The day after we mourned and remembered the violent actions of Muslim extremists, our attention was once again drawn to the violent reactions in Libya and Egypt to an anti-Islamic film that has left 4 US Embassy workers, including the US Ambassador to Libya, dead.
These violent reactions of the Muslims in Libya and Egypt I will leave to the Muslims to address with their fellow Muslims. It is their faith and their responsibility to teach and correct if they believe there is cause to do so. I therefore am not going to write commentary on the use of violence in Islam, but I instead take to task my fellow Christians who incited the violence in the first place. Whether the reaction is being true to the nature of Islam or not is not the argument or the point here. This is about how Christians, in general, should treat people of other faiths, how WE should behave and react in the midst of religious differences.
While the person who made the anti-Islamic film that disparaged the prophet Mohammad in America has the right to do so according to our free speech rights, he did so claiming the Christian faith as his motivation and that's the part I take issue with. That is what I, as a Christian, call "foul" on.
In our zeal to proclaim the good news of the crucified and risen Christ, many believe it is also their task to disparage and "warn" about the dangers of other religions. In the process, they feel the way to carry this out is through scare-tactics and ridicule.
But are Christians called to do this? To out and out disparage other religions and their beliefs, mocking their most sacred elements?
Perhaps Jesus gives us a little insight into this issue.
Jesus' command was not to defile your neighbor or ridicule your neighbor and what he believed, but to love your neighbor. And who is my neighbor? (Believe it or not, this comes straight from scripture) Is my neighbor sometimes someone of a different faith? Someone I don't see eye to eye with? Someone I disagree with? Perhaps even someone that might want me dead?
The answer: Your most hated enemy and person who does not share your religious beliefs is your neighbor. In the case of the parable of the Good Samaritan (which is the story Jesus tells when someone asks him "who is my neighbor?"), Samaritans were hated by Jews. They were remnants of the northern nation tribes of Israel, they did not follow the Temple system of worship in favor of the "Sinai Covenant" made with Moses, rejected the Davidic covenant, had "defiled" themselves by marrying Gentiles, and had - shockingly - a religious perspective about God that differed from Judaism - yet claimed it was the same God they worshiped.
These are the people Jesus told us to love. You might say Muslims in many ways are to Christians as Samaritans were to Jews. Just as Samaritans rejected the Davidic King and all the messianic prophecies that came with it, Muslims reject Jesus as a savior and reject his divinity. Yet, Muslims still revere many of the same Biblical characters we do - Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joseph - and yes, even Jesus is revered as a prophet, though not as great a prophet as Mohammad.
We Christians disagree with Muslims on many fronts in regards to how all of these ancestors of faith should be viewed and interpreted. We disagree even on the very nature of God - Christians believe God entered into the human experience and got "messy" with the world. Muslims cannot fathom God ever doing such a thing, he is far too holy to ever bring himself down to our level.
But my disagreement should never result in the degradation and desecration of someone else's faith. Muslims may tell me I'm wrong in my understanding of Jesus, in some countries they may even oppress my right to follow Jesus as the Son of God and I might even be killed for it. Their attack may be on Jesus' followers, but the attack is rarely on Jesus himself. In fact, they have a high regard for Jesus. While they do not view him as the divine son of God, and in fact think Christians are polytheists and no better than pagans for this belief, you will not see them mocking or disrespecting Jesus Himself, because he is still a holy prophet of God in their eyes.
Do Christians take Moses and ridicule him so that we can show Jews where they're "wrong" because they continue to follow "the law of Moses"? Of course not. Why? Because we also view Moses as a holy prophet of God. We share this in common. We would never think of doing such a thing. Because Islam has a prophet we do not revere, that makes him fair game where the others are off-limits apparently.
Yet this is not how early Christians spread their message or engaged the non-Christian culture around them. This simply was not how the church functioned initially. In Acts 17, Paul was in Athens and was distressed by the number of pagan gods. However, rather than pulling down the gods or defacing them, or inciting a riot by attacking their places of worship, he instead "reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there." Reasoning and arguing about philosophy and theology is not the same as out and out disparaging another belief.
Now, this "reasoning" got him dragged to a meeting of the Areopagus - which was essentially a court of appeals. There he appealed to their religiosity. "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious!" He picked up on the fact that they had an altar with the inscription, "to an unknown god." He took that "unknown god" and reasoned with them that there was no need to worship something unknown - but to proclaim how God had become known through Jesus Christ.
There was no disparaging of the other gods. Paul's argument did not involve burning effigies of the pantheon or emperor. He respected their faith and their decision to either accept or reject his message, even if he felt it was misguided and wrong.
