Those of you who generally read my West Plains Daily Quill column may have noticed its absence this past Friday. The last couple of weeks have been extra busy for me with a big project and lots of "brain energy" used up in contemplating a big decision, so I took a vacation day and didn't write my column for the paper. It gives me an opportunity to post something here that might not be appropriate for my Quill column.
I have not been closely following the situation about what the Muslim community in New York is proposing for "ground zero," so I don't feel prepared to comment on that specific topic. But I have been considering how we, as Christians, should feel about Muslims, in general. As always, since Jesus is our example, we should only look to him for the answer.
My friend Dick Davidson made an excellent point a few days ago with a post on Facebook: "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:39 'And so he asked Jesus who is my neighbor?' Luke 10:29. And Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. A Samaritan in that day was to a Jew as a Muslim would be to to a Christian today. So who is your neighbor?"
There is a large percentage of the followers of Islam who fall into the category of our "neighbors" in the same sense as Jesus declared the Samaritan to be a good neighbor. They have different religious views and a different cultural background, but they do want to live in peace and co-exist with Christians. I know this is true because I have a family member who married a Muslim, and he has not attempted to harm or convert her Christian family. We are to love those Muslims because they are our "neighbors."
Then, there is a small percentage of Muslims, who can only be called our enemies. They are our enemies because they hate us (Christians/Americans) and want to cause us harm, for a variety of reasons, some religiously-motivated, some not. For that group, we can ask the question, not "Who is my neighbor?" but "Who is my enemy, and how should I treat him?"
Jesus said we are to:
- love our enemies and do good to those who hate us (Luke 6:27)
- bless those who curse us, pray for those who mistreat us (Luke 6:28)
- never pay back evil for evil to anyone (Romans 12:17)
- feed our enemy if he is hungry and give him a drink if he is thirsty (Romans 12:21)
- not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:22)
It doesn't work to say, "I know I'm supposed to love my enemies, but...[fill in the blank with any excuse you want]." Jesus said those words in a time filled with religious practices which would make most of us drop our jaws in disbelief and also during the time of a Roman occupation so brutal it was almost beyond comprehension. Take for example, the way Jesus died....he know what was in store for him, and yet, he forgave and loved the Romans even before he was crucified.
The bottom line is this: Whether Muslims are our "neighbors" or our enemies, we have no choice but to love them and pray for them. The hate being stirred up by Christians against Muslims is beginning to boil over, and if cooler heads and loving hearts can't prevail, we will bring disaster on ourselves because of a love which has grown cold and minds set on things below, not on things above.
Note: For another perspective about Muslims, I invite you to read a blog post by my friend Ken Brown. http://ozarkuncle-too.blogspot.com/2010/08/most-evil-muslims-gays-or-serpents.html?spref=fb
Very good as usual Terry.
ReplyDeleteTerry, this scriptural view was good for me because, despite my talk, I'm not that biblically sound. A Jefferson Bible is on the way.
ReplyDeleteAs you've written, the view of Jesus is clear, and that makes the hateful rhetoric being cast before the Christian community all the more maddening. Thanks for writing this.
Thank you Terry...and I think it would be very approproiate for the Quill. Love thy neighbor as thy self...is something we all should be reminded of daily since we so easily seem to forget it.
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