JESUS NEVER ASKED TO BE WORSHIPPED

A Respectful but Urgent Message to Those Who Love Jesus


Prepared and presented by Dr. Khalid Ibrahim Al-Dossary


Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for being here.

Tonight, I am not asking you to become Muslims.

Not yet.

Tonight, I am asking you to do something far more important.

I am asking you to think.

I am asking you to question.

I am asking you to examine beliefs that may have been repeated so often that they are rarely challenged.

Because truth does not fear investigation.

Truth welcomes scrutiny.

Truth survives questions.

Falsehood fears questions.

Falsehood survives only when questions are forbidden.

And tonight we will ask a very simple question:

Did Jesus teach what many people today believe about him?

Not what church councils taught.

Not what theologians taught.

Not what denominations teach.

Not what traditions teach.

But what Jesus himself taught.

Because if our eternal destiny depends upon Jesus, then surely the teachings of Jesus must matter more than the opinions of everyone who came after him.

The Most Important Question on Earth

Many people spend their lives asking:

How can I become successful?

How can I become wealthy?

How can I become happy?

But the most important question is this:

How can I be right with God?

Because one day every one of us will die.

Every pastor.

Every priest.

Every imam.

Every professor.

Every king.

Every president.

Every billionaire.

Every celebrity.

Every one of us will stand before the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

And on that Day, popularity will not matter.

Tradition will not matter.

Inherited beliefs will not matter.

Only truth will matter.

A Challenge to Every Christian

If Jesus walked into this room today and sat among us, what would he ask us?

Would he ask us whether we attended church every Sunday?

Would he ask us whether we belonged to the correct denomination?

Or would he ask something far more important?

Would he ask:

“Did you follow what I taught?”

Because if Jesus did not teach a doctrine, why should anyone believe it?

And if Jesus never made a doctrine a condition of salvation, why should anyone make it a condition of salvation?

This is not an attack.

It is a challenge.

A challenge to return to the words of Jesus himself.

The Message of Every Prophet

Let us begin with the prophets.

Noah.

Abraham.

Isaac.

Jacob.

Joseph.

Moses.

David.

Solomon.

John the Baptist.

Jesus.

What message united them?

Did they teach that God became a man?

No.

Did they teach that God consists of three co-equal persons?

No.

Did they teach people to worship themselves?

No.

The message was simple.

Worship God.

Obey God.

Love God.

Fear God.

Repent to God.

Trust God.

Submit to God.

This message appears throughout prophetic history.

It is the heartbeat of revelation.

And it is the foundation of Islam.

Did Jesus Teach the Trinity?

Let us ask a direct question.

If the Trinity is the most important doctrine in Christianity, where did Jesus clearly teach it?

Not where theologians explained it.

Not where later writers interpreted it.

Where did Jesus himself explain it?

Where did he say:

“God is three persons.”

Where did he say:

“I am the second person of the Trinity.”

Where did he say:

“Believe in the Trinity to be saved.”

Where did he explain one essence and three persons?

He did not.

Yet billions are told that acceptance of this doctrine is essential for salvation.

How can salvation depend upon a doctrine that Jesus never explained clearly?

Would a merciful God make eternal salvation dependent upon a concept that ordinary people struggle to understand and that Jesus himself never clearly taught?

What Did Jesus Teach About God?

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he did not answer with a theological mystery.

He answered with clarity.

The Lord our God is One.

One.

Not three.

One.

This was the faith of Abraham.

The faith of Moses.

The faith of all the prophets.

And the faith preached by Islam today.

Did Jesus Claim to Be God?

This may be the most important question of all.

Many people assume the answer is yes.

But assumptions are not evidence.

Where did Jesus say:

“I am God. Worship me.”

Where?

Not interpretations.

Not implications.

Not later theological conclusions.

A direct statement.

A clear command.

A plain declaration.

If worshipping Jesus is necessary for salvation, surely Jesus would have stated this clearly.

Yet throughout the Gospels we repeatedly find Jesus directing people toward God rather than toward himself.

Again and again he points upward.

Again and again he points beyond himself.

Again and again he teaches dependence upon God.

The very God whom he worshipped.

Why Did Jesus Pray?

This question deserves reflection.

Jesus prayed.

He prayed frequently.

He prayed earnestly.

He prayed publicly.

He prayed privately.

He prayed before important events.

He prayed in times of distress.

He prayed in times of gratitude.

Why?

Who was he praying to?

Was he speaking to himself?

Or was he speaking to the One whom he called God?

The Islamic answer is simple.

Jesus prayed because he was a servant of God.

A prophet of God.

A messenger of God.

One of the greatest human beings ever created.

But not God Himself.

The Forgotten Jesus

Many people know the Jesus of theology.

Many know the Jesus of denominational teaching.

Many know the Jesus of inherited tradition.

But do they know the Jesus who prayed?

The Jesus who fasted?

The Jesus who worshipped God?

The Jesus who fell on his face in devotion?

The Jesus who taught others to pray to God?

The Jesus who said:

“Not my will, but Yours be done.”

That Jesus looks remarkably close to the picture Islam presents.

A mighty Messiah.

A mighty prophet.

A miracle from God.

But always a servant of God.

And never a rival to God