Riverside

This is not a personal word from me but a published article from Dr. Paul Chappell, president of West Coast Baptist College that appeared in the May, 2010, issue of The Baptist Voice. The title of the article, “The Tolerance Myth” needs disseminating. This is part two.

Hiding the Cross

Leaders today with a bent toward pluralism often give credence to religious and moral beliefs that absolutely deny the teaching of the Word of God. However, in an attempt to show their broad-mindedness and acceptance of all people, we are seeing a movement away from the name of Jesus Christ.

In April 2009, President Obama spoke at Georgetown University’s Gaston Hall.  A monogram “IHS” which represents the name of Jesus and which normally perches above the stage in Gaston Hall where the President spoke, was covered over with black wood during the President’s address.  University spokesman Andy Pino said, “In coordinating the logistical arrangements for the event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’srequest to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols.”⁹

Former Presidents and First Ladies who have spoken at Georgetown have not requested the covering of such religious symbols. Would the President, or any other government leader for that matter, go into a place of worship for Hindus, Muslims, or another faith, and cover the symbols of their worship? Then why cover a symbol that represents the name of Jesus Christ?

I understand it is not the responsibility of government to exalt the name of Christ above all other names. That is the responsibility of the local New Testament church and the people of God.  Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”  It is our responsibility as believers to give Christ first place in our lives, in His church, and in all matters of our faith and practice.

On the other hand, the removal of the Ten Commandments, the removal of prayer from public school graduations, and the covering of Christian symbols does not settle well with my spirit.  It is an attempt to remove all historical norms from a new generation’s memory.  As pluralism rises, many will desire to place the name of Christ on the shelf with the names of all the other gods.

Tolerance Ends with the Name of Jesus

Judge David Hamilton was asked to rule on this question in the Indiana case Hinrichs v. Bosma: Can clergy pray in the name of their deity before official state meetings?  Judge Hamilton (who was recently appointed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals) ruled that while it was legal to open an official government meeting in prayer, that prayer must not include any language that may be considered “sectarian.”  Clergy could pray in the name of God in their language (Theos in Greek, Elohim in Hebrew, even Allah in Arabic), but they could not pray in the name of Jesus Christ.¹⁰

In his sixty-page ruling, not once did Judge Hamilton mention Buddha, Vishnu, or any other deity, but forty-two times he named the name of Jesus.¹¹ While all other religions are tolerated, that tolerance ends with the name of Christ.

This should not surprise us, because the world has never been tolerant of Jesus Christ.  It accepts spirituality, but not the work of the Holy Spirit.  It will embrace religion, but not the One who brings conviction, repentance, and salvation.  The world is just as Jesus Christ described it in John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”

The world hates Jesus Christ, and that hatred defines what the world will accept, and what it will reject.

One Name above Every Name

The name of Jesus has always divided, even from the very beginning of Christianity.  When Peter and John preached in the temple the morning after their release from prison, the high priest spat the accusation at them: “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?” (Acts 5:28a).  The religious leaders would not tolerate the name of Jesus.

The apostles were not shaken by this command to hide the name of their Saviour.  They said plainly, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29b).  They could not follow any law which forbade them from preaching in the name of Christ.

How could the apostles not speak in their Saviour’s name when Scripture exalts it?  “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:9–10).  One day, every person will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of their religions.

To hold back the name of Christ is to hold back the only way to eternal life.  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  If we are narrow in our beliefs, it is only because we hold true to our Saviour’s teachings.  Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6b).

“You cannot have unity without compromising the truth,” C.H. Spurgeon said, “and to forsake truth for the sake of unity is to betray Jesus Christ.”  If we accommodate our faith to an intolerant culture, we betray our Saviour and lose our identity.  We call ourselves Christians, meaning “little Christs.”  His name is how we identify ourselves, and in eternity, it is how God will identify us.  “And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).  To separate ourselves from the name of Christ is to deny the One who gave His life for us, just as Peter did before the Crucifixion.  “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man” (Matthew 26:74).

We cannot spread the Gospel as God has commanded without preaching in the name of Christ.  “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19, emphasis added). But be warned, if we do lift up His name, we will face rejection and persecution.

*Note: Footnotes are available upon request of the pastor.