GYC 2016: When All Has Been Heard

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Coexist - Understanding World Religions...

Ganoune Diop

1. Biblical Christian Covenant

This message was presented at the GYC 2016 conference, When All Has Been Heard, in Houston, Texas.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

I guess, very briefly maybe it would be good given the nature of our topic you know that we pray together is it okay before we start welcome come over okay all right thank you our gracious Lord for this opportunity we have this morning to consider this very important topic.

World religions, our neighbors, what they believe and their practice and how we can better share with them, communicate the gospel.

We would like to start with the biblical Christian faith, the covenant that you have so graciously given through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Help us now to articulate this in a clear and simple way, but in a way also that every person present here will be able to internalize the truth that you have revealed and share with other people.

I think I'm wondering whether, yeah, you may come Up front, really, it's no problem.

OK, yes, so I was saying, if you look at the schedule, Our first topic this morning will be biblical Christian covenant.

Now I could have said biblical Christian faith or several other topics but let me maybe let...

And I was just saying and you will see in a second that it is not just, you know, like to talk or make a nice speech to say that what I'm going to share is really, indeed, the most important topic, and you will see why.

The whole Christian faith is based on what we're going to talk about today.

I call it biblical, you know, Christian covenant.

Okay, let me just be generous and there are some people coming in, so maybe let me...

But just, my objective is very simple, is that at the end of this session, you may be able, maybe you can do that already, but in case you cannot, that you may be able to clearly articulate or point out what is the Christian faith?

I mean clearly, imagine somebody meets you in the street and asks you, so what is Christianity?

So very clearly then, before this session ends, and I would like, I would just make a, you know, like maybe half an hour presentation and then engage you to see if what I have said makes sense.

You will be surprised and I can tell you, I meet Adventists around the world.

Actually, my function leads me to almost every country of the world.

And what people ask me mostly is the following question.

Our department is public affairs and religious liberty.

So basically my job is to introduce Seventh-day Adventists to world leaders, to other world religions also, I mean, and to other Christians, right?

But let's start on a very basic level, meaning, I think I can really trust you to ask you a question and you feel free to answer.

It's not threatening, but just, it will really help if we start talking a little bit, maybe 2, 3 minutes.

If someone meets you in the street and asks you, what is the Christian faith?

Somebody meets you in the street and say, what is Christianity?

What is the difference between Christianity and any other world religion?

But imagine these people know nothing about Jesus.

How would you say it in a way that they would understand what you're saying?

You know, we cannot do it in a sentence, but could you just say something?

Something happened in the beginning, it went bad and God is going to fix it, right, in essence.

Welcome, you can come forward, no problem.

I feel lonely here, you know, so you could feel free to come forward.

Okay, let me go right to the point and say the following.

Christianity, Jesus Christ, I mean, so that I will not turn my back on you.

Jesus Christ came to bring a new covenant.

Now, of course, we will have to explain what it means, but essentially, Christianity is a new covenant.

And of course when we talk about a new covenant it supposes that there was an old 1.

But Christianity is a new covenant of, and now let me say this very clearly, and I will come back to this, a new covenant of free access to God.

Now, think about this and I will develop and you will see most of world religions and even Christian denominations, they function in another system.

Jesus though brought a new covenant of free access to God, a new way of relating to God that was unprecedented.

Now for you to feel what I am talking about, think about the old covenant in the first place.

You have specialized people who had the function to mediate between God others.

Religion was basically predicated or based upon the premise that you cannot have direct access to God, some other people have to be between God and you.

So in other words, Judaism was a religion based entirely on the idea of mediation.

You had to have mediators, people who basically regulate your relationship with God.

Now Jesus came and said, no, there is a new covenant.

You have now, you and I have the privilege to have direct access to God.

And actually sometime even within our circles, Adventist, if some pastors misunderstand their function, they will think that they are still in the old covenant of mediation, of mediatory system.

Let me say this and walk you through, slowly but surely I hope, that each 1 of you will be able, by going out, explain to anyone, oh, so what is the biblical Christian faith?

