We believe in different gods

"Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing." - I Kings 18:21

When the Chinese President Jiang Zemin came to the United States and didn’t want to talk about human rights, a Chinese citizen and political scientist at Harvard University explained, "We believe in different gods. We do things by a different set of rules. We have different value systems. Different appearances. Different languages."

On his second great journey through the Roman Empire, Paul came to the city of Athens, then the cultural center of the world. Here’s how: "While Paul was waiting [for Timothy and Silas] in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection" (Acts 17:16-18).

What God do you serve? Everyone serves some kind of god in his life. Even atheists, who say there is no god, live according to some force, some belief system, authority, or values. The Muslim willing to die for his cause, the hedonist who lives for pleasure, and the church-going, Bible-toting Baptist are all driven by religious convictions.

Can everybody be right? Does it matter whether you believe in Mao or Jesus Christ? Does it matter if you die for something you believe in in your 20s, or live to be eighty and have a Christian burial?

If Christianity were mere religion, it would make little difference which religion you choose. But the one crucial issue that changes everything–what god do you believe in? Who is Jesus Christ to you?

The Bible leaves no room for compromise. Luke says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Jesus Himself said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

The bottom line is not which religion is best, but whether or not Jesus Christ is God, whether He was crucified at the hands of Roman soldiers, and whether He rose–literally and physically–from the grave. If so–and the preponderance of evidence supports Christ’s claim–then the most powerful God is very evident. - Resource Reading: 1 Kings 18