Another National Day of Prayer has come and gone. This year, of course, as always is marked by controversy regarding the lines between church and state. Whenever a secular society wants to do something religious, there is bound to be trouble. This year however, things seemed to have heated up.
Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and founder of Samaritan’s Purse, was apparently disinvited to pray inside the Pentagon on the National Day of Prayer. The reason Rev. Graham was disinvited was because of his negative words concerning Islam. But there is something much deeper going on that we are all much aware of. Unlike his father, Franklin Graham speaks in a very straightforward way. When asked about the exclusivity of the claims of Jesus, Franklin states very clearly and in no uncertain terms, just what he believes. That attitude does not make for good ecumenism. And so he is unwelcome at these ecumenical prayer services.
The battle lines are now being clearly drawn. Rick Warren may offer an ambiguous prayer to an ambiguous “god” at the inauguration ceremony. There was some controversy surrounding that event, but as long as you do not make any specific claims about Jesus, you are fine. This leads to a specific point: we are told that it is unloving to take a stand for absolute truth. we are told that if you do not cooperate together with anyone who claims to be a Christian, regardless of their specific beliefs, then you are unloving and will never impact the world for Jesus Christ. My question is, “When will Christians really take a stand for what they believe? When will Christians be willing to say exactly what they believe to be true about Jesus and salvation and stop pretending? Is the Mormon my brother in Christ? Is there such a thing as orthodoxy? Can one transgress the boundaries of historic Christianity?
Of course this is not a new problem. But it is a problem that must be addressed. The world will soon be calling us out, “What do you believe to be true? What do you think of Islam?” False unity is no real unity. Getting together to sing songs and pray with nothing other than a nebulous statement, “We believe in Jesus” is taking us nowhere and is a waste of time.
I believe that Christians must be united. Christians should be able to fellowship, sing, pray, and labor together for a common good. But we must state clearly what we believe in matters of essentials. I have no problem protesting abortion alongside Roman Catholics, yet we have fundamental theological differences that cannot be ignored. I have no problem joining together with Muslims for some social cause. I know what Muslims believe about Jesus. I do not agree that he is merely a prophet as they do. I believe that Jesus is God the Son incarnate and is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. I have no problem standing together with a person of the Jewish faith for some good cause. I know where they stand. But I don’t know where many “christians” stand. I have had Jehovah’s Witnesses tell me that they are Christians just like the Methodists and the Presbyterians. But are they? There are some Baptists who have no right to call themselves Christians because they deny the faith that was once delivered to all the saints. I will not stand together with them because they pretend to hold to historic Christianity while in essence they have denied the faith.
This is a time to stand. In an age that holds all truth to be relative or even non-existent, we must be willing to say what we believe. There are differences that are essential. There are differences that are non-essential. But we cannot afford to pretend that they do not matter. There can be no true unity without something solid to unite around. And the mainline denominations have proven that fact clearly.