A "coexist" sticker on the back of a car sparked a pretty deep conversation between my sons and I this morning on the way to see a motocross race.
My son asked me what exactly did that mean. My first response was "Everybody is right.", but he didn't like that answer. "If everyone were right, that means no one is wrong. If I'm right, the opposite must be wrong. That can't be what it means." He was right. We explored it a bit. Lots of talk about religion and what God is. Very nice. And a bit uncomfortable.
I told him my belief, that "religion" is man made, but God is real. I know in my heart that He sent Jesus to teach us something that we've distorted by our own imperfect minds. I try to know what that really was by direct conversation with that still small voice daily. I know some of my Christian friends will not like this. But I can't help what I feel. To me your relationship with God is just that, yours. I know He knows better than we do about what He is and wants. I trust Him, not what others teach about Him. I know he as a connection between each and every one of us and what we do with our connection is up to us. God will work in people's lives as he sees fit.
What I would like to do, as a Christian person, is not frighten people away from God by telling people that I know the right way to worship Him. What I do is what I feel that God wants me to do, it may not be what He wants for His other children. I think He created us all individually and we all have a place on this earth.
So what does that have to do with the "coexist" sticker? My son says he thinks a lot of religions all look very similar at the core so he doesn't understand why they would not coexist. I think they look similar because they are all based on the same God, talking to them through their culture, and their world. I think a religion on Mars would be similar to ours because it's the same God. I have no right to tell them what to do and how to worship. It's between them and God. So I wish we could "coexist" for the sake of our common Father in Heaven. Maybe we could all learn something from each other.