You can say, hey, It is a new covenant of now direct access to God.

Before I show you a few slides, just to reinforce, right, the slides I use to reinforce, not, you know, to make a presentation or something like that, because I want you to understand first the content of what I'm sharing, and then we can reinforce.

So what I have said so far, very simply, is this, the new covenant that Jesus brought is a new covenant of free access to God.

Maybe before even I go further, just think about an Israeli, an Israelite in the old covenant.

And you have all kinds of separations You cannot enter the sanctuary if you come from the east there's a door and then you cannot just go like that you have to come with a sacrifice and then there's an altar of sacrifice the priest will then you know perform some rituals with the blood you cannot enter just like that because you have several walls of separation.

First of all you have to the court of female, the court of male, the court of priest and then you enter a section that is called basically the holy place right and there you cannot enter.

Somebody else had to enter on your behalf, mediation.

2. Islam

I would like to start sharing with you the inner logic of Islam.

You know, every religion has an inner logic, meaning the religion tries to solve some problems, right?

So what is the inner logic as far as Islam is concerned?

So first of all, you have to divide Islam into 2 episodes.

First of all, the 1 that characterizes the beginning of Islam was in Mecca.

That date was very, well, in Mecca, Islam started there, basically, in Saudi Arabia.

He insisted on the need for social justice, right?

Yes, this is, Yes, it is absolutely correct.

He migrated to Medina, and there you have basically a new branch of Islam.

Religious movement that changed the face of the 7th century Arabia and the world.

Initially he was a warner, a reminder, a religious reformer.

He was a sufferer because he was persecuted, right?

So this was the first part when Muhammad was in Mecca.

His message was directed against the idolaters of Mecca.

He preached monadic Monotheism, social ethics, accountability, impending judgment, by the way, to be carried out in the last days of life on Earth, culminating in the reward of the righteous, the paradise, and the damnation of unbelievers, the associators and the idolaters.

That was in essence what he was preaching while he was in Mecca.

Interestingly also in Mecca as long as his wife Khadija lived he was the husband of 1 wife.

And the face of Islam changed at that time.

He built a state religion, later to become an empire and a succession of dynasties.

In Medina, Muhammad became a political leader, a legislator, a warrior, and a military general.

He waged wars against his opponents, and he became a conqueror.

On the 1 hand, Mecca, where he was a warner.

He preached monadic monotheism, social justice, invite people to care for the poor.

He wanted to reduce social disparities, no problem.

But then, oh, during that time, by the way, he did not criticize Christians or Jews.

As a matter of fact, the first migration of Muslims occurred while Mohammed was in Mecca.

In 610, the first migration, they went to Abyssinia, interestingly.

The Negus, the king there, was a Christian.

But when Muhammad migrated himself to Medina and became part of the majority, the Jews refused to accept his message.

And then the discourse started to change.

It is interesting to know that he addressed his diatribes against Jews and Christians, all the wise though he makes a difference between them.

There is a verse in the Quran that say, from those 2 who call themselves Christians, We did make a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that we have sent them So we estranged them with enmity and hatred between 1 another to the day of judgment so What do we have also that I think is?

Of notice Jesus for Christians is the reference for living, thinking, doing, behaving, relating to God and to others.

To the Prophet Muhammad, he's ascribed such a role.

And I think there is really the big difference.

Islam can be, and I have summarized it this way so that we may understand the difference between Christianity and Islam in that sense.

And then we will, I'll talk about more practical things on how to approach Muslims.

Islam is like a brotherhood, yes it is a brotherhood, but without the revelation of the Heavenly Father.

The word God as Father, I mean the the concept of God being a father is unacceptable to Muslims.

And by the way, if as a Christian you want to witness to Muslim and you start with the idea that God is our Heavenly Father, you will immediately create a barrier.

This is because when Muhammad actually conquered finally Mecca, there was a shrine there that is called the Kaaba and in the Kaaba the Arabs used to worship idols And those idols were called the daughters of Allah.

So Muslims associate idolatry with the idea of calling, of thinking that God can have children.

