Do Jewish People Go to Heaven?

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Friday, July 31, 2015
Jeff Lampl

 “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me”
John 14:6  

“God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”
Romans 11:29

I have always found it easiest to buy into a certain ideology and then fit the Bible into that particular ideology/theology.   It’s easy, simple, and there are lots of people ‘on my side’ who think the same way who are eager to say “amen” to my views.  It’s also easy for the theological “us’s” to marginalize the “them’s” who don’t read the Bible the same way that our theology demands it to be read.    It’s easy, convenient and keeps me in the “right”.     

But the more I read what the Bible actually says, the more my neat little categories fall apart.   The Bible is a subversive book!    It simply won’t allow us to stay “where we are” for very long without challenging some assumption that we had concluded was a done deal.  

The above two scriptures are like that.   I believe John 14:6 to the core of my being.   I haven’t even a shred of doubt that it is true.   I find it to be the most inclusive statement in the bible (although I have to admit that I have most often heard it quoted as a way to show who is “out” vis-à-vis we who are “in”),  

In Romans 11, the apostle Paul concludes a long and complex argument by stating flatly that God promises are irrevocable.   Irrevocable.  Never to be abrogated, never withdrawn, under full warranty, never canceled, never rescinded.    God will not break his covenant with the Jewish people.    

What does this mean? This passage has been debated for two millennia.  Does it mean that all Jews go to heaven even though they don’t believe in Jesus as Messiah?  But what about John 14:6?  Was Paul just confused or wrong or just confused?   So I’ll interject my latest “two cents” worth into the debate in the form of a few questions which I hope will help you to wrestle (just as they help me wrestle) with exactly what scripture actually says.  

Could it be that Jewish people, like everyone else on earth who is saved, are saved by grace?   Could it be that many Jews, when seeking to be the best Jews they can be for the sake of God and for the sake of the world living under the old covenant, will discover on the day of judgment that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross applies to them too?  

Could it be that in seeking to be the most faithful Jew they can be, relying on God to help them, that their obedience is far more than working one’s way into heaven, rather their acts of obedience are themselves acts of faith done out of gratitude for God’s having elected them by Grace (saved by Grace through faith as Ephesians 2:8 says)?  

Could it actually be that God’s promise to be faithful to his chosen people, even though they don’t believe the Messiah has yet come, “trumps” their disbelief the case of faithful Jews who love God?   Is it possible that God’s promise is more powerful than Jewish unbelief?  Could it be that God’s covenant to God’s people triumphs in spite of His elected people’s failings?  

Read through Romans 9, 10 and 11 and attempt to do so objectively, putting aside your particular theological lense/glasses, and seek to wrestle with scripture as presented.  

What do you think?

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Why Didn't the Early Jews Believe in Jesus? Part Two

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Why Didn't the Early Jews Believe in Jesus?  Part Two
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Jeff Lampl

Until my late teens I knew virtually nothing about Jews or Judaism.  When I got to college and heard others refer to Jewish people what I did hear was often in the form of jokes and innuendo.   About this time I also became aware of attitudes toward Jewish people from my own family;  how, for example, “more and more Lampls are appearing in the phone book, but they are all Jewish”.  The bottom line was that all too often when I heard a reference to Jews, it was pejorative.    

When I joined a college fraternity my ‘big brother’ was Jewish and I liked him a lot.   I have Jewish in laws and Jewish friends.   But I had to come to grips with this powerful force that had entered my soul as an “othering” of the Jewish people.  Why this anti-Semitism?    How would I erase this image of my being part of an ‘us’ and Jews being a ‘them’?  

On a trip to Germany years ago to live with some German friends I recall asking them why anti-Semitism was such an entrenched part of their culture.   The answer amazed me, “because the Jews killed Jesus.”  I had never heard this before.   Yet, now after decades of trying to understand, I can see the history behind this statement.  

The Old Testament gives us a great picture of how the Jewish people survived the hatred of many nations.   And in the Gospels we read about the collaboration of the Jewish leaders and the Romans.  However In the year 381 AD, after 60+ years of toleration since Emperor Constantine took the throne, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.  As another reminder that the merging of church and state is a really bad idea, Roman citizens found it easier to blame Jews for the death of Jesus instead of themselves for the crucifixion of Jesus.  

