The Most Offensive Truth

Worldly Inclusivity

In the secular, unbelieving world, “inclusivity” has nearly replaced love as the highest moral virtue. We are told that if one is to be a good person, one must be “inclusive.” But how does the world define that word?

We must first consider some of the basic assumptions of secular belief, which are as follows:

1. There is no Sovereign God. Therefore, there is nothing that transcends and governs the physical stuff of the universe.

2. Man has the highest intelligence of any life-form on earth, and therefore, is the sole judge of truth and falsity by default.

3. An objective, singular reality, or truth, does not exist (multiverse theory). Or if it does exist, we cannot possibly come to know it objectively, accurately, or comprehensively (skepticism). Therefore, all truth is relative to the individual’s experience. In other words, truth is in the eye of the beholder (e.g., “Speak ‘your truth.’”).

4. Diversity in the universe is more ultimate than unity. Any unity (that which brings coherence to the diverse facts of our experience) we might find is subjective; it’s merely something our mind imposes upon reality. Therefore, we should expect, and celebrate, a diversity of mutually exclusive belief systems.

While consistent definitions are not a specialty of the secular world, we can begin to approach a definition of secular inclusivity with these assumptions in place.

‘Secular inclusivity’ – because truth is relative, all beliefs and/or lifestyles should be accepted, affirmed, and/or celebrated

However, there is an ironic caveat as we see this secular inclusivity played out in the world. The secular world is only inclusive toward a belief system as long as it affirms and celebrates every other belief and lifestyle. And this is their blatant contradiction: they claim that inclusivity must include all beliefs and lifestyles, but their inclusivity does not extend to biblical Christianity because Christianity claims that all non-Christian belief systems are false.

Hence, we see that the real purpose of secular “inclusivity” is the destruction of Christianity.

If the affirmation and celebration of all belief systems is the highest moral virtue, then Christianity can be condemned, and even outlawed, as regressive, judgmental, bigoted, repressive, harmful, barbaric, and outdated.

If we say that everything that disagrees with Scripture is false, then this is surely the most offensive truth of all.

But does God’s Word really make this offensive claim?

The Exclusivity of Christ

God’s Word not only claims that all non-Christian belief systems are false, but it does so emphatically.

In Genesis, the first sin results from Satan questioning God’s Word and man joining in with him (Genesis 3:1-7). In Acts, the Apostle Peter says that Jesus is the foundation of life, and that salvation is found exclusively in Him (Acts 4:11-13). In the Gospel of John, Jesus authoritatively declares that He is exclusively the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that there is no way to God except through Him (John 14:6).

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus states that everyone who hears His words and does not obey them (i.e., contradicting them, disagreeing with them, etc.) is a fool whose end is destruction (Matthew 7:26-27). And in Matthew 12:30, Jesus drives the nail home by saying: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”

If you are not in complete submission to the authority of Christ, then you are an enemy of His truth.

The list goes on and on, but from these passages alone we can safely conclude that Jesus is the exclusive Savior and God’s Word exclusively reveals the Truth. And to state the inverse, there is no salvation apart from Christ, and there is no access to truth apart from what God has objectively revealed in nature and in Scripture. God alone is the authority on what is true and how man might be reconciled to Him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews (1 Corinthians 1:23). But regardless of how the World responds to it, God’s Word is true and everything that disagrees with it is false.

Therefore, it is not virtuous to affirm and celebrate all other belief systems and lifestyles. The Bible teaches the reality of sin, and that any lifestyle which does not completely submit to Christ and obey His Word is offensive to God and will reap what it sows, eternal damnation.

This is certainly a difficult word to bring to the World because we know it will offend. In trembling, love, gentleness, and respect, we must speak it. If the World hates you for it, know that it has hated Jesus before it hated you (John 15:18-20).

Biblical Inclusivity

Just as the unbeliever must continually steal bits and pieces of morality from the Christian worldview, secular inclusivity is no more than a cheap counterfeit to the reality of biblical inclusivity. I will define biblical inclusivity as simply as possible: Do not commit the sin of partiality (James 2:1-13).

In other words, the respect and love that you give to one person is the same respect and love that you give to everyone else. You are to respect and love the poor widow in your congregation as much as the rich, older man. When we make distinctions between people and decide that one person deserves more respect and love than another, James says we turn ourselves into wicked judges, taking God’s rightful place as the sole Judge.

This principle extends beyond the congregation and into the way we interact with unbelievers as well. Christians are to include the unbeliever in their giving of respect and love just like the Good Samaritan loved the Jew, who presumably would have prejudicially hated him (Luke 10:29-37). Jesus commands us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).

The only qualification is that, while we extend love and respect impartially to both believer and unbeliever, Christians are also commanded to restrict the depth of relationship that they have with unbelievers (Psalm 1:1, Proverbs 13:20). As Christians, our closest companions must be fellow believers. This is due to the reality that we are the sum of our closest relationships. If your best friend hates God and loves sin, it will likely not be long before you do the same.

Key Takeaways

1. The unbelieving world says that you must affirm and celebrate all belief systems and lifestyles in order to be a good person. They are lying and contradicting themselves. Reject this belief and stand with God’s people, upon God’s Word.

2. There is no salvation apart from Christ, and there is no access to truth apart from what God has objectively revealed in nature and in Scripture. All lifestyles which contradict God’s Word are sinful and doomed to destruction. These truths are essential to our Gospel proclamation, and we must be bold in speaking them.

3. We must hold to a biblical form of inclusivity, which rejects the sin of partiality. Believers must love and respect all other believers equally. Believers must love and respect unbelievers of all kinds, regardless of their conduct. And believers must be wise about the depth of their relationships with unbelievers, so that they are not tempted to join with them in their lifestyle of sin.