There has been a lot of hoopla lately about Qur’an burnings and Mosque building.
Because of this, I have been in a lot of conversations about interfaith dialogue. How do we handle these situations? Should the mosque be allowed? Is America a Christian Nation? Etc.
I am sure that people have thoughts and opinions that fall all over the spectrum, but I have noticed two particularly strong reactions to these situations.
The first reaction is what I call power defense. People with strong American and Christian sentiments tend to see Mosques being built and react by burning Qur’ans. It may seem ludicrous to many. But I was intrigued to learn that many of the phone calls that Terry Jones (the Florida pastor) received were from angry American/Christians who were upset that he canceled the burning. This “power defense” reaction tends to say: “I am a Christian and I am an American and I need to defend my faith and country from people who are not.” I understand this is an over-generalization, but I am learning that there is quite a bit of this sentiment in our country. As a pastor, I am very intrigued that so many Christians take a defensive and hateful stance towards people/their neighbor/their enemy, when Jesus clearly teaches to differently.
The second reaction I notice is from people who promote interfaith dialogue. I am a huge fan of interfaith dialogue, relationship building, and loving our neighbors. However, having been part of many of these conversations, I notice a disturbing trend. Often times, interfaith dialogue has a misguided end goal (in my opinion). The goal, simply, is to help religious people “get past” their faith, which is seen as a point of division and conflict. (And yes, I understand that religion has been, and is, a point of deep conflict in our world). The solution, it seems, is a generic “God”/”Higher Power”. In this like of thinking, “Jesus” becomes a problem. Identifying with Christ is considered close-minded and a stumbling block to interfaith conversations. A few pastors I know will not preach/teach Jesus because they are seeking to promote interfaith relations. It seems to me, the end goal is to “progress” past our archaic and ancient beliefs and be spiritual gurus in a post-modern world.
I would like to offer a 3rd way. I would like to suggest that we dialogue, serve, love, and befriend people of other faiths and nationalities BECAUSE of our faith in Jesus. I think the DEEPER our devotion to Jesus is, the MORE we will love and befriend Muslims and people of other faiths. To be a Christian ought to mean that we walk as Jesus walks (1 John 2:6). Following Jesus does not look anything like the first option. On the other hand, peace and dialogue will not happen by abandoning our faith, but by deepening it.
The illness of American Christianity is not that it is too strong; it is that it is too weak.
Those who claim some of the strongest devotions to Christ, are actually the weakest. Their faith has become ill with hate, fear, and the false god of country. I heard this story last week: During the Holocaust a Christian man went to into the Jewish ghettos to suffer and ministered to the Jews who were undergoing persecution. During this time, his family, friends, and church urged him to return home, fearful for his life. One man from his church urged him to come back by writing, “Come home. Why are you doing this? They are not even Christians!” The return letter had 3 words: BUT I AM.
I’m a big fan of interfaith dialog as well. If there’s one thing that will force you to dig into what you believe (not to become entrenched to understand exactly what you do believe) is to have it challenged by someone who believes differently. The thing I’ve found is that there is very little in the other faiths that needs be abandoned in order to embrace Christianity. Which is probably what drives people to settle for the generic “Higher Power”. But if you understand the fullness of God’s Story, I think it becomes apparent how Christianity *completes* rather than negates other faiths.
Oops! One more quickie.
It isn’t whether or not you love. It’s why you love.
Hey Dan!
Thanks for your blog. A huge subject which will only get bigger. I think it is important to define “dialogue” it certainly is a buzzword that we have to define carefully. Also, we need to hear the religious views of others for what they are and not what we want them to be. I don’t think Christianity as the “completion” of other religions is what is needed as much as Spirit-worked conversion in all its radicalness.
Don, good to hear from you! We need to catch up- love to hear how you and the family are doing.
A few thoughts on both your posts…
There are some significant differences in belief between Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity. However, there is also many similarities, specifically in moral code (and to a degree, a general search for God/transendance). In that sense, Bob, I understand and agree with Christianity “completing” other faiths. However, am I understanding you correctly?
I have also learned from folks that I have met that there are Christians who are deeply devoted to Jesus Christ and the gospel that consider themselves Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Hindu- not in belief or their worship, but in their cultural identity.
That begs the question, what needs to be sacrificed to follow Christ, and what does not?