In my previous post, I wrote about dealing with prejudice largely within the Body of Christ. Today, I want to delve into tolerance of other belief systems or religions. As Christians, our primary mission from Christ is to bring others into His fold, to go make disciples of ALL nations. (Matthew 28:19-20). It is a responsibility and not an option. Throughout the centuries, thousands of missionaries have laid down their lives in the process of carrying out this commandment. We laymen are called to do this within our own spheres of influence, within the family circles we are blessed with, and in our daily encounters with all that come our way. We are to do this by living exemplary lives ,letting our lights shine and being ambassadors of the faith we profess.
The fear that consumes us these days includes the fear of other religions/faiths, especially those we have concluded (rightly or wrongly) are prone to acts of violence. To begin to understand why this (blanket) fear could be irrational, let us first acknowledge that there have always been and will always be extremists and fundamentalists in every religion. Evil is real and the devil is not inclined towards any particular faith, he will take anyone who is available from any belief system to execute his campaign of destruction and inflict pain and sorrow wherever he can.
The history of the world is full of exploits of extremists within three major religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In 2007, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour produced an excellent documentary about the politics of fundamentalists from those three religions. In our recent history, the devious activities of Islamic terrorists have caused many to fold inwards with a tendency to feel suspicious of all Muslims who look or sound like they are very devoted to their faith. I will readily admit that I have also felt like that from time to time. But I try to check myself and that is part of why I am writing this posting. Some have argued that the Islamic faith promotes violent conversion or Jihad and used that as justification for their prejudice. A comprehensive study of that notion does not universally confirm that interpretation. It would serve us Christians well to also remember that the Apostle Paul was a great zealot (or shall we say terrorist?) then known as Saul, who went about murdering and beheading Christians until that fateful day on the road to Damascus.
If we are to take seriously The Great Commission to make disciples of ALL nations, we cannot afford any prejudiced stance. I would go as far as to say that we consider this irrational fear to be a tool of the devil to prevent us from carrying out this Commission. The only way we can open the minds of people of other faiths to the wonderful gift of salvation we profess is to provide a superior argument for our faith with our attitude to them and our character as a whole. Words and sharing of pamphlets alone just don’t cut it. And yes, there have been testimonies of conversion to Christianity after non-Christians experienced the love, joy, peace and confident assurance of spirit-filled Christians who reached out to them. Anything is possible by Grace.
We can begin by being curious about other religions in an inclusive, non-critical way. We can identify any common grounds if not in theoretical terms, then in practical terms. A friend who has studied and practiced both Islam and Christianity, having had a Christian mother and Muslim father is constantly baffled at the level of ignorance practitioners of both faiths have as to the similarities between the Quran and the narratives in the Biblical Old Testament (And the Torah for that matter). She once educated me on the ritualistic stoning of the devil (represented by the three jamarat walls) that takes place during the Muslim pilgrimage or Hajj as being a rehash of three events in the life of Abraham aka Prophet Ibrahim. One event being his rejection of the devil’s attempt to persuade him not to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Ismail) when God asked him to. On the instruction of Angel Gabriel, Abraham is said to have picked up stones and thrown at the devil who then fled away.
She further pointed out that Muslims also believe that Jesus lived but consider him to be a prophet just as Mohammed was a prophet. They do not believe that He was the son of God or that He is now interceding for us in heaven. However, prayers are offered through both prophets in addition to other prophets, with a common prayer antiphon being one that asks God to answer a prayer petition the same way he answered that of Prophet Muhammad or Prophet Isa (Jesus). Having said that, one is then curious about Islamic fundamentalists who are ready to kill at the slightest hint of an insult to Prophet Mohammed but will readily insult Jesus or Prophet Isa.
These are just a few examples that we can relate to. We can try to use common ground as a launching pad for an ongoing dialogue, all the while preaching subtly with our actions. One could only wonder what would be the outcome, if every Christian person were to pick out a non-believer they had access to and set their minds on influencing said person spiritually by their character and way of life.
If we truly believe the word of God, we must act on our belief that Christ truly desires ALL men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2: 4). He died for ALL mankind. Anybody can leave their comfort zone, plant a seed of friendship in the life of a non-christian and water that seed for conversion by genuinely caring. It is the Holy Spirit that will do the heavy lifting of actual conversion and breathe life into that dry seed at an appropriate time. We are not called to do this if or when we feel like doing so, but rather as an act of urgency given that it is a Christian responsibility and we do not know our allocated time in this world. There is a reason why this proclamation is referred to as the The Great Commission.
May we receive the courage to open our hearts to individuals who do not share our faith and see them as God sees them; another person that His Son gave His life up for, therefore worthy of eternal salvation. In another era, they could have been broadly referred to as gentiles or heathens. And we can just wonder if Christianity would be what it is today had some followers of Jesus not summoned the courage to mingle with, show love to and done their part to bring about the eventual conversion of those gentiles and outsiders. Let us also play our own part and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit. Praying for the conversion of all violent fundamentalists or terrorists of any faith could and should become a daily thing. If Saul could become Paul, anybody can be converted. We must resist the urge to underestimate the mighty power of God in that respect.
‘Conduct yourself with wisdom towards outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you should respond to each one.’ Col 4: 5-6.
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 