COEXIST: Should a Christian Comply?

I am sure you have seen the bumper stickers.  Engraved into the word COEXIST are the symbols of various religions, beliefs, and cults around the world. The word may only be seven letters in length, but the effects of the message are far-reaching.   The idea may seem innocent at first glance and thought.  I mean, who doesn’t want to live in a peaceful society?  Why must we have divisive boundaries that separate us?  Shouldn’t we just accept the fact that there are others who are not like us? Why can’t we just all get along?

Innocent-sounding? Yes.

Innocent?  Far from it.

Such questions warrant honest and critical thinking.  For one, I believe in the freedom of religion.  I believe everyone has been given a free-will by Almighty God to make decisions about faith.  The state, or the church for that matter, has no right to legislate the liberty of soul given to us by our Maker.  However, the idea behind the word COEXIST is deceptive.  It packages itself as a free-love, free-choice, all-things-equal worldview.  It promotes tolerance and acceptance of all beliefs.  However, most of those particular religions inscribed into the word have less than tolerant views of each other.  The idea is self-defeating.

COEXIST is nothing less than an attempt to promote universalism to a new generation.

Its roots are planted in worldly and hellish soil.  The message is simple: mankind can create a manmade Utopia.  If we try hard enough, we can find various components of commonality.  In our commonality we can discover world-peace and ultimately world-redemption.   It is the devil’s counterfeit to the millennial kingdom.  And many people are buying into it.

The problem with such a fanciful aspiration is the reality of sin.  The idea behind COEXIST cannot work because sin must be confronted, and every religion, cult, and practice deals with sin in very different terms and on very different levels.  Redemption of society is a future certainty, but such redemption is only obtained through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Christ, and Christ alone, is the answer for global reconciliation.

We should strive to live at peace with all men.  We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  We should walk two miles with any soul that asks for one.  These are all biblical principles and commandments. But such behavior toward one another is substantiated through an exclusive salvation –a salvation that only EXISTS in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

So the question becomes, would Jesus promote, support, and defend the message of COEXIST?

I believe the answer is found in His own words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  The greatest objective in this life is not to live in harmony with one another, but rather to live in harmony with God and His Word.  The world will never find harmony from COEXISTING, it will only find harmony in CHRIST.