As the centuries passed this mantra, “the Jews killed Jesus,” became accepted truth until even the some of the most brilliant of Reformers spewed some of the worst anti-Semitism, statements that today would probably be prosecuted as incendiary hate speech.   In 1543 Martin Luther himself wrote, ““what should we do with the damned rejected race, the Jews?  First their synagogues should be set on fire, second their homes should likewise be broken down, third they should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmud (it goes on)”   Is it any wonder that the German National Socialists of the 1930’s so easily sent Jews to their deaths?  

Were you, as I was, introduced to Jews and Judaism, with the undertone that they were a “them”, that they don’t fit with “us”, that they should be “othered”?   If so how are you dealing with what was put into your mind?   Is there anything, anything at all in your attitudes, thoughts, ideas, that contribute to the perpetuation of an anti-Semitic worldview?  

In short I wonder if it is not we Christians who are most responsible, not only for Jewish resistance to the Gospel (which in its earliest years was not a resistance but a wide acceptance) but also in significant measure through our words, actions and inaction for the rising tide of anti-Semitism that we are witnessing today in the western world.     

As for myself, I have come to realize that I am accepted by God because a Jew, Jesus, obeyed Torah, kept the covenant that I could never have kept and this Jew, who did everything right, counts His perfect obedience as my perfect obedience and it is because of that I have eternal life.   I am proud to be an honorary Jew, grafted into the tree of Judaism.  (see Romans 11:17).  In fact I have even done a little research into my ancestry wondering if the Lampl family into which I was born might trace its origins back to the Jewish roots that so many other Lampls claim as their heritage.   The following prayer of Pope John 23 at Vatican 2 over 50 years ago is a wonderful prayer that worth revisiting:  

                         “We realize now that many, many centuries have dimmed our eyes
                          so we no longer see the beauty of Thy chosen people and we no longer
                          see in their faces the features of our first born brothers. We realize that
                          our brows are branded by the mark of Cain.  Centuries long Able has lain
                          in blood and tears because we have forgotten Thy love.  Forgive us the
                          curse that we have unjustly laid on the Jewish people in the name of the
                          Jesus.   Forgive us so that with our curse, with our treatment of the Jews,
                          we do not crucify Thee a second time.   Amen"

 
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Why Didn't the Early Jews Believe in Jesus? Part One

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Why Didn't the Early Jews Believe in Jesus? Part One
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Jeff Lampl

Actually they did, at least many of them.  All of the first Christians were Jews.  Only one of the authors of the New Testament was not a Jew (Luke) and only two of the 27 New Books of the New Testament were not authored by Jews (Luke and Acts).  All the apostles were Jews and all the founding members of the church were Jews.   Nor did these Jewish followers of Jesus consider themselves anything other than faithful Jews who believed that the Messiah had come.  They still attended temple worship and they did not call themselves Christians, rather they came to be known
as followers of the “Way”.  

According to some estimates by 50 AD, 20 years after Jesus” crucifixion, one third of the population of Jerusalem were followers of the way including many prominent priests and Pharisees. It was said that across the nation of Israel at that time there were more followers of Jesus than there were Essenes, Pharisees, and Sadducees combined.  

Soon the apostle Paul began to bring this message of Jesus’ death and resurrection to gentiles (non-Jews) with the message that they can be accepted by God by Grace through faith without relying on obedience to Torah.   But how could this be?  

Paul had made the connection between Jesus’ last supper, his death on the cross, and the Old Testament passages that describe the death of an innocent, first born, perfect sacrifice as a substitutionary, sacrificial atonement for human sin.  Paul had seen that Jesus, the faithful, obedient Jew had become himself that atoning sacrifice, and that his sacrifice was sufficient for anyone who simply believed.  Especially important for Paul were the passages such as the one below, where the prophets foresaw a new covenant to come.  

