Only One God
By Susan Klein
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
Matthew 6:24
A few years ago, a prominent religious figure was in the news for holding a worldwide ecumenical service to try to unite people groups from Native American Indians to Hindus to Roman Catholics. He claimed we should all come together to worship since “we all believed in the same god.” Hmm... By Susan Klein
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
Matthew 6:24
In a recent conversation with an acquaintance of mine, the topic turned toward this ecumenical movement. While I believe “ecumenism” to mean all Christ-followers, regardless of church affiliation or denomination, coming together as a unified body of believers, I was surprised by her take on the matter. She felt that to achieve spiritual unity across the globe, we need to embrace all cultures and religions with their various gods, and not think ours is better or more right than others. We need to be more open to other possibilities. I sincerely believe there is a danger in this type of thinking!
Though we are not to look down upon anyone, we are also not to accept wrongful teaching. While I support the command in Matthew 22 that we need to love our neighbors as ourselves, I believe the first part of that command is even more important. It says we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind. We have only one God that we should be worshipping or serving. We are not to embrace another culture or religion that does not recognize and line up with the One True God and Lord Jesus Christ. In love, we need to share our beliefs and direct others toward this Scriptural truth.
Oh, how Satan would love to deceive us into believing that we have it all wrong! He even tried to deceive Christ in the wilderness by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor (Matthew 4:8), which didn’t even belong to him in the first place! Jesus replied, “Away from me Satan! For it is written; ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” We cannot serve, or believe in more than one God. Men have tried it for thousands of years. Wars have been fought over it. But in the end, there is only one God.
GOING DEEPER:
1. How can you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, promote true unity, or “ecumenism,” in the fellowship of believers?
2. What will be your response to someone who believes we should all join together in one global religion, regardless of who or what we believe in?
FURTHER READING:
John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; Ephesians 4:3-6
Susan is a wife and mother of two. She is the Coordinator of Oakwood’s Tuesday a.m. Bible Study and one of its teachers.
