What would you say?

The other night I was asked by a man what I thought about Islam. He wasn’t leading me on, but was genuinely curious.

I said “Let me answer it this way, Christianity and other religions have contradictory claims. What I mean by that is Christianity says Jesus is God and our salvation is only through Him. Other religions deny that Jesus is God and claim that there are different paths to salvation.  Those claims contradict each other. They can’t both be true at the same time. Either Jesus is God or he isn’t. Right?”

He agreed with me, “They can’t all be true at the same time.”

I continued “If Christianity is true, then religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others are false. But if Christianity is false, then other religions might be true. Or maybe we have it all wrong and all religions are false. That’s a possibility, too, right?”

Again he agreed. I said, “I have no animosity toward other religions. They just can’t all be true at the same time.  Ultimately, you have decide.”

He nodded, so I continued “So, now you’ve got to ask yourself the question:  Is it true? Is Jesus really God and the only way to salvation? I told him I’ve done my homework on other religions and, based upon my studies, I believe Jesus really meant it when he said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ I believe Jesus really is God and is the only Son of God.”

The conversation with this man got me thinking.

I’ve found that it’s easy to go around and around discussing the merits of different religions, but I think there’s one question that really gets to the heart of the matter. It’s a simple, but profound, question that Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” That single question cuts through everything else.

Ultimately, we must make a choice. Is Jesus God or isn’t He?  If Jesus is God, it is of the utmost importance to come to that knowledge. If He is not God, it is of no importance. What it cannot be is somewhat important. There is no middle ground.

What about you?  Who do you say Jesus is?