Godfrey Saxe’s poem The Blind Men and the Elephant is based on a fable from India. (See the complete poem at the end of the sermon. May also be used as a skit.) In it, six blind men go to observe an elephant to understand what one really is. One blindly walks into the elephant’s side and proclaims that an elephant is like a wall. The second felt his tusk and confidently said the elephant was like a spear. The third grabbed its trunk and said, “Why of course, the elephant is like a snake.” The fourth, feeling the elephant’s leg, said that it was obvious to any thinking person that the elephant was like a tree. The fifth blind man ran his hand across the elephant’s ear. He was sure that the elephant was like a fan. Finally, the sixth man took hold of the tail and announced the elephant to be like a rope. Saxe sums up the poem by saying, “Though each was partly in the right, / And all were in the wrong!” The final verse concludes with this moral: “So oft in theologic wars, / The disputants, it seems, / Rail on in utter ignorance / Of what each other means, / And prate about an Elephant / Not one of them has seen.”
The idea in this little parable is that everybody thinks they know what God is like, and even though some may have it partly right, they are also all wrong. For how can anyone know what God is like when none of us have ever seen him? We are like blind people groping about. One sees this part of God, and another person sees another. We are doing our best, and each of our experiences are legitimate, but they all fail to get at the reality of what God is like and who he really is.
There are, however, some problems with this delightful little poem. The most obvious is that as blind and as misled as all the men were, they really did have hold of an elephant. The elephant was very much alive and real. He did exist. Secondly, to follow the parable’s intent, what if the elephant could have spoken to the men — as God has to us? What if the elephant said, “You need to know this and that about me. Not only do you need to experience more of me, but I will tell you how to live. I will tell you things that you would never be able to discover on your own.” What if there were writings of the elephant’s sayings which told what he was like. Even more, what if the elephant, fantastic though it may seem, was capable of sending a human, though one of his own essence, who could relate in personal ways what an elephant was from the perspective of one who knew perfectly what an elephant was, and also knew what it was like to be human? The blind men were all wrong, but only because they were each relying on their own efforts and experience.
In the Christian faith we do not rely on individual experience, although it may at times be genuine and real. We rely on something the Bible calls revelation. Remember the story of Jesus asking the disciples who people were saying he was? The disciples said that some were saying he was a Elijah, some said Jeremiah, and some that he was one of the Old Testament prophets who had come back to life. It was similar to the blind men saying, “He is a wall; no, a spear; no, a tree.” But then he asked the disciples who they said he was. Peter gave this now famous reply: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Listen again to Jesus’ reply to him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). This was not something that Peter could have figured out on his own; it was something that had to be revealed to him by God. Peter understood who Jesus was only because God revealed it to him. Without God’s revelation to us we would each have a piece of the truth without knowing how it relates to the whole.
So, this morning, we are not relying on a variety of opinions from blind investigators, we are looking at what God has revealed about himself. Jesus said about himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ made some astounding claims, but none more radical than this. What does it mean when Jesus says that he is the way to God? Well, first let me say, it means that: You are not the way. There are two errors present today which cause people to believe that they are the way: new age philosophy and a religion of works. The new age religion convinces some people that since they are spiritual beings, they are in effect a god. It is being popularized by several movie stars. This is very appealing, because it means that if I am my own god, then I get to make my own rules. I do not have to submit to the rule of another God, I submit only to my own will and desires.
What we have today are people who are trying to be spiritual without having any experience or relationship with any God other than themselves. They are attracted to spiritual issues, in fact, all kinds of spiritual issues. They make no differentiation between religions or gods, good or evil, conflicting ideologies or moral distinctions. As long as it is spiritual it is good. It can be Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, Bahai, or Tarot cards. It makes no difference. People may be into Eastern mysticism, astrology, astral projection and feel in tune with the spiritual realm, but they do not consider Christ an option. You have to ask yourself why. Ravi Zacharias answers the question why people are willing to try anything but Jesus Christ by saying: “Because he calls you to die to yourself. Any time truth involves a total commitment in which you bring yourself to complete humility, to the surrender of the will, you will always have resistance. Christ violates our power and autonomy. . . . At the heart of the rejection is resistance to the claim of who he is.”
The attractive thing about the new age religions is that you get to be your own god. You are your own savior. This is especially true of those who worship success. But even within Christianity there are those who want to be their own savior. It is the heresy of legalism. Legalism does not really bow the knee to God. The legalist believes that instead of being in debt to God, God is in debt to him. He believes God owes him something, because he believes he has earned his way into heaven by his own effort and merit. “Give me the laws and I will obey them,” the legalist says to God. It is sneering at the mercy of God. She even becomes mad that God would find her unacceptable, because at least she is better than most anyone she knows. The legalist cannot admit he is a sinner. It seems beneath him. She feels like a very good Christian, even though she is not depending on Christ to be her savior. She is her own savior. She has saved herself by her works. It is all about pride. Pride cannot admit that it needs help or that it is less than it should be. Legalists are people who are trying to be Christians without Jesus. The is what the Bible is talking about when it talks about those “having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
But I say to you, you are not the way, and you can never be the way. Jesus is the way. He is the only way we can come to God. You are not God and cannot become a god. Neither can you be your own savior. If you could be good enough to get to heaven on your own, Jesus Christ died on the cross for nothing. It was unnecessary for him to come to earth and die in your place. It is not necessary for you to believe in him since you believe in yourself. But Jesus said, “I am the way.” Either he is right, or you are right.
