I remember as a young kid driving with my parents. My childhood occurred right at the advent of the smartphone as a pocket appliance. I recall my parents trading in their Blackberries for the iPhone 4 before I finished elementary school. As such, our car rides weren’t filled with streaming services or ad-filled games or social media. Instead, we used books, car games, and a limited amount of time on our Nintendo DS handhelds to entertain ourselves. When these things inevitably bored us, the only thing left to do short of annoying your sibling was to look out the window. There are only two things to see outside your window- the landscape, and whatever cars may happen to be traveling alongside you. And a staple feature of any car is the bumper sticker.

On principle, I am against bumper stickers. I think they ruin the pristine look of a car with something that looks generally gaudy and embarrassing. My parents’ first SUV had one that said something to the effect of “Star Student at [Insert Elementary School Name Here]”. I still contend that sticker applied to me and not my younger sibling. Even the sticker on my back windshield, which my friends placed on as part of an ongoing joke about me hitting a bear with my car, I don’t particularly enjoy. By far the most prevalent bumper sticker I’ve seen is ”COEXIST” sticker.

The “COEXIST” logo was originally designed by Polish artist Piotr Mlodozeniec, who entered his image into a 2000 contest by the Museum of the Seam (a contemporary art museum in Jerusalem). Originally, the design Piotr submitted only had three symbols – a crescent moon for the “C”, representing Islam; a Star of David for the “X”, representing Judaism; and a cross for the “T”, representing Christianity – the three major religions present in Jerusalem. Since the initial contest, other artists and groups have adapted the image and variated it, changing the original artwork until finally arriving at the iconic image seen above. Beyond Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, we now have a peace symbol for the “O”, a gender-symbol laden “E”, a pentacle above the “I” representing Wiccan and new age ideologies, and the yin-yang symbol representing Taoism. This image has become a symbol promoting religious tolerance and general peaceful cooperation. It has become a prompter of “warm, fuzzy feelings” that evoke thoughts of such artists as John Lennon, according to one friend of mine.

The inherent problem with this image is not that in its explicit message. Certainly, religious freedom should be defended, civility and charity between different worldviews encouraged. An Islamic woman should be able to sit down with a Hindu man and have a enriching conversation. Sadly, such amicable discourse isn’t present in the majority of our modern society, especially via the mode of digital media. The problem with this image as I see it is in its more pedestrian meaning. People have adopted this symbol, not to promote religious freedom and civility, but rather to champion the idea that religious differences are trivial. This is not the explicit message of the “COEXIST” image. People trumpet religious tolerance (indeed, tolerance of every kind!) with the unspoken truth being that tolerance actually means belief shouldn’t infringe on comfort. In other words, if I tell you that I disagree with what you believe, or if I tell you that your belief is wrong to any degree, I am actually being intolerant. “You’re fine to believe whatever you want, as long as you don’t tell me about it and your beliefs don’t clash with mine,” is what the majority of our society seems to be saying. All a person has to do is look at the current state of political discourse in our country to get the point. Unity across political boundary lines doesn’t seem possible; even within party lines there are a wide spectrum of firmly-held positions on hot button issues like abortion, LGQBTQIA+ rights, immigration, taxation, education, etc.

Fundamentally, Christianity cannot coexist with any other religion. Anyone who tells you different is lying, misinformed, or misunderstanding. When I say that Christianity cannot coexist with other religions, I am not telling you that Christians cannot or should not coexist with believers of other faiths. Quite the opposite! As Paul says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone,” (Romans 12:17-18 CSB). We should strive to live in peace with all people – atheists and Muslims and Mormons and Christians and Jews and Buddhists alike. Rather, I am saying that the beliefs of Christianity cannot coexist with the beliefs of any other religion. There is a foundational difference between Christianity and every other religion, and it comes down to salvation. Every religion has a version of what paradise looks like. Every religion has doctrine regarding morality. Every religion has a way of translating earthly behavior into a heavenly reward. It boils down to work. That is what every religion boils down to – do your good works outweigh your bad works? There are variations, certainly- the Buddhist’s eight-fold path looks different than the Jew’s Torah- but the bottom-line principle is the same. Humanity has to achieve it’s own salvation.

