Gospel exclusivity

"How does one evangelize and disciple new Christians in a culture in which Christianity is mocked for its exclusivity?" asked Robert E. Webber in his book Ancient-Future Evangelism [Baker Books, 2003]. In our secular, some say post-Christian age, there is almost nothing worse in the minds of many than an exclusive claim of truth. Truth, like beauty, is often "in the eye of the beholder." History, it is acknowledged with a certain cynicism, is written by the victors.

Yet disciples hear Jesus say, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except by me.' Religious pluralism is not new. The social context of the earliest Christians was one of many religions, and a general attitude of acceptance of all deities. One was not much different from another. That perspective on religion is prevalent in our own time. So the exclusivity of the gospel comes across as being "closed-minded," intolerant, even ignorant.

The genuine conviction of the exclusivity of the gospel, though, does not incline toward the self-righteousness of "I'm right, you're wrong." It calls us rather to live the truth of Jesus in the manner of his own humility and servanthood.