Give peace a chance

“All we are saying is give peace a chance.” ~ John Lennon

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” ~ Isaiah 26:3

You can learn much about people by simply looking at their car. I am not talking about determining their status on the social ladder or the value of their portfolio. I am speaking specifically about their bumper stickers. I typically read them; mostly for the amusement they provide rather than for any deep philosophical or spiritual value. At times they are thought provoking, but other times they seem to be poorly thought out to their logical end.

Take for example one that I saw over the weekend that was on the car of someone who had other bumper stickers promoting Darwinism. The sticker read; “We have fossils we win.” The only problem with that is that it suggests that those that subscribe to a Biblical position on creation deny the existence of fossils or the fossil record. That would be an absolutely false assumption because Christians know that fossil’s exist; we just disagree on how an evolutionist interprets and applies it to their yet unverified theory.

One bumper sticker that I see quite frequently is the ubiquitous “COEXIST” sticker which is put out by Peacemonger.org. You have probably seen this on the bumper of various makes and models of cars. It has a blue background with white letters resembling religious symbols to spell out the word. The C is the symbol for Islam, the O is a peace symbol, the E is the symbol for gender equality, the X is the Star of David, the I is the Wiccan Pentangle, the S is the Ying Yang symbol representing Confucianism and the T is shaped like a cross to represent Christianity.

I always wonder what this sticker means to the individual that has it on display. Are they hoping that by a cosmic roll of the dice they can cover all their ground by “respecting” all religions? You know; just covering all my bases just in case. Or are they displaying a certain level of naïveté thinking that all roads lead to God? My hope is that it is not willful ignorance or a distinct lack of scholarship that shows they have not attempted to personally research the claims each faith makes. Have they ignored the law of non-contradiction; all contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously. All of these belief systems claim exclusive truth; two things that are mutually exclusive is a contradictory statement. To think that all of these religions are truth is contradictory so in terms of logic they cannot coexist.

If you search the internet you will come up with multiple explanations or definitions for the sticker. One explanation states “COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding.” As a Christian I see nothing inherently wrong with that idea, at least on a surface level. Another was; “To encourage others in a greater religious understanding of other’s distinctive faiths, beliefs and practices, and to promote friendship, goodwill and mutual trust among them.” From a biblical perspective isn’t this exactly what the Apostle Paul did in his Epistles and more specifically in Acts 17 on Mars Hill when he addressed the Greeks? Paul was not blissfully ignorant of the belief systems or philosophy’s of his day and used his knowledge as a means to present the Gospel in a loving, respectful and well reasoned fashion.

In Acts 17 we see Paul in Athens and he has been preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. He was taken to the Areopagus which was named after the Greek god Ares, whose Roman equivalent is Mars; hence Mars Hill. The Greeks were polytheistic, so they had statues to a pantheon of gods and they wanted to give Paul a listen to see if they could just add Jesus Christ to their menu. They must have had "coexist" stickers on their chariots.

Paul was given an audience by the two leading philosophical schools; the Epicureans and Stoics. Paul understood that the Epicureans believed that gods were uninvolved in human affairs, that we should simply pursue pleasure and that there was no afterlife or judgment. The Stoics on the other hand were Pantheistic or that god was the soul of the universe and that humanity and all existence was tapped into him; the universal soul. Stoics also believed in determinism which is basically "what cannot be cured must be endured" or "that's life, deal with it."

If you read Acts 17:22-34 you will see that Paul eloquently and knowledgeably addressed this very “religious” or superstitious gathering. He pointed to their altar to “an unknown God” and boldly stated that this is the God that I declare to you. What is notable is that he used natural theology which is God revealing Himself in nature to build bridges and challenge the prevailing beliefs. He complimented them on their religious inclinations, drew on observable data from the natural world that reveal God’s nature, identified God for them, established a relationship between God and humans, showed them how God can and will judge the world, and even used their own poets as a means to point them to the one, true God. He did not compromise or water down the Gospel to make it more palatable to his listeners. He spoke the truth in love.

Paul was respectful, loving and knowledgeable but he was also interested enough to try to understand the personal motivations that were the underlying reasons these individuals believed what they believed. He listened first and then was “ready to give an answer”, (I Peter 3:15). Unlike some belief systems the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not asking for blind obeisance, and is ready, willing and able to stand up to the harshest of scrutiny. The Truth welcomes a thorough examination and does not bristle or chafe when questioned. If we chose to ignore the evidence the only one we can blame is ourselves.

The world is looking for answers and they desire peace. The only true and lasting peace comes from the Giver of all good things. If we as Christians believe in love, then we have to love everyone, even those who believe in “the unknown god”. Why would anyone want to hear about our God, our faith and our beliefs, if we don’t even care enough to understand theirs?


“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:5-