have a relationship with us and makes this possible through the shed blood of Jesus.
“What’s So Different About Christianity?”
While the politically correct approach is that all religions lead to God, it’s a notion that isn’t possible. If you start examining different religions you will see that their essential concepts — God, truth, reality, the basic problem of humanity and the solution — are very different. Sometimes they contradict each another.
How can all religions lead to God when they have such different beliefs about God and how to attain life after death? We don’t need a religion; we need a relationship with the living God. Christianity isn’t about people in search of God, but rather God in search of people.
The truth is, there are two enormous reasons why all religions really don’t lead to God: the awesomeness of God and the sinfulness of people.
Like it or not, we have to admit that all religions are not the same. The only path to God is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus was unique because he was the only one who could bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful people.
Honestly compare Jesus to all other religious leaders. When you do, there will be no doubt in your mind why you should choose to follow Him. 
