Coexist: What does it mean?
Over the years, I’ve noticed a growing trend. It comes in the form of this little blue bumper sticker that reads: COEXIST. At first I thought very little about it. I thought it was a good idea, a message that needed to be spoken in a world that can be so divided. As of late, I have given it more thought. In the current culture, we are told to accept everything and be tolerant. All paths are right, and belief is good for the individual, yet what one believes does not need to be spoken to another. All roads lead to the same place. And while the word in the title might not completely suggest these very ideas, I believe that the ideas of unitarianism are the undercurrents of this relatively new message.
I believe it should be told that as a Christian, I should live in a way that promotes peace among, I do not have to shrink back in my message of the Gospel of Peace that comes through Jesus Christ. When tolerance supersedes, my ability or desire to proclaim the message of the Gospel, I have faltered in my following of Chris and fulfilling of His commission. I see these bumper stickers as doing just that within the Christian community. It under minds the message of the Gospel by telling us to place acceptance above proclamation. While we do not think that as a Christian, we have to be abusive to others in our treatment of them, there is a need to be bold in a message of who Christ is and His offer of salvation that goes out to all men. If Christians truly believe the message of Christ then there will not be a complete acceptance of other religions as alternative ways to know God. To do so, would deny Christ as the One between man and God.
This message of coexistence also falters in another way. It tells us that man can bring about peace and despite having very different ideas of who God is, we can create our own peace and brotherhood. This idea dethrones Christ as the Prince of Peace by denying him as the only way to peace. It denies him of his power to proclaim peace and offer it to others throughout the Gospels. John’s first letter would also be wrong in saying that the only way of fellowship is through Christ. (1 John 1:3-4)
In the end, I don’t really know why other religions would want to come together and mix and mingle in proclaiming one message of God. In doing so, do we not rob ourselves of true belief? Each faith has their idea of who God is, and if we were all honest with one another we have to think one is right and the others are wrong. If not, belief is void of meaning. If there is no action upon our believing that too makes our belief void. I think we do justice to ourselves intellectually and spiritually to disagree rather than simply coexisting. While the surface of this message may have some value, it does falter at least in lining up with a Christian worldview.
Grace and Peace
