September 13, 2010

Some Brief Reflections on 9/11, Koran Burning, Islam and Christianity

“But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you”
Luke 6:27 (ASV)

Some Comments on 9 / 11 , Koran burning , Islam and Christianity.

1. It has been an almost unequivocal and unified voice from all of Christianity that it is wrong to burn the Koran. Jesus would never condone or teach such a thing. Christians always choose their attitudes and actions through the lens of what Jesus would do or through the lens of the probably better question, “what would Jesus have us do?”

2. One way to Look at both Islam and Christianity for understanding is to ask questions: One such question is how orthodox Christianity as a whole would react to a Bible burning episode by those from another faith. And also of Islam, how does orthodox Islam react to Koran burning. What actions does the Christian Bible, which implies reading it through the lens of Jesus, condone or encourage and what actions does the Koran condone and encourage. Answering these questions may help both discernment and understanding.

3. Answering the previous questions brings Christians to understand that we are not permitted to hate or disparage. We must thoughtfully do our best to discern truth and falsehood, good and evil. Muslims seek to do the same from their vantage point. Christians are commanded to do so and to act on their discernment non violently and without hate. We do not hate people and we are commanded to love those who choose to be our enemies.

4. Yes, most of Christianity has been willing to go to war at various times, but never with the attitude that we are fully in the right and therefore just, or because we think war is right. Christians recognize that war, innocent death and death of combatants, is all evil. Christians, when they choose to support the violence of war do so regretfully, “on their knees’, asking God’s forgiveness, recognizing that violence is an evil, albeit sometimes the lesser of two evils. Christians never take part in any variation of the slogan or radical Isalm “death to infidels”. When Christians hear any variation of that we do not respond in kind.

5. The Christian worldview has as its centerpiece the manger and the cross. Both are symbols depicting the humiliation of our God. We celebrate the humiliation and death and resurrection of our King. Yes, we celebrate His resurrection, but we also celebrate at every Lord’s Supper his humiliation and suffering for all people at all times in all places.

6. Neither Islam, nor any other religion celebrates its god or its leader that way. This put us in a fundamentally different position to those of other faiths. We must be good stewards of this hertage we’ve been given. We must therefore continually monitor our attitudes and speech so that they are shaped by Jesus and not by a militant patriotism with just a splattering of Christianity over it. Christians do not retaliate in kind to hatred toward us.

7. This is so much easier said than done. Christians at their best do not appease. Instead Christians at their best speak the truth as they’ve received the truth through Jesus. And Christians love. They speak the truth but always to the end that the other knows he is loved. This may be the toughest assignment any Christian is ever called to . Doing this often means being misunderstood, being considered weak by those on the right on the one hand or being considered unloving on the other hand by those on the left. In short Christians when they actually follow Jesus will always suffer because, at our best, we do not fit neatly into any one humanly constructed ideology. What else could we expect given the fact that God we worship died in humiliation on a cross.

8. To summarize: Christians don’t burn Korans. Christians don’t respond in kind to violence. Christians tell the truth, insisting that the truth be spoken to the end that it is love that is communicated. Christians don’t appease, but they do listen, do love and do follow Jesus no matter what. Christians know violent acts solve nothing. And because of all this Christians absorb lots of abuse. But they never quit because they know that following Jesus, regardless of the cost , means following him not to the cross but through the cross, to resurrection and to the restoration and healing of the world.