Except when it comes to Christianity. The Bible makes it clear we cannot save ourselves. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift , not from works, so that no one can boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9 CSB). The Jews from the time of Moses onward operated under the Law (given to Israel at Mount Sinai). The Law operated, not as a means of salvation, but as a visible standard of the righteous conduct God expected of His people. Instead, salvation for the patriarchs was credited as faith. The letter to the Galatians is an argument against salvation through works or the Law. Paul makes it abundantly clear the flesh cannot cure itself; only Christ and the Spirit can do that. The Galatian church was falling back into a works-based mindset, something Paul was desperate to prevent. This problem was exacerbated by Jews who were converting to Christianity but still held to the Law, insisting that their Gentile brethren do the same. This issue was resolved when the Apostles met at the Jerusalem Council after Paul raised the issue with them (read Acts 15). Paul sharply rebukes those taught salvation-through-works, saying “Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. I wish those who are disturbing you might also let themselves be mutilated!” (Galatians 5:11-12 CSB).

The Gospel is the most unlikely story in human history. A God-made-flesh, abandoning His power and glory and majesty in order to be born in poverty and obscurity; to live among His own rebellious people and die at their hand. And for what? To rescue them from their own brokenness and restore them to Himself? A fairytale. A fanciful yarn for the certified loon. The ludicrous dream of a madman. A story told by an idiot. The Gospel offends our sensibilities because it is so backwards from how we expect the story to go. Rebellion deserves annihilation, not redemption. Justice demands death, not substitutionary sacrifice. Jesus’ is the story of unparalleled mercy, grace, compassion, kindness, forgiveness- to sum it up in a word, love. God’s love is impractical, unreserved, undeserved, unconditional, and infinitely deep.

This is why Christianity cannot exist in conjunction with any other religion. The beauty of the Gospel, and the stark difference between Christianity and every other religion, is the utter lack of human ability as a salvation catalyst. Scripture makes it clear, time and time again, that we have no ability in and of ourselves to save ourselves, let alone anyone else. A man drowning in the ocean needs something or Someone else to grab onto. I believe this is the great key to understanding why people are so resistant, beneath the rational arguments and negative experiences, to the acceptance of the Gospel at a personal level. People do not want to hear that they are drowning, that they are walking around sick and dying; they certainly do not want to hear they cannot save themselves from this perpetual condition. Humans have no motive power in their own eternal condition, and that thought is scary.

And yet, though the Gospel so goes against human norms that it is ludicrous to think it was invented, its logic is sure. The weight of sin is measured not by the sinner, but by the one sinned against. If I sin against a rock, I am not very guilty. If I sin against you, I am guilty. If I sin against an infinite God, I am infinitely guilty. How could a finite person (and make no mistake, dear reader – you are finite, made for eternity yet to dwell singularly in space-time) repay the infinite debt of sin? And if we were made to be in intimate relationship with an infinite God, how could anything from this corrupt and finite world hope to satisfy?

Sadly, the majority of people today either refuse to acknowledge their sin problem (or even recognize a mere moral deficiency), or they see it and believe they can do something to outbalance it. I think, ultimately, this comes down to the original sin that Adam and Eve possessed – pride. This pride manifests in two ways. Either a person assumes that they themselves are the source of moral authority, therefore elevating themselves above God. Or, they recognize the moral authority of a divine power and their subsequent depravity, but assume in pride that they can in some way outbalance their evil or climb the moral mountain to stand at the utopian top. Unfortunately for them, Scripture disagrees. “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable — who can understand it? I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬).

This is why the Gospel offends people in their heart-of-hearts: it tells people that in the most important area of their lives – the eternal one – they are failures. That they are spiritually dead. That there is no participation trophy, there is no second place; there are only losers. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” ‭‭(Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭CSB‬‬). Fortunately, we have one man who, though he lost by every human and conventional measure, won by a greater, Heavenly standard. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has purchased righteousness on our behalf. This is our great comfort as Christians. Yes, we have failed, but God wants us in our failure and brokenness anyway. We don’t need to do anything to earn salvation; it has been offered to us a no additional charge. “…they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.” (Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Jesus has through His innocent blood purchased our freedom, and wants everyone to take advantage of it. You can stop efforting in vain, because His salvation work is finished and final and FREE FOR THE TAKING!