Coexist: we have all seen the bumper stickers. You may see them and think it is a great idea; a call to world peace. If so, then you probably read this title and thought that it was a very hateful statement. I thank you for clicking on this post anyway and giving me a chance to explain myself. My hope is by the time I am done, you will see that my refusal to coexist is actually driven by love; love for God and love for all people, all of whom bear the image of God. Although, the image and movement were likely created with the best of intentions, it is clear that they were created from a world perspective instead of a biblical one. The individual that created it probably meant well, but I believe that he was unknowingly being influenced by a much darker force. Coexist is not a call for world peace. It is a call for religious reform.
You see, the point of the coexist movement is for everybody to recognize all other religions as equally valid and that there isn’t one right way but many. We are supposed to believe that we are all serving the same God that has revealed himself in different cultures with conflicting doctrine. We are meant to accept that God recognized that other cultures wouldn’t be able to accept the teachings of the Holy Bible so he just changed his very character to better fit in with the ideals and moral code of each culture. It would be as if a parent who was against lying had a child that lied continuously and instead of correcting his child and helping his child to be a better person, just decided it would be easier and more loving to recognize that lying was actually ok. The God of the Holy Bible is absolute and simply can’t change His stance in the name of convenience; to do so would be against His very nature. If He could, why not change the penalty for sin and spare His son the agony of the cross? The movement would have you believe that this infinite God will change His stance to fit the ideology and moral code of the culture and time. So you have now turned an infinite, loving God into the theistic equivalent of an Iphone. He constantly reinvents and updates himself to fit our desires and if you have an older model, it may still work, but it won’t give you the freedom and ease of use of the latest version.
By this way of thinking, it is wrong and actually bigoted of me to witness to somebody about Jesus Christ. I should respect their choices and believe that they are just as right as I am which of course requires me to completely ignore scripture. This is where the love comes in to play. I love God and people far too much to sit back and watch them walk down the path of destruction. People have come to this crazy belief in which if I tell them they are wrong, it is the same as saying they are evil. That is by no means what I am saying. I mean they have been deceived. They have been blinded to the truth of Jesus Christ. I was once blind, but somebody that loved me and cared for me helped me to see. Now I am trying to do the same for others because I love and care for them.
Let me be clear, I am not going to run around pointing fingers and telling people that they are going to Hell. I am not going to try to force God down people’s throats. That is simply not effective. However, if God comes up in conversation or somebody decides to ask me a question, I will not shy away from the truth. If the Holy Spirit leads me to witness to somebody, I will not run away in fear of upsetting that person. Their eternal salvation is worth much more to me than a few awkward moments. I would rather make them mad and bring them the saving grace of Jesus Christ than to keep them happy and allow them to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.
I serve a living God. A God that has called me to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:20) How can I ignore a command from God? 1 Kings 8:60 says “That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.” Then Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) So, it is clearly stated that there is only one God and Jesus is the only way to Him. That by itself should be enough but just in case; I’m sure we all know John 3:16, but do you remember what comes after it?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:16-18)
We are called Christians because we are followers of Jesus Christ. For clarities sake, we are not the only religion that mentions Jesus, but we are the only religion that believes Jesus was the Son of God and teaches saving grace through His death and resurrection. How can I know that people are following false gods and walking to their own eternal suffering and pass off my silence as love? Please, where is the love in that way of thinking? Love is not present in the silence; love is found in the action of leading people to Christ.
The world will attempt to convince you that all religions have their place by stating that they are all capable of doing good; we are all being confused by cultural differences, but in reality we are all working towards the same end. However, that really isn’t the issue at hand. I recognize that all people are capable of doing good. I’m not concerned with how good of a person you are today; I am concerned with your salvation for an eternity. God has made it clear that good deeds are not enough to gain access to heaven. (Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5) If the keys to heaven can be obtained by our actions then why did Jesus need to die on the cross? If you truly believe that God is the one and only God and that the Bible is the word of God then there is only one conclusion that can be drawn about all other religions. They are all simply tools of Satan that are being used to deceive and lead people astray. Please pay attention to what I just said. I didn’t say they are all evil Satanists. I said they are all being deceived and led astray. They are being fooled into following a false god that offers no future and it is up to us to teach them about Jesus.
I do not want my children to grow up in a world that requires a watered down faith to fit in. I don’t want my kids to grow up with lukewarm attitudes toward God and the Bible. (Revelations 3:16) I want my kids to grow up strong in their belief. I want my kids to grow up standing firm in their knowledge of Jesus Christ as the one true King. I want my kids to be a light that shines to the world and brings people to the cross. Coexist is trying to prevent this. How can I stand by any movement that denies the truth written in the very scripture that I am teaching my kids to live by?
Coexist is just another tool of Satan meant to weaken our faith. It is meant to prevent us from bringing new people to Christ. It is meant to cause Christians to start pandering to other religious teachings. It is meant to bring us to false doctrine. Make no mistake, Coexist is an attack on Christian beliefs. Satan isn’t worried about the other religions in the least. Why? He created them! The gods they follow aren’t real and can’t fight back since they are all fabrications of the devil himself. Coexist is an attempt to unify everyone under one false god. Once this “one world religion” is established it will not be the one true God that people worship, instead it will be Lucifer, the fallen angel. (Revelation 13:12)
We must remember that Satan knows scripture better than any Christian we know. After all, he quoted scripture in his attempt to tempt Jesus. He was no doubt a witness to many, if not all, of the events that we read about in the Bible, and he has had thousands of years to learn every verse and every translation. He knows it and uses it to enter into our lives, twisting it to fit his own personal agenda. We can also be assured that the antichrist will know scripture as well. He will be extremely charismatic and silver tongued to make even the boldest lies seem like undeniable truth. He will use scripture and will add in little lies that will cause the world to be led away from God. We must read and know The Bible. We can not recognize the lie without first seeing The Truth!
I cannot coexist. As a follower of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I can’t sit idly watching people live in darkness. Knowing scripture, I can’t pretend that all religions share equal merit in their abilities to save and offer righteousness. I have made my choice and taken my stance. However, I can’t ask you to follow me in standing against Coexist. In fact, for the first time I am specifically asking you not to follow the words I have written here. Instead, I beg you to get into scripture. Read the words that God has given us and follow them. Don’t follow man because man can be lied to and misled; instead, follow God who always speaks the truth and is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
