All Are Equal?

The Interfaith Council I participated is described as:

The IUP Interfaith Council is an interdenominational body where people of all faiths will be welcomed and included as equal partners. All member groups will have an equal right to speak and vote. The Interfaith Council recognizes and affirms the spiritual part of every human being.

I have been really fighting with myself as to my participation within an organization that makes equal all faiths. I was not questioning the people, as they were all very nice, caring and intelligent people. What I am questioning is what they have allowed themselves to believe.

How would I say that all the faiths that were sitting in the room were equal partners, when I believe the Bible to be the true inerrant word of God and all other faiths to be false? It is impossible to then believe in equality amongst the members. Where I do believe the people as individuals are equal in our humanistic qualities, but in the essence of our spirituality and what is inside us there is a big difference and inequality.

Philosophically there cannot equality in truth among us. There has to be a right or wrong. Either Christ is the way or He is not. To give the representation that Christ is not the ONLY way and that He is equal in thought to other beliefs is something I could no longer rationalize.

I looked at several key verses in Scripture that talk about partnering with other beliefs and then it truly becomes a “no-brainer” to me.

1 John 4:2-3, “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

How is that I could sit and truthfully tell a Wiccan that he/she is as equal in thought to what I believe, when I believe in Christ and she/he does not? How can I sit there and allow them to vote on spiritual matters that affect the IUP student when I believe that would be deceiving them, and as in the verse above I would go against God Himself.

Here are some other verses I took into consideration when deciding what to do:

Romans 16:17, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.”

2 Corinthians 6:14-15, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”

2 Thessalonians 3:6, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.”

2 John 10-11, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.”

2 Peter 2:1-3, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (What better place to happen then in a place that says all our beliefs are equal.)

Then there is the entire book of Jude.

I had to go with my conscience and the Bible on this one. It is evident to me that we are not to yolk ourselves to something that could ultimately lead to confusion or outright misleading to one of the students I am accountable for. How can I tell them Christ is the only way and then go to a group that says all ways are equal? Though we are given to our own beliefs, the very presence of being there gives room for confusion and misleading.

If the group were formed to debate what truth is then I would be all for it, but I do not believe that our IUP students should be taught that anything but Christ is truth. They could be taught the other beliefs, but at the same time I think they should be taught as to why they are wrong and why Christianity is the only true way to Heaven. By no other name on earth or in Heaven is one saved, except by Jesus Christ.