Non-Christian friends. Please understand something. When you are asking a Christian person to be tolerant and inclusive of other gods or of sin, you are literally asking them to deny their own God.
Our God is not a judgemental, mean, hateful God and he loves and wants to include, but the choice is the part that matters. Christian people cannot worship multiple gods. That's one of the foundation stones in our faith. We worship one God, the true God.
Think of it this way. Your husband or wife has just been given the opportunity to speak in front of the President. What an amazing honor! They get up on the platform and make their speech and as they near the end, they begin saying their thank you's. "I'd like to say thanks to my mom for" blah, blah. Then it comes! "And I'd like to say thank you to my wife/husband for..." And a huge smile cracks across your face, because people are looking at you and eyes gleaming and hands clapping. But then your spouse goes on. "And I'd like to thank my ex-girlfriend/boyfriend for..." Um....what? "I'd also like to thank that girl/guy I messed around with last year, because..." Wait...hold on... "And my special thanks to so-and-so at the gas station for..." Alright....do you get the point? Our God doesn't share his platform. For a spouse to credit several others besides his spouse is to discredit his spouse. In the same breath, to credit false gods on the same platform as our one True God is to discredit and deny God altogether.
So when a pastor gets up and prays to God, as well as to Brahma and any other culturally inclusive god, essentially he is denying God. You've put God on the same level as all the false gods, including self.
We are not God. If we were, we would be perfect and wouldn't need God. But we are imperfect, sinners. All of us. We need Christ's blood, who was the only perfect human, to cover our sin. His perfection paid for our sin. That's why when I am tolerant of sin, in essence I am in agreement with it and undercutting the sacrifice that was made for me. When I am tolerant of other gods (including self), I am white washing the blood of Christ and acting as if it means nothing, undercutting His sacrifice. Christianity is inclusive. All are welcome. But the whole point of following Christ is making the decision to FOLLOW Christ and when you follow something, you can't follow anything else. Anyone can choose to follow Christ. It's inclusive for anyone. But Christians, by definition, follow God. Christian means "follower of Christ". To follow any other god, but God, is to not be Christian.
For Christians, there is only one God and to acknowledge for the sake of inclusion is to deny God.
Titus 1:16
"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."
Exodus 20:3-4 “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."
Colossians 3:1-10
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
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