Jr High Small Group Questions:

1. “All paths lead to God.” Where have you heard this phrase (or something like this) before?
2. Although Jesus had exclusive beliefs, he exhibited radically inclusive behaviour and invited his followers to do the same. How do you understand this after today’s message?
3. Have you ever found yourself: 1. Mixing other beliefs into your faith 2. Acting exclusively towards those of other religions. What is God asking of you today?

Sr High Small Group Questions:

1. How might people of different age demographics identify with this story?
2. How does this “modern romance” speak to broader issues of technology, family, social and cultural pressures?
3. How do people in your life help or hinder your flourishing?
4. What kind of life choices should we be committed to that lead to our flourishing and the flourishing of others?

THE MAIN POINT

Although Jesus had exclusive beliefs, he exhibited radically inclusive behaviour and invited his followers to do the same.

THE BIBLE

John 14:6, Acts 4

THE CONTEXT

All paths lead to God” may be a phrase you have heard someone say. Sometimes it comes from a place of belief, or not wanting to cause conflict or it could be a distorted understanding of love: “If we don’t agree, then we can’t accept, therefore how could we possibly love.” Yet when you think about it logically, everybody can’t be right about opposing beliefs.

Imagine being at the track and field city finals. You are cheering on your school as your classmates compete in the high jump, 4x100m relay, the long jump, and eventually the 100m sprint. It all comes down to this final race. You are neck and neck with your rival school, whoever wins this race takes the gold, and you are confident because the best sprinter in the entire province is you. You have been training for this day and are ready to get the win for your school. The gun goes off and you begin to sprint, the race goes by so fast, and as you cross the finish line, you look to your left and your rival is a full stride behind. You lift your hands in victory and your school erupts in cheering, but then the officials come over the speakers and declare: “What a great race, everyone competed so hard, so we have made the decision that everyone wins!” How do you respond? “We can’t all win, THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” See you have never sat in any university philosophical classes on logic, yet we all have a healthy grasp of truth, and mutual exclusivity and everybody can’t be right about everything.

In John 14:6, Jesus makes the claim that he is the “ONLY WAY” to God. Not Buddha, not Mohammad, not obeying the Jewish laws… But belief and surrender to Jesus is the way to God. Not only does Jesus claim he is the way but he also says that he is “THE LIFE”. Many are searching for the meaning of life. Many are striving hard to reach God or please God, yet Jesus says that in him is LIFE. Finally, Jesus makes the bold claim that “HE IS TRUTH.” Truth is exclusively found in Jesus and nowhere else.

Christianity claims that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, the way to God, which is a true claim. It is an objective truth that is true for you and me, whether anyone believes it or not.

Christianity is radically different from all other religions, why?

Every religion deals with the story of man’s search for God.

Christianity deals with the story of God’s search for man.

THE CORE

• EVERYBODY CAN NOT BE RIGHT

When it comes to religion, the easy way out is to claim that everybody is right. That all religions lead to God. That everyone has their own slice, and that slice is all part of the same pie. The problem is, no one actually believes all paths lead to God. Consider religions that require child sacrifice, or extremists who think blowing people up will lead them to paradise. We can unanimously agree that those ideas do not lead to God. So maybe we have to say it is all the “major religions” that lead to God. But when you look at that idea a little closer you will find that certain strands of Buddhism believe that there is no God, whereas Muslims believe there is only one God (Allah) and Muhammad is his prophet. Both can be wrong, but both can’t possibly be right. Jewish people believe that Jesus is not the Messiah and Saviour promised in the Old Testament, yet Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and promised Saviour. Both cannot be true.

• WE CAN LEARN FROM OTHERS

When it comes to religious practices, there is something to be learned from other religions and how they approach God. So how should we approach other religious views? C.S Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, helps us process this question:

“If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the [strangest] ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more [generous] view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic—there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong: but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others.”

There is much to learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters who handle scripture so carefully. Who love the word and study it meticulously. There is something to learn from our Muslim brothers and sisters who understand the importance of fasting and practice it regularly. This is not to say we agree on the identity of Christ or the nature of God, but that there are some practical commonalities in which we can celebrate together.

• THE INCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVITY OF JESUS

The Christian conviction, based on the Bible and others, is that Jesus is the only way to God. In Acts 4, Peter & John, heal a man who is crippled and claim that it is through the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that healing came. He goes on the say “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Peter is not holding back, he is clearly stating without compromise that Jesus is the ONLY way to God.

To be a Christian is to not merely believe the right things but to trust in Jesus and follow his ways. Jesus life was marked by radically inclusivity. He is so kind. There were no boundaries for anyone to approach him – and this inclusivity is to be found in his followers. Though Jesus had EXCLUSIVE beliefs, he showed INCLUSIVE behaviour. The only way to God is through Jesus, and it is availabe for EVERYBODY.

THE APPLICATION

As you prepare the application, challenge and/or encouragement, keep in mind these points:

Although Jesus had exclusive beliefs, he exhibited radically inclusive behaviour and invited his followers to do the same. Where are you listeners doing one of these two things:

• Mixing other beliefs into their Christian faith
• Acting exclusive towards those of other religions

Encourage some active listening to God.