Placebo of the Week

This week's placebo comes courtesy of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, and in the form of a document titled "Loving God and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word Between You and Us.'"

Once the draft of the document, "A Common Word Between You and Us", was completed, it was signed by 146 (to date) Muslim clerics. The document was sent to "Christian" leaders around the world.

In response to the extended hand of this group of Muslim leaders, members of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture took it upon themselves to speak for Christians around the world, by taking the hand of the Muslim clerics, as a show of reconciliation and friendship. The "Loving God and Neighbor Together" document was signed by no less than 300 Christian theologians, authors, speakers, and pastors from a wide array of denominational and non-denominational backgrounds. Just to make sure the whole world knew what they were doing, the organizers of this effort took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, in order to publicly display the letter and reveal the plethora of signatories.

The signatories of the "Christian" response include such notables as:

Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals
David Yonggi Cho, Pastor of reportedly the largest church in the world, in South Korea
Pastor Bill Hybels, Willow Creek Community Church
Tony Jones, an Emergent Church leader
Brian McLaren, an Emergent Church leader
David Neff, Editor in Chief & Vice President, Christianity Today Media Group
Dr. Robert Schuller, Crystal Cathedral
Rev. Dr. John Stott
George Verwer, Founder of Operation Mobilization
Jim Wallis, President, Soujourners
Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church

The signatories represent a number of notable Christian colleges, seminaries, and organizations including:

Fuller Theological Seminary
Biola University
Union Theological Seminary
National Association of Evangelicals
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Bethel University
Bethel Seminary
Asbury Theological Seminary
Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
Wheaton College
Emergent Village
The Navigators
Association of Vineyard Churches

Books can be written (and likely have been written) about the numerous false assertions made by the authors and signers of the "Christian" response. I will not take the time to do that here. Instead, I will briefly turn my attention to statements made in three subsections of the "Christian" response: "Common Ground," "Love of God," and "The Task Before Us."

In the subsection titled "Common Ground," the authors and signatories state the following:

"What is so extraordinary about A Common Word Between Us and You is not that its signatories recognize the critical character of the present moment in relations between Muslims and Christians. It is rather a deep insight and courage with which they have identified the common ground between the Muslim and Christian religious communities. What is common between us lies not in something marginal nor in something merely important to each. It lies, rather, in something absolutely central to both: love of God and love of neighbor. Surprisingly for many Christians, your letter considers the dual command of love to be the foundational principle not just of the Christian faith, but of Islam as well. That so much common ground exists—common ground in some of the fundamentals of faith—gives hope that undeniable differences and even the very real external pressures that bear down upon us can not overshadow the common ground upon which we stand together. That this common ground consists in love of God and of neighbor gives hope that deep cooperation between us can be a hallmark of the relations between our two communities."

And in the subsection titled "Love of God":

"We applaud that A Common Word Between Us and You stresses so insistently the unique devotion to one God, indeed the love of God, as the primary duty of every believer."

The "placebo" in these sections of the letter should be easy to identify. The authors and signatories of the "Christian" repsonse not only suggest, but wrongly affirm, that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. The god of Islam is not the God of the Bible. This spurious linking of arms with Muslims is predicated upon the false belief that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Have the signatories forgotten that Islam denies the deity of Christ? Koran 5:75 says, "The Messiah, son of Mary, is no more than a messenger like the messengers before him, and his mother was a saint. Both of them used to eat the food. Note how we explain the revelations for them, and note how they still deviate!"

Have the signatories forgotten that Islam sees Jesus as merely a great prophet, second to Muhammad, and that He is not the Son of God? Koran 9:30 says, "The Jews said, 'Ezra is the son of GOD,' while the Christians said, 'Jesus is the son of GOD!' These are blasphemies uttered by their mouths. They thus match the blasphemies of those who have disbelieved in the past. GOD condemns them. They have surely deviated."

Have they forgotten that Islam denies the crucifixion of Christ ? Koran 4:157-158 says, "And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of GOD. In fact, they never killed him, they never crucified him - they were made to think that they did. All factions who are disputing in this matter are full of doubt concerning this issue. They possess no knowledge; they only conjecture. For certain, they never killed him. Instead, GOD raised him to Him; GOD is Almighty, Most Wise."

Finally, in the subsection of the document titled "The Task Before Us," we read:

"Given the deep fissures in the relations between Christians and Muslims today, the task before us is daunting. And the stakes are great. The future of the world depends on our ability as Christians and Muslims to live together in peace. If we fail to make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony you correctly remind us that 'our eternal souls' are at stake as well."

The future of the world depends on the ability of Christians and Muslims to live together in peace? Are you kidding me? Our eternal souls are at stake, based upon our ability to be at peace with the practitioners of a false religion? What verse is that?

Have Fuller, YWAM, Biola, Navigators, and the other supposedly evangelical organizations represented by the signatories of the "Christian" document forgotten that the fate of the world and the salvation of each and every person is not contingent upon human ability?

The future of the world has already been determined by the One True and Sovereign God--the God of the Bible. And the salvation of mankind is not up to the efforts of mankind. Have these "Christian" leaders and organizations forgotten that a person is saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone?

Have they forgotten that salvation is not by works, or by calls for peace when there is no peace, or through ecumenism, or through efforts to make the world a "better place"? Salvation is the gift of God the Father to those whom he draws to Himself by the power of God the Holy Spirit, extending to them the gifts of repentance and faith in God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ--ONE GOD in THREE PERSONS!

Should we love our neighbor? Yes, we should love our neighbor, whether they are Muslim, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic, Atheist, or whether they come from any other spiritual or non-spiritual background. But we should not love them the way the signatories of this blasphemous document suggest we love them--by linking arms with members of false religions and leading them to believe that we have anything in common, spiritually speaking. We should not love people by lying to them about their true, spiritual condition and the reality that if they worship any god other than the God of the Bible they are idolaters and bound for hell.

We should love our neighbors enough to die for them, even at their hands, as we speak the truth to them, in love--the truth of the Law and the Gospel.

I wonder if the signatories will try to find a way to get this "can't we all get along letter" to real Christians who have been imprisoned and tortured and have refused to bow their knee to the false god of Islam? I wonder if they will send the letter to the families of Christian martyrs who live in Islamic controlled areas of the world? And I wonder how it would be received.

Sadly, many professed Christians are going to swallow the placebo being offered by the signatories and others like them. I pray that you, the reader, are not one of them. If you are, then please, read on.

There are many spiritual placebos being distributed these days. Here’s an example: “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. He longs to have a relationship with you, just the way you are. You’re a good person, but you have a God-shaped hole in your heart that only He can fill. Just pray a simple prayer and Jesus will come into your heart. Then, He will fix your relationships, heal your diseases, get you out of debt, and help you make the most of your life.”

If you have heard a message like this, then you’ve been given a placebo—a message intended to please you, but will do nothing to heal your disease. The disease is called sin and, without a cure, it is fatal. Examine yourself and see if you have any of the symptoms.

Have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? Then by your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemer at heart. When you die from this disease (sin) and stand before God, He will find you guilty of breaking His commandments and sentence you to eternity in hell.

But there is good news. There is a real cure, and there is only one. God doesn’t want to send you to hell. So, He sent His sinless Son, Jesus Christ—God in the flesh. He took upon himself the punishment you deserve for your sins against God when He shed His innocent blood and died on the cross. Three days later, He defeated death when He rose from the grave.

So, what must you do to be saved? You must confess your sins against God, repent (turn away from your sins), and put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, right now. Stop taking the placebo. It cannot save you. Repent and believe the gospel. It is the only cure and your only hope.