“I just wanted to know exactly what we both meant today about Aslan meaning no more than Tash. … You mean that there’s no such person as either.” (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle)

The context is that one of the Narnian characters is discussing with another the notion that Aslan and the Calormene god Tash are one entity called Tashlan. He essentially says to hold both as equal and the same is to believe in neither.

I was perusing through a church bulletin. I noticed they offer a couple of interfaith outings, one with a Hindu temple and another with the Baha’i faith. While I believe it’s good to know what other faiths believe, by no means do I believe that all faiths are equally valid.

In my opinion, to say that all faiths are the same is to say that none of them are true. You can’t have two diametrically opposite belief systems both be true.

I had a visual image today. Suppose there is a mountain with many roads that lead to God. I know what Jesus said about being the only way, truth, and life, but bear with me on this.

While there may be many roads to God, none of them are passable. Some may get you further than others, but you still end up falling short. We’re imperfect people trying to get to a perfect God. We’re finite beings trying to reach an infinite Other.

As a pastor as said many times, the good news is not that you can get to God, but that God in Jesus has come to you. God has come down the mountain to seek and to save the lost.

It’s not about keeping enough rules or praying the right amount. It’s not about keeping the five pillars of faith or achieving nirvana or making pilgrimmages.

It is that God desires a relationship with you and me. It’s about God knowing us fully, even the parts we’d rather keep hidden, and loving us even more fully. It’s not a religion but a relationship.