After the Virginia Tech slayings, students of a variety of faiths gathered to mourn and pray for the fallen and their friends and families. Buddhists, Muslims, and a Catholic have gathered to pray over the wreckage of the MD-82 plane that crashed at Phuket, Thailand on Sunday. Last week, leaders from a spectrum of world religions gathered in Greenland to pray for the planet over global warming.
In light of the centuries of violence cause by religious disagreements, this ecumenical unity offers a comforting picture. Rather than burning each other at the stake or blowing each other up, people of differing faiths are increasingly willing to gather together and pray for a common goal.
That sounds so harmonious. So peaceful. So tolerant. If all faiths were equal and all spiritual paths ultimately led up the same mountain, such global unity would be a wonderful thing. But, if the people praying are invoking any other god than the true God, then what real good is accomplished? In fact, what spiritual battles rage unseen while the outwardly at-peace religious faithful make their petitions?
Michael Ramos-Lynch of The Brown Daily Herald argues that prayer is a good response to a tragedy like the murders at Virginia Tech. And it is. However, his reasoning is more feel-good than it is a champion for the power of God to affect human lives. Ramos-Lynch suggests:
"… 'What do prayers accomplish?' All possibilities for the existence of a higher being aside, the answer is that prayers unite people through their religious faiths. In times of tragedy, people often seek love and human connection. If prayer is a means by which people can find such love and human connection, then why argue against it?"
The answer, Michael, is that prayer is far more than a means to find a human connection. Prayer is more than even a connection with the spiritual or holy. Prayer is a connection with God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and earth. Through prayer, we kneel in His throne room, souls bared before Him "with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13). Through the power of His Holy Spirit working in us, we partner with Him to accomplish His perfect will in our lives and the world around us.
If, however, we are not praying to the one true God, then we are guilty of breaking the First Commandment:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)
Prayer to any other god is not helpful or unifying and it cannot bring true healing or comfort. Prayer to any other god than to the True God is only a play for the Enemy of our souls.
In the end times, religious unity will be coerced, as all people, small and great, will be required to worship the Beast and his image (Rev. 13:8). Those who do not worship the Beast will be killed (Rev. 13:15).
In the meanwhile, we still have great religious liberty. Let's take advantage of the moments we have left, especially during times of tragedy. In the face of disaster, when even non-religious people are drawn to pray together, people are hungry for answers and comfort. There is a world desperate to hear about the hope that is within us - the hope of a true relationship with the God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ. When things are hardest, let us not use 'religious unity' as a reason to shy away from sharing that hope with others.
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. - 1 Peter 3:15