“The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought  them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,”   says the LORD.  “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD.  “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”        Jeremiah 31:31-33  

It seems to me that there is something incredibly human and incredibly important going on here.  First the most astonishing thing in the world:   Jesus became the faithful Jew who faithfully kept the Old Testament covenant.  And Jesus, God having
come to earth, not only kept the covenant with God but also died at the hands of people like you and me who couldn’t keep Torah.  This is astonishing.   God credits Jesus’ faithfulness to God to me who is unfaithful!  Is that not unfathomable? Nothing
for me to get right first.  Nothing.  God says here it is, Jesus’ faithfulness is now your faithfulness.   Just believe it and accept it and say thank you!!!  But don’t I have to do something?   God invites you to say yes to him and then just spend the rest of your life loving Him back.  With an attitude like that God will take from there.  

Second, the most human thing in the world is to rail against this message.  “I’ve been a good Jew all my life, and you mean to tell me this irreligious people who just believe get the same benefits from God that I get!   No way”.  Even non-Jews find this message simply too fantastic.   "There’s no free lunch” we say.  “We Americans do things the old fashioned way, we earn it”.  

Such has been the push back against the message of Grace from the beginning, not only from faithful Jews, but also from many Christians over the millennia who have sought find ways to insert various “do’s” into the message of Grace.  

How about you?  Is your life with God simply one of living your life as a “thank you” to what He has already done for you?

 
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What Can Our Muslim Counsins Teach Us About Preparing for the Christian Sabbath?

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Sabbath Edition

What Can Our Muslim Cousins Teach Us About Preparing for the Christian Sabbath?
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Jeff Lampl

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV2011)

As I prepared for last Sunday’s message on the religion of Islam I have been challenged by the faith of Muslims worldwide as reflected in their prayer practices.      

They pray!   Muslims pray five times each day, if possible kneeling in submission to God as they do. The Christian’s mealtime graces were meant to help foster prayer throughout the day.  I do hope that our series this winter on emotionally healthy spirituality helped you to form some new prayer habits that you have kept up.    Some of you pray each morning, others with your children at bed time, others “pray without ceasing’.    

As for myself I have always struggled to keep a consistent prayer time.   I’m not consistent in anything!    So the fact that most Muslims pray as they do is impressive and motivating to me.   And as I’ve thought about this, I have found it more and more difficult to believe that those prayers 5 times a day are nothing more than empty ritual.   Habits form attitudes.   It is true that “as we think so we do” but the opposite is true too.    I suspect that most Muslims pray out of faith, faith that there is a God and that God will be merciful to them.   It seems to me that God would not only not reject these prayers outright as empty ritual, ,rather the God we know through Jesus hears the cries of the those who genuinely seek Him.   One of evangelical Christianity’s favorite verses is Ephesians 2:8,9 “saved by grace through faith, not by works”  

While I worry greatly about mass prayer in Mosques with signs above them that read “death to Israel” or “death to America”, while Muslims who pray this are a minority but a minority which numbers over 50 million,  while there is so much danger in following an understanding of God which relies on power over love, yet my faith tells me that somehow and in some way the God of Jesus Christ will speak to faithful people everywhere who seek him.  

 "Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right."     Acts 10:34-36  

Tomorrow is the Sabbath.   Why not renew your commitment to prayer, learning from our Muslim Cousins that we too can make time each day to talk to God, receive his direction, his discernment in decisions before, and intercede on behalf of both your loved ones and your enemies.  

Years ago I came across a terrific prayer guide.  It’s not to prayed in a “rote” kind of way rather as guide to reflect on its contents.  

“This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,  
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.  
Give us today our daily bread.  
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”   Matthew 6:9-13 (NIV2011)

 
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Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

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Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
Friday, July 24, 2015
Jeff Lampl

My initial answer to the question at the top of this blog is yes.  Allah is simply the Arabic word for God.   When Arab Christians and Jews pray to God use the word Allah for God.    However, when I hear some people describe the God I pray to, I sometimes wonder what God they are talking about because the God they are describing has no resemblance to the God I worship.   Therefore it is important to give content to the word “God”.   What is this God like, what is your conception of him?  I recently came across the following article written by Nancy Ortberg which you may find helpful as you wrestle this question.  

“My Muslim friend thinks we worship the same God. How should I respond?

Nancy Ortberg writes:

“I want to begin with a short reflection on the phrase contained in this question: "My Muslim friend." Good for you!

When I grew up, that wouldn't have been a common premise for a question about sharing one's faith. But today's neighborhoods are much more diverse, and Christians often rub shoulders with people from different religious and cultural backgrounds. To make this choice for relationship is, I believe, reflective of God's nature.

