Do We Worship The Same God?

The word "advent" is a noun that refers to "the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event."  We refer to the weeks leading up to Christmas as the Advent season.  Many families have Advent calendars that they use to count down the days left until Christmas.  Many churches light a candle each Sunday of Advent.  This candle lighting culminates in the lighting of the Christ candle either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  For Christians, the Advent season is about celebrating the incarnation of the Word.  God took on flesh and dwelt among us.

On December 10, Larycia Hawkins, a professor at Wheaton College in Chicago, posted on her Facebook page a picture of herself wearing the hijab—the head covering worn by Muslim women.  Her stated purpose for doing this was to show solidarity with Muslims who have experienced an increased amount of discrimination in light of recent events.  It is certainly true that some influential people have resorted to callous and uninformed rhetoric when speaking of Muslims, but Hawkins' response is representative of a greater danger.

On its own, Hawkins' decision to wear the hijab is certainly open for scrutiny, but it is some of what she wrote in her Facebook post announcing this decision that is most concerning.  Hawkins wrote, "I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book.  And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God."  She went on to write, "As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church."

Is this an appropriate way for Christians to combat Islamophobia?  How can a person wear a head covering that is identified with another religion which rejects the Christian God as part of their Advent worship?  Advent is about the birth of Jesus.  Muslims reject the Christian understanding of the person of Jesus Christ.  Wearing the hijab and celebrating the birth of Jesus the Messiah are incompatible.  We cannot worship Jesus by paying homage to other religions that reject the claims of Jesus.

But worse than Hawkins' statement concerning wearing the hijab as part of her Advent worship, is her statement that Muslims and Christians worship the same God.  This is the statement that has come under the most fire and resulted in Hawkins' suspension from Wheaton.  The Apostle John would most certainly disagree with Hawkins.  John wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).  He went on to write, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

The Word that John refers to in the first chapter of His Gospel is Jesus Christ.  John says very clearly that Jesus is God.  Islam rejects this truth.  Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet.  Muslims not only reject Jesus as the second person of the Godhead, but they also reject the personhood of the Holy Spirit.  Islamic teaching concerning god flies in the face of the Christian understanding of God.  Christians worship the Triune God Who is three persons but one God.  Muslims reject this God.

But why is this such a big deal?  The Apostle John wrote in his first epistle, "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:22-23).

That all seems very straightforward.  Muslims deny that Jesus is the Christ.  Therefore, John says, Muslims are against Christ.  They do not know God the Father because they deny the Son.  Because the God of the Bible is not the god of Islam, Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God.  The Scriptures leave no room for debate on this essential point of theology.

The truth is that even Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah do not worship the one true God.  They may refer to the god they worship as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but he is not.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Triune God.  He was the Triune God in Genesis 1 when He said, "Let US make man in OUR image."  In fact, there has never been a time when God was not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  John opened his Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word."  Genesis 1:2 tells us of the Spirit hovering over the face of the waters while everything was still without form and void.

No one who denies the Son has the Father.  Jesus is God.  The Spirit is God.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  No one who denies these truths worships the God that Christians worship.

Now this all has massive implications for our evangelistic witness.  We are reminded that the way we love our Muslim neighbors is not by incorporating parts of their religion into our worship practices.  We must not give our Muslim friends and neighbors any false assurance that we worship the same God.  The way we love our Muslim neighbors is by sharing with them the matchless name of Jesus Christ.  We tell them that Jesus is God.  We tell them that He died to pay for their sin.  We tell them that by receiving Him and believing in His name, they not only can know the one true God, but they can be His children.  This is the message of Christmas.  This is the hope that all people need whether Jew, Muslim, or atheist.

As we continue to celebrate the Advent of God made flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, may we seek to know God more and worship Him as He truly is.  Let's not give ourselves over to fear concerning our Muslim friends and neighbors.  Instead may we commit ourselves to sharing the truth of God with all people, because Jesus Christ is the only hope for any of us.

If you would like to hear my sermon from December 13 on John 1:1, you can find the audio on our church website.