July
2006
The Peril of Christian Exclusivism
A reflection given by Rev. George Regas at the meeting of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, July 7, 2006.
Carl Sandburg was asked just before he died what he thought was the worst word, the most despicable word, in the English language. Without hesitation, he replied – exclusivism.
Exclusivism is a terrible word because it is a terrible reality. Everyone has experienced it at some point and at some level in our life – some at minor places; others have been traumatized by vicious exclusions. Christianity is very often presented in the most exclusionary ways. Christ is the only way to a saving faith. There is no other way to God. My God is bigger than your God.
My father’s best friend was a Jew in Knoxville who owned a jewelry store. My father loved to tell the story of running into his friend, Max Friedman, at a Catholic service one day. “I’m surprised to see you here, Max.” “Well I just don’t intend to go to hell on a technicality!”
We laugh but exclusivism is dead serious. Exclusive claims made for Jesus Christ by most Christians from the Pope to evangelical revivals to high mass at Episcopal Churches implicitly insult the religions of others. When Catholics or Episcopalians or Methodists or Evangelicals or Pentecostals speak of salvation or justification only through Jesus – then aspersions are cast on the entire non-Christian world.
One of the more startling things for lots of people in James Carroll’s address a couple of weeks ago was his statement that “in the past, the step from exclusive theology to contempt for those excluded has been small indeed, and the step from such contempt to open violence has not been much larger.”
We know this, don’t we? The effect of these Christian exclusionary claims have not been confined to the horrendous persecution of the Jews. We have mounted deadly crusades against Muslims, and Christians have killed other Christians in the brutal wars of religion – all in the name of bringing others to the correct understanding of how God is uniquely known in Jesus Christ. The arrogance of conviction. May God be merciful.
With our peace efforts with our Jewish, Muslim and other faith companions – I want to say to you that until this murderous and arrogant history is faced with a genuine spirit of repentance; until we Christians confess that our exclusionary theology has led Christian groups, Christian leaders and Christian churches as a whole to unspeakable sins against other Christians, against other religions and against God – until we face squarely and honestly this truth about Christianity, there can be no possibility for the Christian Church to be an unequivocal force for peace in this radically pluralistic age.
Now a personal word about me and Jesus.
I’m still passionately committed to Christ. The God I see revealed in Jesus of Nazareth is still central to my faith.
Seeing the authenticity, the wonder, the beauty, the power of other religions has not compromised my faith in Christ. God, for me, is still best defined by Christ even if God is not confined to Christ.
Jesus is still the way for me. He showed me how to live, how to love and to forgive. In this war shattered world, I ignore this prince of peace to my peril. Jesus said: “I am the way.” There is a throbbing urgency in those words for me that still grasp my heart.
When I say Jesus is the way for me, even when I say Jesus is the only one for me – that is not a dogmatic statement; it’s a love statement.
I don’t speak of Jesus Christ in exclusive terms but I speak of my commitment to Jesus Christ as exclusive. I see God in glorious ways in my Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian, Buddhist friends and the power of their faith – but I’m committed to Jesus. Christ is the only one for me. That is love language, not doctrine. When I say to Mary Regas, my love, that she is the only one in the world for me – it doesn’t mean I have systematically surveyed every woman on the planet and chosen Mary. It means simply and powerfully, I love you.
Other religions make similar claims because no religion has a monopoly on Spiritual truth. It is precisely by going deep into our personal truth that we learn from others. This is the authentic ground of interreligious dialogue.
Amen.