Jesus told us to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). In this situation, the salt part of the equation is your friendship. Salt seasons and brightens, makes better, and preserves. No matter what your friend believes, you can love her with the kind of love that isn't worried about who's right and who's wrong, but is concerned with how you serve, listen, and befriend.

Being forthright about your religious differences within the context of your friendship is being light. Light penetrates the darkness. And while you can be friends with someone and still disagree, there are distinct differences between Islam and Christianity.

As a simple overview to a very complex issue, I offer three areas in which the difference in Christian and Muslim beliefs is defining. These areas may be a starting point for conversations with your friend.

First, in Islam, Allah (God) is utterly unknowable. To think in terms of a God who can be known and who desires a relationship with his creatures is actually considered blasphemous. He is a distant God who is to be feared. In place of relationship, there is only submission. Allah only reveals his will, not himself, hence the Muslim practice of ritual prayers. These memorized prayers are offered five times a day to appease a transcendent force with no personal interest in his creatures.

Contrast that with the God of the Bible, who reveals himself, knocks at the door of our heart, and encourages us to enter in to an ever-increasing relationship with him. He calls us his "friends" (John 15:15).

Second, Islam requires a strict adherence to good works as the means to reach heaven. At birth people are considered sinless with unlimited spiritual potential if they faithfully adhere to the teachings of Allah, as reflected through the words of the prophet Mohammed. It’s good works that open the doors to one of the seven different levels of heaven. But there's no advocate to intercede with Allah when one falls short of the level of good works required.

In Christianity, it's only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we are in relationship with God and given the promise of eternal life. Good works spring out of that gift of relationship with God through Jesus; they aren't the means to the relationship.

Third, while Islam recognizes Jesus as a prophet, it rejects his divinity, and claims that Mohammed is actually the superior prophet from God. He is the one considered to have brought God's final revelation. The Koran (3:59-60) says that Jesus was, like Adam, created from dust.

Contrast that with Jesus' own claim that he is the only way to God (John 14:6), and that he and God the Father are one (John 10:30). Jesus' divinity and reflection as the final revelation of God are central to what it means to follow him.

You're off to a great start simply by embracing a relationship with your Muslim friend. Now add light to that friendship—listen and engage in conversation around truth. Be sure to breathe prayers to God about your conversations, and remember, truth doesn't need to raise its voice; it speaks for itself.

Nancy Ortberg is a church leadership consultant and popular speaker. Formerly a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, she now lives in California with her husband, John.

 
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How do Christians and Muslims approach Money?

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How do Christians and Muslims approach Money?

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Jeff Lampl

 

 

Muslims are required to give approximately 2.5% of their income to the poor.   This functions as a tax that is required.   Christians are also commanded in their scriptures to care for the poor, both inside and outside of the church. The Old Testament tells us that a tenth of our income is the benchmark to go by.  The New Testament offers a higher standard which is based on a freewill response to God in gratitude to God for what He has done for us.  Christ gave his life for us.  Our response cannot then be measured in a formula.  Rather most Christians would consider the formula of one tenth legalistic and even too small a response to the Grace given us in Jesus Christ.     In this way one important measure of gratitude for the Christian believer is the level of his giving to God, normally expressed by his giving to the local church of which He is a part.

 

The Church then functions to bring to the blessings of God to the church family, to the community and then to the world.   When the members of a church family tithe in this way, the impact for good for the church and world is immense.   When church members do not respond this way churches can end up in survival mode, helping no one.   But when a church is financially healthy it not only has strong giving to the poor and to missions, it also becomes a sending church which sends its members out serve others for the sake of Christ.    We have seen this this summer, a church family that has sent out over thirty of its members to six different locations on short term mission trips.   And that doesn’t include all those serving regularly at the Garage, Urban Promise, The Lighthouse, our own youth group, VBS, KidZone and more.    That happens in a church that has the resources to raise up this kind of ministry.

Have you considered your level of giving to your local church as measure of your gratitude to God for the Grace He has given you?   Have you considered setting aside funds, beyond your tithe, to be able to help people who are in need financially? The following familiar passage speaks to God’s heart for those who have fewer resources than we.

