What's the difference between Christianity and Sikhism?
Andy Fehler
I don't claim to be an expert on Sikhism - in fact before doing the research for this talk I knew next to nothing about it. I am more than willing to be corrected if I get my facts wrong.
All I want to do is compare two significant quotes, one from Sikhism and one from Christianity to try to get an idea of the differences between the two faiths.
A man called Guru Nanak established Sikhism in the 15th Century - making it a comparatively new religion. Nanak had a calling at the age of 33. After his calling the first thing he said was:
"None are Hindu, none are Muslim"
He meant that because the same divine spark has ignited all people, God is the God of all men, so we are all God's sons! Let me quote from a Sikh website:
"By extension [to the Guru's words] no-one is Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or even Sikh. These divisions soon evaporate when we remember that first and foremost, we are all children of God."
Nanak said:
"I was summoned by the Creator - our common Father-Mother, and was given the holy message to be shared with all the people. The sermon God gave me is: Do not divide human beings into Hindus, Muslims, or into other groups/faiths; they are all My children and equal. I love all of them; they may love Me by any name - Allah, Ram, etc. No one should be hated or considered alien."
So Sikhism says "All faiths are the same because they are worshipping the same God".
Paul says something similar to Guru Nanak's words in Galatians 3:28:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek."
Is he saying the same thing? That regardless of whether you are Jew and worship Jehovah or follow the Greek gods, at the end of the day you are worshipping the same God?
When we look at the context of the passage it is clear that Paul was meaning something quite different. Verse 26 says:
"... for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
Paul is still making a staggering claim: that through faith in Jesus Christ all people regardless of gender, background or position are on an equal standing before God. Through Christ all who become "sons of God" have an equal right to the privileges that come through being the son of the Creator God.
Whilst we would want to agree strongly with the Guru's words that God loves all mankind, and that we mustn't hate other people, Christians would disagree that all religions are worshipping the same God.
Different faiths believe very different things about life, reality and God. Even Sikhism, which has it's roots in both Hinduism and Islam has had to decide what it would hold to on the basis of what the Guru and his 10 successors said, some stuff was taken from Hinduism (like the concepts of Karma and rebirth) other bits were rejected (like the caste system), and the same went for Islam.
It seems clear that if different worldviews say conflicting things they are not "all true", or "all pointing the same way". Either none of them has got it right or at most only one has! Christianity is clear that not all people are God's sons - but by nature we all stand as God's enemies. The only way we can be called God's sons is through faith in Jesus and his death 2000 years ago on a cross.
So if Sikhism says "All faiths are the same because their God is the same", Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
It may sound less politically correct, less accepting of different people's view, but this is what Jesus said. At his trial Jesus said to Pilate "Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). By rejecting Jesus as being supreme, those of other faiths are not on the side of truth. Whereas the way to truth in Sikhism is through listening to the Guru, truth is found only in Jesus.
So to conclude, God does care what name we call him and how we worship him. Christianity is says we can only be sons of God through Jesus. We must be humble, friendly and loving with people of other faiths, but we must be clear - we don't believe that we are all ok because the same divine spark burns within us.
In the first century Christian believers were not killed for claiming Jesus was divine (the authorities allowed for as many Gods as you like), they were killed for saying that Jesus is the only Lord and that he alone was to be worshipped.