Shed Some Light
A recent article in The Christian Examiner cited a Ligonier Ministries study that raises an alarm over the dilution of basic Christian beliefs. In the study, a majority of Christians reported belief that God "accepts the worship of all religions." In fact, among the representative sampling of 3,000 Americans, 51 percent of evangelical respondents agreed that God accepts worship from Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.
So what is the answer? If our non-churched friends ask us whether God hears their prayers, how do we respond biblically? What about our fellow Christians who claim God hears all prayers? If God is all powerful and all knowing, how can He not hear and answer all prayers?
"We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will." (John 9:31, NIV)
"Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Rom 8:34, NIV)
The onion that is God's response to prayer has many layers. In this post, I will only address one – does God accept the worship of all religions – as to try and answer them all would make this post into a book. First, we must distinguish between prayers and worship, and then we must agree on what God can and cannot do.
Prayer has been called a cry for help (Psa 102:1), a guttural moan we cannot put to words but that the Holy Spirit can understand (Rom 8:26-27), and a heartfelt request for forgiveness and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior (Rom 10:9-10). Worship, on the other hand, is defined by Merriam-Webster as "honor and reverence as a divine being or supernatural power; to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion." The Bible is replete with verses about worship, all representative of praise heaped on a worthy God (Psalm 63, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Dan 4:37, Eph 3:20-21, Rev 5:13). The difference between Prayer and Worship is that prayer is a plea to a holy God, seen or unseen, known or unknown, with or without understanding to whom the prayer is directed, while worship requires knowledge of the divine God being praised.
Now, let's talk about what God can and cannot do. God is holy. Perfect. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6 that sin cannot coexist with God. In simple terms, God is light and sin is darkness. When you walk into a room, darkness exists, but when you turn on the light, darkness disappears. The room did not change. The furniture did not move. The light forced out the darkness. Since God is holy and perfect, and we are dirty and dark by sin, without help we cannot coexist with God.
Jesus Christ, the great intercessor, stands between a perfect, holy God and us, imperfect men.
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" (John 8:12, NIV)
I raise this point because the restriction we must accept is not on God, but on man. Continuing with our scripture in John 9, Jesus tells us that a man, spiritually blind, is not guilty of sin. But once we know sin, we are guilty. A baby, born without sin, is pure, guiltless. But once a child makes the choice to sin, he becomes responsible for choosing sin over God and separates himself, at that point, from the light. Follow me on this, reader. At this point, God could, if He chose to, walk into any room and shine his light. But since light and darkness cannot exist in the same space, His doing so would destroy us, His creation.
"Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And the Lord said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'" (Exod 8:18-20, NIV)
God, all powerful, can inhabit the prayers and worship of any religion. He chooses not to since to do so without Christ's intercession would mean certain death. God can and does hear all prayers, and answers those that are according to His will (1 John 5:14, Eph 1:9).
Sticking with our analogy of light and darkness, how many of you remember "The Clapper"? This little device, which turned on lights whenever someone clapped, was the butt of many jokes because it couldn't distinguish between a clap meant to turn on lights, applause, loud noises, etc. Any noise really could be misconstrued as instruction to turn on a light. Think of a house during a major football game – it would be like an electrical storm in mid-April! Worship without Christ is like The Clapper, misdirected and mindless. And while the one true God, all powerful, all knowing, perfect, true and holy can receive mindless worship, why would He choose to do so when Christians who have accepted Christ and know God personally, through meaningful relationship, worship Him with their whole body, mind, spirit and strength?
God would be like The Clapper – the mindless butt of jokes that hit too close to home.
–Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/.