Exclusivity

The word of the day is "inclusivity." Companies have hired "inclusivity" departments to inculcate "inclusivity" into the business atmosphere. People get "inclusivity" training and organizations urge, nay, require "inclusivity" everywhere. Those who will not yield to "inclusivity" (and here is why I keep putting it in quotes) will be excluded. That's because they've opted to define "inclusivity" as "inclusive ... to the extent that we want and not beyond." Fine. Have at it. However, the issue becomes a problem for Christians. That's because Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). That's because the earliest teachings of Christianity included, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The clear teaching of the Bible is that salvation occurs only by faith in Christ and no one else gets saved. That is pretty exclusive.

Here's the problem. This kind of exclusivity flies in the face of modern sentiment. However, it is required by evident reason. If people can come to God by any means and not solely by Jesus, then Jesus lied. If there is salvation by any number of roads, then the Bible is wrong. And if the Savior lied, then He ceases to be the Savior and Christianity doesn't become more inclusive; it becomes a false religion. Inclusivity, then, excludes Christianity.

Here's the thing. If we go for "inclusivity" over biblical, then we have a problem. We say, "All religions are valid." But almost all religions claim that they alone are valid. Logically, then, those religions that claim to be exclusive cannot all be valid because they cannot be both all valid and the only valid religion. Given Jesus's words alone, let alone the rest of the texts that make Christianity exclusive, if other religions are valid, we can logically conclude one thing: Christianity is not a valid religion.

That leaves us with the uncomfortable choice. Is Christianity indeed exclusive in a world that demands inclusive? Yes, it is. So we have to ask ourselves, "So, who are you going to believe? Your feelings regarding inclusivity or God?"