So when you say oh God is my father they will think oh that's shirk, that's idolatry, that's terrible because it is associated to that story.

That is the meaning of the word Islam from Salaam, peace.

However, without the ministry of the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ.

Islam is also a spiritual path but a spiritual path without the knowledge of the fruit and the gifts and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It is a different trajectory in other words.

All these words even reality in Christianity when you talk about the Holy Spirit, Muslims have a different understanding so you ought to understand and explain in a way that Muslim can understand this and we will we will come back to that.

Islam is like a guidance and actually the the the second chapter of the Quran very clearly calls the Quran a guidance.

This is the book, a guidance for the faithful or those who fear God.

So clearly the whole book of the Quran is seen as the guidance.

Now for you to sense what is going on here, you know people usually compare Jesus and Muhammad but that's not the most accurate comparison.

You know, you would compare rather Jesus and the Quran because the Quran is seen as a guidance and Jesus clearly says I am the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus is the guidance, so to speak, as far as Christianity is concerned.

Now, then the Islam commemorates sacrifice.

Every year millions of sheep and so forth sacrifice around the world, But this sacrifice has nothing to do with atonement, the sacrifice of Jesus.

So you can see we are really on 2 different worlds in other words.

Even when people say oh yeah we have so much in common certainly, however people ought to very clearly right explain what do they mean.

Islam is a hope of paradise yes the word paradise is in the Quran so many times, however, there is no such thing as the assurance of salvation.

The promise of God, the 1 who accept Jesus is saved, is not in those terms that you find in the Muslim faith.

Also, this is something many people do not know but Islam is like a prehistorical pact.

You know the Quran talks about that before God created human beings, he spoke with the so-called souls and make a covenant with human beings who are supposed to come.

Now this is like a very strange belief I know but it is there that God made a covenant with people that they committed to submit themselves actually and follow God's way.

Another thing is that Islam is a faith entirely based on the word of God that came to surpass all previous revelation without taking into consideration Jesus Christ.

In other words, for you to really measure what Muslims believe that they have the best book, the Quran.

3. Hinduism/Buddhism/Confucianism/Daoism

Shall we start then with a word of prayer.

Thank you, our gracious Lord, for this opportunity.

We have to look at these Asian religions, in particular Hinduism and Buddhism.

Now, I pray for clarity of thinking and of expression during this time as we communicate.

Be with us, we just ate, but still give us the energy and the alertness necessary to really engage and understand and then use this in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Okay, So I'm going to start then talking about Hinduism.

The first thing that I would like to mention or to draw your attention to is for Hindus, they don't call their religion Hinduism.

So that is the first surprise, you know, because you know, you and I usually we call these people Hindus, but we have to understand that their religion, they call it Sanatana Dharma.

And then dharma has several translations.

It could be cosmic order, could be religion, could be righteousness, you see, or it could be faith, You know, the faith that you adopt.

So Hindus, they call themselves that they have the eternal religion.

And as you know, we Adventists, we believe in religious liberty, religious freedom, which means that people have the right to claim whatever they want to claim.

Now, we don't have to believe it, but people have the right to claim whatever.

So I don't think I'm going to go through this.

So at the end of today's presentation, you know, I like to tell people that so that they see what they are.

At the end of today's presentation, I hope that you'll be more acquainted with the words like Dharma, I just mentioned, you know, which is religion or order, you know, harmony, universal harmony, Samsara, Moksha, Atman, Brahman, Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, avatar, diva, yoga, bhakti, Bhagavad Gita, Veda.

So these are words that are connected to the world of Hindu.

So I will, of course it's difficult to really go through each 1 of them so that you become expert at the end, but I will just use what will help us better understand this religion, this worldview, because as you know, there are many people today, almost a billion, who claim this religion Hinduism.

Look at the statistics they are about 1 billion Hindus.

This is the third largest world religion and I share this with you because we ought to realize the mission of the church will not be finished until we reach these people also and in order to reach these people we ought to know what they think, what they believe, their practice and so forth in order to present the gospel in a way that is meaningful to them.

Because if you scratch where it doesn't itch, you are not relevant.