Today our job is no different. We are proclaimers of God's Word and Christ. We respect people's choice to either accept or reject that proclamation.
How incensed do these same Christians become when their own faith, their own view of God, is disparaged by atheists and other non-Christians? They don't like it much. They fight back - though their fight is usually verbal. (Though this has not always been the case historically speaking.) Many would argue that Jesus is fair game to be made fun of by a multitude of people. Indeed, He is. But does that mean we should respond in kind? "Do not repay anyone evil for evil." Just because someone mocks my God does not mean, as a Christian, I am supposed to do the same thing. We are called to be different. To not act the same way as the "Gentile" world (as Paul would have called it). To not allow such futility and hatred take over our actions and thoughts.
Ultimately Christians are not called to be fear-mongers and spreaders of hatred, but are called to be messengers of hope. Whether living in America or Egypt, my role as a Christian is the same - to profess Christ crucified and risen. This is how we are called to engage other faiths.
I am called to be humble.
Therefore Christians should never engage in these same oppressive practices. It's anti-thetical to our beliefs and our teaching. We teach freedom in Christ. Christ is the one who frees us from oppressive tyrants, governments, powers and principalities. Christ is who frees us from the consequences of not living up to the standards of God's law.
To mock and disparage a holy figure in Islam is not "doing what is right in the eyes of everyone." You want to warn of the perceived dangers of Islam? You want to engage a discussion about why you disagree with Islam? Fine. But as a Christian, you are called to do so with love and respect for your Muslim neighbor, to love him/her as yourself. To live in peace, as far as it depends on you, with everyone around you - regardless of your differences in beliefs. We are not called to take their holiest of prophets and degrade him.
I may not believe in the teachings of Mohammad. I may not revere the Qur'an as a holy book that came from God. But Muslims do. I don't have to agree with it. I can even list all the reasons I think its wrong. But I take my cue from Paul. "When the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility."
We need not resort to such harmful and disrespectful practices. Christ states we are to be known as his followers by our love - not our hate.
These violent reactions of the Muslims in Libya and Egypt I will leave to the Muslims to address with their fellow Muslims. It is their faith and their responsibility to teach and correct if they believe there is cause to do so. I therefore am not going to write commentary on the use of violence in Islam, but I instead take to task my fellow Christians who incited the violence in the first place. Whether the reaction is being true to the nature of Islam or not is not the argument or the point here. This is about how Christians, in general, should treat people of other faiths, how WE should behave and react in the midst of religious differences.
While the person who made the anti-Islamic film that disparaged the prophet Mohammad in America has the right to do so according to our free speech rights, he did so claiming the Christian faith as his motivation and that's the part I take issue with. That is what I, as a Christian, call "foul" on.
In our zeal to proclaim the good news of the crucified and risen Christ, many believe it is also their task to disparage and "warn" about the dangers of other religions. In the process, they feel the way to carry this out is through scare-tactics and ridicule.
But are Christians called to do this? To out and out disparage other religions and their beliefs, mocking their most sacred elements?
Perhaps Jesus gives us a little insight into this issue.
Jesus' command was not to defile your neighbor or ridicule your neighbor and what he believed, but to love your neighbor. And who is my neighbor? (Believe it or not, this comes straight from scripture) Is my neighbor sometimes someone of a different faith? Someone I don't see eye to eye with? Someone I disagree with? Perhaps even someone that might want me dead?
The answer: Your most hated enemy and person who does not share your religious beliefs is your neighbor. In the case of the parable of the Good Samaritan (which is the story Jesus tells when someone asks him "who is my neighbor?"), Samaritans were hated by Jews. They were remnants of the northern nation tribes of Israel, they did not follow the Temple system of worship in favor of the "Sinai Covenant" made with Moses, rejected the Davidic covenant, had "defiled" themselves by marrying Gentiles, and had - shockingly - a religious perspective about God that differed from Judaism - yet claimed it was the same God they worshiped.
These are the people Jesus told us to love. You might say Muslims in many ways are to Christians as Samaritans were to Jews. Just as Samaritans rejected the Davidic King and all the messianic prophecies that came with it, Muslims reject Jesus as a savior and reject his divinity. Yet, Muslims still revere many of the same Biblical characters we do - Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Joseph - and yes, even Jesus is revered as a prophet, though not as great a prophet as Mohammad.
