CREDIT: "PRIORY CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY, CHRISTCHURCH - NAVE " BY JACKPEASEPHOTOGRAPHY IS LICENSED UNDER CC BY 2.0 / DESATURATED
How do you feel when you step into a church? Do you feel included?

Recently a woman visited my church and made a point of speaking with me. She said she appreciates the people of the church and that she appreciates people of every faith.

“In the end,” she said, “It’s all about community and caring for people. That’s what religion is all about. Community.”

You can find it in a Christian church, certainly, but you can also find it in a mosque, a synagogue, Hindu temple or Buddhist monastery.

My acquaintance has resolved a major difficulty that many have with Christianity: the problem of exclusivity. She did not like the Christian claim that it is the one true faith while other faiths are not, making it arrogant and exclusive. We can breathe a sigh of relief since we now know that the differences are only on the surface. In this day and age, she kindly lectured me, who has time anyway for exclusivity?

Hundreds of millions of people do. Not for exclusivity, but for Christianity. The faith is growing.

At the beginning of the 20th century, one per cent of South Korea’s population was Christian. Today, it is 40 per cent. Church attendance and Christian faith are holding steady in Canada, and while traditional churches have seen decline, others that are willing to repackage the message of Jesus for people today often do well.

In many parts of the developing world – where Christianity is legal – churches thrive.

A few weeks ago, I visited a new church near downtown Toronto. There was no one older than 40; most were under 30. Three months ago, that church did not exist. Now it meets in a rented theatre.

The people who are entering the tent of Christianity do not believe that all religions are basically about community and that the differences between them are superficial. It would come as a surprise to them – as it would to any informed Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Buddhism – that the unique beliefs that separate their faith doesn’t believe in exclusion from other faiths are just accessories.

Speaking about my own Christian faith – the core teachings of the faith, Christ’s death and resurrection – are not just window dressing on a religion that is in essence about community. They are the window. They are the core. Community arises from commitment to the core. But it isn’t the core itself.

As it turns out, the only people who believe that all faiths are essentially the same once you strip away the beliefs that make them unique are people who seem to believe none of the faiths they claim to understand. They appear to be constructing a faith of their own – the faith that all faiths are essentially about community. The proofs for such a faith are pretty thin, I think. And ironically, those who hold them are a fairly exclusive group, since believers in Jesus or Mohammed or the Buddha who try to be informed are not among them.

This is not to say that we Christians haven’t done our share of excluding people; this is no credit to us, to Christianity or to God. However, if one is willing to look, one will see in Christianity a multi-cultural inclusive – though struggling – global community. This is what Jesus commanded his followers to create.

My friend does still visit my church from time to time and whenever she does, she gets plenty of hugs from those of us who know her well and love her. I think that’s what keeps her coming back; that’s what makes her feel included.
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