 

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’  “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”        Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV2011)

 

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Christianity, Islam and the Crusades

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Christianity, Islam and the Crusades
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Jeff Lampl

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.   Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.   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 12:14-21

One of the places where we see a significant difference between the New Testament and the Quran is on the role of violence.  Muhammed was a warrior and set rules for engaging in war.  Some of his teaching has been taken as the basis for acts of terror by extremists.  

It is often noted that Christians have no ground to stand on when it comes to criticizing the violence of Christian Crusaders.  No doubt  the crusades are a black mark in Christian history.   I think it is important to note however that, historically speaking, the crusades were
not simply Christian aggression against innocent Muslims.   It is important to note two things.    

First any nation that calls itself officially a Christian nation is by definition doing what the New Testament does  not permit.   Jesus was very, very clear that Christianity could never be an officially sanctioned “state religion”.   He told us that his kingdom was “not of this world”, that it is “inside you”, that we are to “give to Caesar what is his and to God what is his”.   Every time in history when church and state has joined it has done ugly things in the name of Christianity but it wasn’t Christianity doing, rather it was sinful human beings misusing power in the name of God.   In the case of the Crusades I think it is accurate to say that the west, in the name of Christ, but without the sanction of Christ, conducted a defensive war against the aggressive encroachment of Islam.  Of course there’s so much more to say but my point is that the crusades 1,000 years ago were no more sanctioned by God in Christ than America’s invading Iraq.  Each were the actions of nations out to defend themselves against what they perceived to be threats to their survival.  

Second, while our Bible, when read through lens of Jesus, never sanctions any nation becoming the standard bearer for Christ, the Koran does exactly this.  The Koran, which has the same function for Muslims as Jesus has for Christians, (the perfect revealed word of God) contains the words that Mohammed felt were revealed to him over

a period of 23 years from the time he was 40 years old.  The earlier parts of the Koran reflect a peaceful period of 10 years when he was in Mecca.   The rest of the Koran reflect his sayings during and after his time of aging war from Medina on other cities, raiding caravans, and eventually conquering Mecca.   From there Islam spread by the sword as far as France via north Africa and Spain and as far east as the border of India.   All this
in less than 150 years!   How then does one choose which part of the Koran to follow, the peaceful parts or the violent parts?  That issue is resolved by the Doctrine of Abrogation which states that the latter portions of the Koran take precedent over the former.   In this way Radical Islam, or Islamism, in its aggressiveness to create a world=wide Islamic State is based on its scriptures.   It has as much scriptural basis, even more, than Islam that proclaims peace.  

In this way Jesus and the Koran are totally different.   Biblical Christianity spreads by the influence of love from the bottom of society up and it never seeks a position of political power (even though many Christians act differently which means that political Christianity and biblical Christianity are often quite different even opposites).   Intrinsic to Koranic Islam is that it become the religion of states and nations and also the law of the land.   

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Islam, Christianity, Isaac and Ishmael

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Islam, Christianity, Isaac and Ishmael
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Jeff Lampl

“Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son . . . . .The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice Ishmael where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him” . . . . .God was with Ishmael, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.”    
Genesis 21:9-20  

“This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.  These are the names of the sons of Ishmael . . . . His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.”    Genesis 25:12-18  

Both Christians and Muslims trace their heritage back to Abraham, a pagan to whom the One God “spoke” about 4,000 years ago.    However God “spoke”, be it through thoughts, dreams, or words that felt audible to him, Abraham heard that God would create of his descendants an extended family whose purpose was to bless the world (Genesis 12:3).    

But it just wasn’t happening.   He and Sarah couldn’t have children!   So Abraham and his maid hooked up, had a son, Ishmael.  Then, as happens so often, a biological son of Abraham and Sarah is born, Isaac.   Although the promises to Abraham were passed on through Isaac (the second born which undercut conventional ancient near east heritage), God also love Ishmael.   Yet the breach in relationship was never healed (Gen 25:18).    

Muslims trace their heritage back to Abraham through Ishmael.   Christians trace their heritage back to Abraham through Isaac.   Is this an irreconcilable breach of relationship?   What can we learn?    Some thoughts follow.

     1.      What if both Christians and Muslims unified around Genesis 12:3 (God blessed
              Abraham and his descendent to be a blessing to the world) which would unite us all
              in seeking to bless the world?