We Christians disagree with Muslims on many fronts in regards to how all of these ancestors of faith should be viewed and interpreted. We disagree even on the very nature of God - Christians believe God entered into the human experience and got "messy" with the world. Muslims cannot fathom God ever doing such a thing, he is far too holy to ever bring himself down to our level.
But my disagreement should never result in the degradation and desecration of someone else's faith. Muslims may tell me I'm wrong in my understanding of Jesus, in some countries they may even oppress my right to follow Jesus as the Son of God and I might even be killed for it. Their attack may be on Jesus' followers, but the attack is rarely on Jesus himself. In fact, they have a high regard for Jesus. While they do not view him as the divine son of God, and in fact think Christians are polytheists and no better than pagans for this belief, you will not see them mocking or disrespecting Jesus Himself, because he is still a holy prophet of God in their eyes.
Do Christians take Moses and ridicule him so that we can show Jews where they're "wrong" because they continue to follow "the law of Moses"? Of course not. Why? Because we also view Moses as a holy prophet of God. We share this in common. We would never think of doing such a thing. Because Islam has a prophet we do not revere, that makes him fair game where the others are off-limits apparently.
Yet this is not how early Christians spread their message or engaged the non-Christian culture around them. This simply was not how the church functioned initially. In Acts 17, Paul was in Athens and was distressed by the number of pagan gods. However, rather than pulling down the gods or defacing them, or inciting a riot by attacking their places of worship, he instead "reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there." Reasoning and arguing about philosophy and theology is not the same as out and out disparaging another belief.
Now, this "reasoning" got him dragged to a meeting of the Areopagus - which was essentially a court of appeals. There he appealed to their religiosity. "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious!" He picked up on the fact that they had an altar with the inscription, "to an unknown god." He took that "unknown god" and reasoned with them that there was no need to worship something unknown - but to proclaim how God had become known through Jesus Christ.
There was no disparaging of the other gods. Paul's argument did not involve burning effigies of the pantheon or emperor. He respected their faith and their decision to either accept or reject his message, even if he felt it was misguided and wrong.
Today our job is no different. We are proclaimers of God's Word and Christ. We respect people's choice to either accept or reject that proclamation.
How incensed do these same Christians become when their own faith, their own view of God, is disparaged by atheists and other non-Christians? They don't like it much. They fight back - though their fight is usually verbal. (Though this has not always been the case historically speaking.) Many would argue that Jesus is fair game to be made fun of by a multitude of people. Indeed, He is. But does that mean we should respond in kind? "Do not repay anyone evil for evil." Just because someone mocks my God does not mean, as a Christian, I am supposed to do the same thing. We are called to be different. To not act the same way as the "Gentile" world (as Paul would have called it). To not allow such futility and hatred take over our actions and thoughts.
Ultimately Christians are not called to be fear-mongers and spreaders of hatred, but are called to be messengers of hope. Whether living in America or Egypt, my role as a Christian is the same - to profess Christ crucified and risen. This is how we are called to engage other faiths.
I am called to be humble.
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8I am called to live in peace with my neighbor.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy. (Hebrews 12:14)I am called to speak the truth... in love.
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)While Islam can be a very difficult faith to engage because most Muslims believe they understand Jesus better than Christians do, the engagement should still always be focused on who and what Jesus is; what he accomplished through his death and resurrection. We can argue and disagree about this with Muslims - we can even argue and disagree about Mohammad - and in some countries, that may get a Christian killed. But that's on the followers of Islam who are choosing to be oppressive and choosing to interpret their scriptures the way many misguided Christians in the past chose to interpret their scriptures. Whatever actions they take against us for this disagreement is not on us.
Therefore Christians should never engage in these same oppressive practices. It's anti-thetical to our beliefs and our teaching. We teach freedom in Christ. Christ is the one who frees us from oppressive tyrants, governments, powers and principalities. Christ is who frees us from the consequences of not living up to the standards of God's law.
To mock and disparage a holy figure in Islam is not "doing what is right in the eyes of everyone." You want to warn of the perceived dangers of Islam? You want to engage a discussion about why you disagree with Islam? Fine. But as a Christian, you are called to do so with love and respect for your Muslim neighbor, to love him/her as yourself. To live in peace, as far as it depends on you, with everyone around you - regardless of your differences in beliefs. We are not called to take their holiest of prophets and degrade him.
I may not believe in the teachings of Mohammad. I may not revere the Qur'an as a holy book that came from God. But Muslims do. I don't have to agree with it. I can even list all the reasons I think its wrong. But I take my cue from Paul. "When the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility."
We need not resort to such harmful and disrespectful practices. Christ states we are to be known as his followers by our love - not our hate.
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