Ecumenicalism

“When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, ‘Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, ‘You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.” Ezra 4:1-3
It disturbs me to read of those who speak for various churches and Christian ministries, espousing the idea of combining with those of other faiths. Holding ‘prayer meetings’ with Muslims, as if we were worshipping the same God. This was the issue that faced Zerubbabel, the leader of Israel after the return from Babylon. He did the right thing and vehemently declined the offer.
We are not to mix Christianity with other religions*. Many people would say they believe in ‘God’, but one needs to delve a bit deeper to find out which God/god they are referring to. Usually, they are not referring to the God of the Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth, the living God who put on flesh and dwelled among us. How can we ‘meditate’ or ‘pray’ together, if we are praying to a different God/god?
God gave the children of Israel a number of commands about not sowing their fields with two types of seeds, not wearing clothes made of two materials (wool and linen), not ploughing with an ox and a donkey together (Deut. 22:9-11). These were symbolic of the heart attitude He was seeking to instil: don’t mix your faith with the different faith of other religions*.

*I think it’s clear that by ‘other religions’ I don’t mean ‘other Christian denominations’. This is indeed a source of confusion to the world.