     2.      What if Christians viewed Muslims through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
              Christ?    This would mean viewing all of our Muslim cousins as men and women
              who are just as forgiven for their sins as we are.  That forgiveness happened as an
              event in history on the cross 2,000 years ago and it was efficacious for the whole
              world.   In one fell swoop, everyone, everywhere forgiven!  Of course this doesn’t
              mean that everyone accepts God’s forgiveness in Christ, but as a starting point
              what if we Christians viewed all Muslims first and foremost as forgiven and loved by
              God,  just as God loved Hagar and Ishmael?

      3.     What if we Christians were to recognize that most human beings react to being
              pushed around by pushing back?  Ishmael’s descendants pushed back against the
              descendants of Isaac, Esau and his descendants pushed back against the
              descendants of  Jacob, the Canaanites pushed back against the Israelite
              occupation of what we now call Palestine.   The Palestinians of today push back
              against Israel‘s reestablishment as nation, as do all those who consider themselves
              descendants of Ishmael.  What if we chose some other route than just pushing
              back, which always results in push back?   Might Jesus have given us a way
              forward that brings different results?

      4.     What if we Christians were to learn the lesson that Cain didn’t learn when God
              spoke to Cain’s jealously with these words  

“sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7 (NIV2011).    

              What if we Christians looked at our own sins of jealously and injustice and instead
              of judging the Muslim “thems” we put ourselves in their shoes, and instead of
              judging and pushing back against them, we risked loving and blessing them just as
              God told Abraham’s descendants to do?   What if Christians were unflaggingly

              determined to be ministers of reconciliation rather than by default aligning our
              thinking with the God and Country thinking which all too easily views Islam as a
              force first to be defeated?

       5.    What if you or I had been born in Iran as Shiite Muslims and we were raised
              praying to Allah in a Mosque with signs on the wall reading “death to Israel”, “death
              to America”.   What if you or I were just regular Muslims doing our best to follow the               five pillars of Islam and be faithful to God as he has been revealed to us.   How
              would we want Christians to view us?  How would we want Christians to engage
              us?  What approach would be most effective?  Would it help me to have Christians
              insult my prophet or argue that my faith is wrong and hateful?  How would you feel
              if Christians avoided you, viewed you with suspicion and in their pulpits proclaimed
              that the prophet I honor proclaims words straight from the pit of hell?   Perhaps this
              perspective will help as you speak about Islam to others.

        6.    It seems to me that of all religions, Christianity is the one which is most in touch

               with reality.   It acknowledges evil, it knows that evil must be defeated and it

               recognizes that pain, suffering, death and blood are required to defeat it.  And

               that’s exactly how God defeated it, with his own pain, his own suffering, his own
               death and his own blood.   

        7.    The fundamental truth upon which Christian realism stands is the resurrection of
               Jesus Christ and the ultimate restoration and renewal of all things.  Nothing,
               nothing anywhere or anytime can prevent this outcome

        8.    Numbers 5 and 6 above give every Christian his path forward in “approaching
               Ishmael”.    Christians will want to influence their world with this path leading the
               way.

        9.    What would happen if a Christian “we”, whatever form that may take, even as it
               absorbs some awful blows from what some have called the “rage of Ishmael”,
               were to turn the other cheek, forgive those who have sinned against us, were
               return good for evil, and simply blessed those who consider us their enemies.  
               Actually churches all around the world and its mission agencies are doing
               just that.   What might that look like for you and for me who reside in suburbs of
               New London?   

      10.   My first reaction like so many Christians is to fight for my tribe’s survival over
              against the tribe which is trying to devour me.  It’s so easy to say, “defeat radical
              Islam and wipe them out”.   It seems to me that’s more like Darwinism than like
              Christianity.   

      11.   A good question to ask is “What actually works?”   Does push back ever
              accomplish anything except the temporary preservation of myself and my tribe,
              and that only for a time until someone else wins the battle of King of the Hill? 

      12.   I do think GK Chesterton’s observation about what really works (see #6 and 7
              above) is pertinent.   “The Christian ideal has not be tried and found wanting.  It
              has been found difficult and therefore untried”  

What do you think?

 
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