Deuteronomy 4:39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

Absolute monotheism is essential. It has brought Jews and Christians into conflict with people of every other religion, and it was a lesson the Jews had a very hard time learning. Atheism is a pretty modern philosophical conceit, but it simply replaces God with man, and so runs afoul of this verse. The secular Jew is as much of an anomaly as the lukewarm Christian, though both are sadly very common. It is no accident that the first commandment is to have no other gods beside the Creator. That is a major problem devout Jews have with Christianity, because they see the Trinity as three gods. The reality of the Trinity is something it takes revelation to grasp fully, but though we experience God in three Persons, He is still One. The problem with Islamic monotheism is that they posit a completely different god. Though Islam is aggressively monotheistic, the god presented in the Koran bears no more than a very slight resemblance to the God of the Bible. One point that sticks in my mind is a statement from someone who encountered Christ after being raised as a devout Muslim, and that is that before, he couldn’t possibly have imagined God as a loving, heavenly Father. Those who are unfamiliar with the mindsets of other religions have no idea how absolutely wonderful and unique the Gospel is.

Living in a non-Christian nation as I do, I encounter this issue all the time. I have had someone who genuinely admired what they saw in us and in this church say that they could never become a Christian precisely because of the monotheism. One of the Japanese terms for Japan is, “The Land of 8 Million Gods.” This isn’t the place for me to go into a discourse on Shinto and Japanese Buddhism, but I am in constant conflict with the mindsets engendered by those religions. Even when people have genuine encounters with Christ and are born again, they often still have trouble with the “old man’s rubble,” to use the words of a Christian song. I am to be clear and persistent in teaching God’s truth, but I must never think for a moment that my words by themselves will produce lasting change. I must depend on the Holy Spirit, both to speak through me and to prepare the hearts of my hearers. At the same time, I must be careful that I don’t let anything usurp the place of God in my own heart. I must not be a theological monotheist and a practical polytheist!

Father, I desire an undivided heart for myself and for everyone in this church. Actually, I desire it for everyone in this nation! I pray that starting right here, You would reveal Yourself so that we would give You absolutely undivided devotion, trusting You and being obedient to You in every detail, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!