Secondly, when Jesus says he is the way to God it means: Other religions are not the way. This is one of the real objections people have about the Christian faith. They say it is exclusive, that is, it excludes the claims of other religions that they are also the way. The idea is that Christianity should say that it is one of the many ways. This is radical syncretistic pluralism. It puts all religions on a gigantic spiritual salad bar and invites people to come and take a little of this and a little of that — whatever parts they like — and pour over it their favorite dressing. A meal of just lettuce or just bacon bits, the reasoning goes, would be unappetizing. It is the variety that makes it interesting.
But what if the reality is that only one of the things on the salad bar is actually food, and the rest has no lasting nutritional value? Or, let’s use another illustration. Let’s imagine that through the Genetic Therapy Research Program now going on at Yale University, there is a sudden breakthrough in the search for a cure for cancer. A completely noninvasive, painless, onetime treatment would reverse the spread of the cancer and it would simply dry up. Let’s imagine that this is not just a partial cure for some people, but that it works every time for everyone. Other therapies are sometimes worse than the disease and can inflict at least as much suffering. Other organs of the body are affected by the treatments, and none of them have a 100% cure rate. Now let’s imagine that everyone on the planet has cancer and is in need of a cure. Would it be close-minded, narrow or arrogant for the scientists at Yale to say, “The Genetic Therapy way is the only way”? Or would it be the kindest and most loving thing they could say — born out of concern and compassion? Others might still have confidence in what they have been used to and would be free to try dietary cures, radiation or acupuncture, and no one would stop them if that is what they chose to do. But would it be wrong to try and convince them that there was only one way? Would it be wrong to believe in the only true cure?
This is not to say that the other religions of the world do not have some truth in their teachings. It is not to say that the other religions do not have some value, or that they do not promote a moral code. Neither does it say that the followers of these other religions may not be good and decent human beings. But the question is, are these other religions the way to God? Are they the true cure for our sin and separation from God? Having some truth is like holding the tail of an elephant and believing you know all about it. When humans try to figure God out, it is like blind men reaching for an elephant. But the Christian faith is not about people reaching for God, it is about God reaching for us, revealing himself to us, giving us the Scriptures, coming to us, giving himself for us.
The third thing we need to say is that when Jesus says he is the way to God it means: Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Here is what we are left with: either Jesus Christ is who he said he was or he is a fraud. When he said, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” he was stating a truth or a lie. There is no in between here. Unquestionably, the Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ is the universal Savior. The witness of the church throughout the ages has been that Jesus is the only way to God. The witness of countless millions of people down through the corridors of time attest to the fact that after placing their belief in Jesus and receiving him into their lives they have found his claims to be true. If we reject the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, we are not only rejecting the words of Jesus himself, but we are rejecting the witness of Scripture, the proclamation of the historic church, and the testimony of all those who have experienced this reality in their personal lives.
The interesting thing about the other religions is that none of their leaders claimed to be God. Certainly none of them have a God who comes to earth to visit the human family in human form in order to die for them a redemptive death and then rise from the dead. All of these are the claims of Jesus and his followers. Peter proclaimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Will we believe the words of Scripture or go by the politically correct doctrines of our day.
Maxie Dunnam, the president of Asbury Theological Seminary, tells of attending a conference on world evangelism where several speakers talked about the importance of religious pluralism and the need for interreligious dialog. Some even talked about the negative impact of Christian witnessing to people of other religions and the danger of imperialism in churches which had a passion for evangelism. Dunnam says, “We heard that Jesus is our Savior, but not necessarily the Savior of humankind and that the paths to salvation in other religions are as legitimate as the way of salvation in the Christian religion.” But then a bishop from Pakistan, a country where Christians are definitely a minority who suffer for their faith, stood up, and with conviction and passion said, “If what all of you are saying is true, then I must go back home and tell the Christians in our land that they don’t have to die for the faith any more.”
The belief that Jesus Christ is the only true way to God is not just some abstract theological consideration, it is the belief that Christians for two thousand years have based their lives on. They have bled and died for that belief, as they are still doing today. What difference is this belief making in your life?
Rodney J. Buchanan
June 2, 2002
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
The Blind Men and the Elephant
by John Godfrey Saxe
American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) based the following poem on a fable which was told in India many years ago.
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ‘tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan! ?
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, it seems,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other means,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!
