A Christian’s Response to the Coexist Movement
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- Updated May 08, 2024
The Coexist movement has existed for over twenty years. I first heard about it when I was in elementary school. Many parents had the Coexist sticker on the back of their cars. Although my friends and I never talked about it, something about it always seemed odd. While the idea of everyone being able to coexist sounds like a good idea, there is not room for coexistence within different religious thoughts.
God wants us to get along with people, and we should; however, He does not want us to accept or coexist with other views of gods or false beliefs. Rather, God wants us to know Him—the one and only true God. There is no one else like Him as He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-3; John 1:3; Isaiah 45:12). There is no place within a Christian’s life to accept or support the Coexist movement because it would be going against the Lord.
Only One True God
The Bible tells us there is only one God (1 Timothy 2:5). This one God is the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. One God, yet three distinct Persons. In other words, the Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Christianity believes in monotheism, not polytheism. Many people have the false view that Christianity believes in three gods, but this is not true. Christianity teaches that there is one God, yet He is three distinct Persons. This can be complicated to understand; however, with time and study, it is more understandable.
St. Patrick crafted the idea of comparing God to the shamrock. The shamrock has three leaves, yet it is still one shamrock. In the same way, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one God. This is one of the many things that makes Christianity unique and unlike other belief systems. Christianity is also the only belief system that teaches that God came down from Heaven to die for the sins of mankind. In no other religion do we see this happening. Allah, Buddha, or Shiva did not come down from the heavens to save their people.
Instead, we see Jesus coming down from Heaven to die for the sins of the world (John 3:16-17). He humbled Himself and submitted to dying on the cross for our sins (Philippians 2:5-11). This is unique within Christianity and something that should not be taken lightly. The Father loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He did this because He loves us and wants us to be in a right relationship with Him. The only way to restore our broken relationship with the Father is by placing faith in Jesus.
Due to the original sin of Adam and Eve, we are all separated from God. However, through placing faith in Jesus and accepting Him as our Savior and Lord, we are forgiven, given a new life, and we are given the promise of eternal life with God forever. No other religion teaches this. In Islam, you can follow their religion strictly; however, only to be rejected from Heaven because Allah is in a bad mood or is having a bad day. As we can see, Christianity is the only true belief system as Jesus Himself says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
Nobody else in any other religion presents themselves as the way, the truth, and the life. Only Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This tells us that there are no other ways, truths, or life outside of Jesus. Only Jesus can offer true forgiveness, redemption, and eternal life. A person can only be saved by placing faith in Jesus. All religions are not equal. No other belief system will save you. The Bible is exclusive in the sense that only people who place faith in Jesus can be saved.
Other Religious Thoughts
Other religious thoughts teach various beliefs surrounding salvation. They also teach various beliefs surrounding coexisting with other religions. While Buddhism might be open to coexisting with other religions, most other religions are not. Many people believe Christianity is negative in the sense that we don’t believe there are any other ways to salvation; however, Hinduism and Islam believe the same. Islam teaches that a person has to be a Muslim in order to be approved by Allah. If you are not a Muslim, they do not see you as being able to live in Heaven for all eternity.
Therefore, even from other religious thoughts, we see they don’t accept the Coexist movement either. Especially between Islam and Christianity, we have seen numerous wars. This is because each believes in their own beliefs and they are not going to coexist with another religious thought. We see this in the form of the Crusades as well as in the present day. The Crusades were fought between Muslims and Christians, to which much bloodshed was spilled.
While the Crusades ended centuries ago, we still see wars at hand. Islamist terrorist group Hamas recently invaded and murdered hundreds of Israelis, which is yet again another war built upon hatred of Jews. There is no way for coexistence to actually work because different religious beliefs do not blend together. In other words, no religious thought is accepting of the Coexist movement. The Coexist movement was created within the realm of secularism, hoping to unite different religious thoughts and to view them as equals.
An Independent Decision
While nobody can tell someone what to believe, we have the truth placed before us. There is only one way to salvation, and it is found in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). While many people have different views of religion, we see the truth in Jesus. As Christians, we have to independently choose if we will accept the Coexist movement or not. While it is not a matter of salvation, your knowledge of the Bible and your relationship with Christ will impact your decision. Jesus tells us He is the only Way. While this is not politically correct in the modern day, this does not concern Jesus.
The Lord isn’t worried about winning approval from other people. Rather, He came down to die for our sins in order for us to freely accept Him. With this in mind, we have to remember that no other god from another religion has left Heaven to save their people. Only Jesus left Heaven in order to die on the cross to give us life. Christianity is not seen as a religion by most Christians—it is seen as a personal relationship with God. In no other religious thought do we see its followers as being able to have a personal relationship with their god.
The coexist idea might sound good at first, but when we look at the Bible, we can see it is not doable. Jesus does not say it is okay to approve of worshiping false gods. These false gods are only demons. As Christians, we do not need to promote the idea of coexistence, nor do we need to support it. Similarly, we won’t be seen as politically correct, but we are seeking to please God—not mankind. It is better for us to stand with God rather than with men (Acts 5:29).
God loves all people, and He desires for everyone to come to place faith in His Son (1 Timothy 2:3-4). In the same way as Christians, we need to love all people. Loving people does not mean approving of everything they do. Rather, true love means pointing people to the truth and the right way. Just as you wouldn’t let someone you love pick up a bad habit that could kill them, we, as Christians, don’t need to support the idea that all religions are the same. The Bible tells us the truth that only those who place faith in Jesus will go to Heaven when they pass away. It is best for us as believers to spend our time teaching others about Jesus instead of preaching the Coexist movement.
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