Fact Check Friday

In the past month, there's been numerous stories about religion in the news. There's the pope's visit to the United States, the "migrant" crisis--some of whom are fleeing religious persecution (Why Europe's migrant crisis is surging now), and tragedies in Saudi Arabia related to Eid al-Adha (Mecca stampede: At least 717 killed and hundreds injured in crush during hajj).

I've found some of the talk surrounding religion, especially that related to the papal visit to the United States, to be very interesting. I've heard many people praise the pope and his views on human rights and social justice as well as his humble, down-to-earth demeanor. Yesterday, I heard a self-proclaimed atheist say the he agreed with most of the pope's moral positions.

Unfortunately, much of what we see in the world about religion emphasizes discord. Stories of people from varied religious backgrounds coming together and coming to agreement are few and far between. One question I often hear asked is, "Aren't all religions basically the same?"

Already I can hear gasps from the devout. Let me begin by stating my beliefs clearly: no, not all religions are the same. In fact, different religions have huge contradictions with other religions, so to call them the same would take a great leap in logic or just plain intellectual laziness.

A better question, I think, is, "Can God work through different religions to fulfill his purpose?"

Here's where people become uncomfortable. It's very uncomfortable to suggest that God hears the prayers of those with different beliefs than ours. If Jesus is God and Jews and Muslims do not confess that Jesus is God, then they're not praying to the same God as Christians, right? This is the argument I hear consistently when discussing whether or not God hears the prayers of non-Christians. Read, "Does Pope Francis Believe Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?" In the article, Pope Francis prays with the grand mufti in Istanbul's Blue Mosque. Here's a quote from the article:

Miroslav Volf, a well-known professor at Yale Divinity School, has done a good deal of work on this subject, concluding that both religions “believe in one God, one God who is a sovereign Lord and to whom they are to be obedient. For both faiths, God embodies what’s ultimately important and valuable.”

The question I challenge you to ask yourself is this: don't you want God to hear the prayers of people of different faiths and work through those prayers to bring those people to a saving faith?

I can point to many incidents in scripture where God came to non-Christians (if we want to get technical, this would be the entire Old Testament). Job, who was seemingly apart from any organized worship of God, knew God. In the New Testament, Paul talked of Gentiles who had not heard of Jesus, but were "laws unto themselves."

I pray that God does work through the prayers of non-Christians. I'd like to think that in those five times a day that Muslims pray, the voice of the Holy Spirit can whisper to them that salvation comes through Jesus' work on earth--not ours.  I pray that in the meditations of Buddhist monks, the Holy Spirit can enter in and tell of a desire that is pure--the desire for a saving relationship with Jesus. 

I like to think that a God who "desires all people to be saved" can work through the prayers of all his children--Christian or not. Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” While I would say that God sometimes changes how he interacts with his children based on prayer, I believe Kierkegaard is correct in most cases. Prayer more often changes our hearts, and I pray that it changes our hearts to desire what God desires--that all people are saved.