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Multifaith education makes me a better Christian
by Lyle Young
The following article is a reprint from the Toronto Star, June 28, 2003
Participation in a multifaith organization has made me a better person and a better Christian. It has deepened my appreciation of the universality of the Christian precepts of love for God and for one's fellow. It has clarified for me that the great Christian commission is not to convert others but to see the divine in them, and in this way bring about healing.
The past five years I've represented the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) on the Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care (OMC). Founded in 1971, the OMC (http://www.omc.on.ca) is a fine example of faith groups working effectively with one another and with a provincial government. The OMC's membership includes many Christian groups and many other faiths as well.
Association with those of other faiths has helped me see the basis of Christianity is the universal ideal of love of the divine and love of one's fellow. Rather than diminishing the unique redeeming work of Jesus, this ideal validates his teachings and shows their universal applicability .It also emphasizes that following Christ's example is the key to redemption. Having faith in Jesus becomes less the focus, while applying his teachings becomes the complete focus of daily life.
As I've come to know people of a wide variety of faiths, I've learned that the basic discipline of striving to be more spiritually awake, more loving, more consecrated, more sensitive to and skilled at meeting the needs of others is essentially the same, irrespective of one's religion. The task of living constantly the virtues of love, purity , goodness, courage, and joy in a contemporary setting, challenges everyone from every religious expression, as well as those with no formal religious ties.
Those of other faiths have often inspired me. Mormons and Baha'is have frequently been the targets of persecution for their beliefs. Indeed, the founder of Mormonism and one of the founders of the Baha'i faith were killed by those who disagreed with their religion. And yet I've never seen anyone from these two groups express bitterness or resentment because of this persecution nor show anything but love when talking about furthering religious rights for all.
My Salvation Army friends who give themselves so fully to serving the have-nots in society have surely enriched my life and practice of Christianity .
Or consider the ancient Indian religion Jainism. A Jain friend has often inspired me through his care to harm no living creature as well as by his respect for all points of view.
One of the great Christian parables is that of the good Samaritan. In it, Jesus tells of a traveller who is attacked by thieves, and left almost dead. Two people pass by without helping the man, but then a Samaritan sees him. Now, Jews and Samaritans didn't see eye to eye, since they both felt that the other group didn't worship God in the right way. But in Jesus' parable it is the Samaritan who helps the man by binding up his wounds, taking him into the next town, and paying for his care.
The point? The fundamental question is not my neighbour's religion but whether he or she needs help. The Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi reads: "Grant that I may not so much seek. ..to be understood as to understand." And in his first epistle to the Christian community at Corinth, Paul wrote: "Love seeketh not her own."
The founder of Christian Science , Mary Baker Eddy, (1821 - 1910), quite transcended her time in her view of the importance of religious rights and respect for all religious views. Her main work, Science And Health With Key To The Scriptures (http://www.spirituality.com) emphasizes humility, purity of motive and deed, and charity toward all. Elsewhere, she writes: "What we love determines what we are. ...I would no more quarrel with a man because of his religion than I would because of his art. ...It is of comparatively little importance what a man thinks or believes he knows; the good that a man does is the one thing needful and the sole proof of rightness."
In my own life, I find so much that needs improving to make my thinking and acting truly Christ-like that, happily, I'm spending less time judging others. I'm learning my duty is to see others the way I believe God sees them -whole, upright, and free -especially if they seem unworthy of love and respect.
Learning from those practising other faiths has made me a better Christian. It has forced me to think in terms beyond denominationalism. It has deepened my appreciation of the teachings of Christ Jesus and caused me to want to practise those teachings more fully.
Lyle Young, of the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Ontario, writes frequently on spirituality and society.
Posted by editor on November 25, 2003 11:22 AM