And if you speak only your language in a way that other people don't understand, then what is the purpose of it?

You see, it is not enough for us to come and tell people, oh, we have the 3 angels' messages.

They have no clue, no idea what it means.

We say, oh, the first angel message is fear God but what does it mean fear God?

You know all those things so we need to understand how people think in a way to relate to them meaningfully.

Live in human condition and human flesh, right?

So that he can relate to us in a way we can understand.

So basically what we do, we are following God's examples.

When you think about it, in India alone, by the way, I will be in India in less than 2 weeks.

I'm going to train some people there on how to relate to political leaders and present to them Adventism in a way that is relevant and how to basically do public affairs work.

Indonesia, you were mentioning that, 17 million.

That is a sizable population there when you think about it, right?

Bangladesh, 10 million, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, 3 million, Malaysia and the USA each by the way 1.5 million, so there's no way, if you live in the US, you have met a Hindu, right?

I mean, there's no way that you cannot meet a Hindu here.

So this is just brief, so I'm not going to spend too much time on these things that you can read even online and so forth, so on.

So you are not here just for, so in the UK, 1000000, so that's very sizable and that is very important.

I'm slowing down a little bit to let these people take their seats.

I believe in the parable of the Bible that even 11th hour people should receive, you know, so.

I thought I did something wrong this morning, nobody gave me water, but this time, thank you very much.

So, This is, I can even say, 1 of the most complex religion.

For example, Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma, is composed of a multitude of religious and philosophical trends.

Now, remember earlier for those who were here, Islam is also a mosaic, complex.

Of course, there is a core, what people call the 5 pillars of Islam and so forth, yes, but when you start looking it's very complex and diverse.

When you think about the henotheism of the ancient Veda, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, etc.

Pantheism basically you have several philosophical terms.

I'm not gonna spend too much time on this because I don't want to be technical that's not the the idea here but when you basically what this is saying Hindus they believe in 1 God they believe in 3 gods they believe in the 33 million gods they believe in no God also So you have all those that god is in everything, pantheism, right?

And you have this Trimurti, the 3 gods, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, you know, etc.

So you have basically a very complex philosophical system.

Now of course, by the way, notice in my presentation there is a first part to inform you about the religion, then the second part is more, okay, but how to relate to these people.

So but despite the impressive diversity of beliefs and practice, rituals and schools of thought, there are some clearly identifiable core at the foundation of Hinduism.

Now that is helpful, you know, because you can identify a core that you can say, oh, okay, this is really, now, think about this, And the core is about how to understand the human being's deepest need.

Now, Hindu sages or thinkers thought that there are several things that are candidates.

Some people think that what human beings want is pleasure.

However, for Hindus, this cannot achieve or cannot be life's ultimate goals.

Now again I'm trying to help us delve into this world it's different it's different so Hindus think that all the things that we are looking for are actually like toys in other words what people really want is actually infinite being, infinite awareness and infinite bliss.

That is what people want, Not these toys of success, of money, of pleasure, they will say.

Now, and by the way, this is 1 of the reasons why in the 70s, during the time, you know, in, during that time in Europe, many young people disenchanted because of materialism, you know, and there was a time of the Beatles and all these things, Kathmandu, Hindu, many European young people wanted something more spiritual, more enduring than just you know, superficial, you know, pleasure, entertainment.

Now we are living in that kind of a culture, again, where entertainment is about everything.

People are valued or thought to be important when they can do things or when they can entertain others, regardless if what they are saying is true or not, by the way.

So there is here, anyway, so Hindus were thinking that maybe what we really want is infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss.

However, and now let me put it this way, this is something I need to explain very simply but clearly.

This infinite being, infinite bliss, infinite awareness is at the reach of every person.

Because Hindu, and this is fundamental now, Hindus believe that human beings were God.

In other words in Hindu terms divinity Brahman and the soul Atman they were 1.

There was a connection between divinity, Brahman, and Atman, soul.

By the way, the word Atman, you find that in the word Mahatma, like Gandhi, right?

Ma, the big Atma, soul, the great soul something like that.