Here we are, products of the things that have happened to our ancestry. Here we are assembled – white people, yellow people, and black – but when we look back into the past, to the beginning of human history, we all started from one ancestry. Dividing into many streams, we have discriminated amongst ourselves. If we continue to be divided like this, when will the time come for us to be united again? There are so many historical events. We have been divided and sometimes united again by wars and by the ebb and flow of different cultural spheres.
When we think of religions, all religions have done great works. The religions have been transcending national boundaries and races because of their doctrines. Many peoples have been united through religion. In the Christian world there have been so many different denominations, literally hundreds, but as a whole they have been bringing the world back to God.
There have been so many religions in the world, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Thus, Buddhism teaches the need for mercy toward all living things, but it has not reached the core truth about God. Christianity has emphasized love, but without truly knowing love’s essence, and without much sensitivity to nature. Nature is much more pure than humanity because it has preserved its original God-given nature, while human beings have distorted their original nature. Even people who live in great houses want to vacation at the beach, or go camping in the mountains. Their original form is looking for some comparable companion, and nature comes closest.
In the past God depended heavily upon many religions, but today’s religions are in disarray, lacking discipline and direction. God’s first problem is how to bring all religions into one unity so that they will serve the original purpose of religion and the practical work with which God has been concerned. Methodists may pray for Methodism to prosper, but that is only one of the 400 Christian denominations. Likewise for Presbyterians. God really feels the urge to jab them and say, “Stop that! Before you pray to me, make unity among all your fellow Christians. Then get together and pray to me. If you cannot unite the world, then at least you can unite with each other.”
Christian denominations today, often promote their faith by proclaiming that their denomination alone can guarantee the Kingdom of Heaven. In God’s sight this is a very unnecessary conflict. That blind, boastful attitude will bring nothing but their own decline and they will never see the sunlight. If there is truly a God of justice He would never let such churches prosper. He would be utterly disgusted.
However, imagine what could happen if Christians were crazy to gather all the denominations together and pray to relieve God’s burden, asking God for the power and ability to reach out to the people. Then of course God would consider their prayer and do everything possible to answer it. God is waiting for the people on earth who will bring all these different denominations into one.
God never wanted division among people. He would like to see all humankind living together as one country. Americans might tell God to come live with them because afer 200 years they have a very comfortable country for Him to live in; they might encourage Him to disregard other, struggling nations. Would God accept their invitation, or would He feel revolted by such thinking?
God would really be moved if people appeared on earth who would encourage Him to overlook the racial barriers separating people and the religious and cultural differences that humankind has fought over, and would demonstrate to Him that they were coming together to form one country centering on Him. America was right to adopt the motto “One nation under God,” but it would have been better to teach “One world under God.” America hasn’t gotten that far yet. God’s problem now is how to bring all nations into oneness.
God has nurtured civilizations and cultures, educating the generations in His way of thinking and living. It’s not that religions are exclusive of each other, but that they are on different levels of development, such as the grade levels in a school system. Primitive religions are on a kindergarten level while others are at the grammar school level, and others the middle school or high school level. Some religions can be equated with the university standard. All religions are different in their degree of understanding of God. There are different subjects within a university and there are also different kinds of colleges. In religion as well we have to distinguish the different areas. For these reasons it makes absolutely no sense for one religion to fight with another religion. It shows they don’t understand God of His work through religion.
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