At the time Jesus was crucified, Christianity was an
insignificant Jewish sect, centered around the city of Jerusalem. Soon
after, the disciples did as Jesus had told them and went to a mountain top in
Galilee, where they encountered Jesus again. There Jesus told them:
"All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded
you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the
age." (Matthew 28:
18 - 20)
Down through the centuries, this directive became known as
"The Great Commission," and it has been the inspiration for
missionaries and teachers of many Christian denominations. Indeed, the
disciples Peter and Paul, and others who believed in what Jesus taught, took
risky journeys among the Gentiles to teach and preach about Jesus. Christianity
eventually became the standard for the Roman Empire, and much of Europe and the
Middle East were converted.
With my somewhat simplistic knowledge of the spread of the
faith, I was surprised when I read recently that the place where Christianity
was started seems now to be moving in the opposite direction.
In a recent issue of the Christian Science Monitor Weekly,
there was a lengthy article entitled "A Middle East Without Christians?"
The author was a Monitor staff writer, reporting from Bethlehem, in the
West Bank. She wrote, "Two thousand years after the birth of Jesus,
Christianity is under assault in the Holy Land and across the entire Middle
East, more that at any time in the past century." She quotes some
informed observers as speculating that one of the world's three great religions
could vanish entirely from the Middle East region within a generation or two.
The Monitor staff writer continues: "From
Iraq, which has lost at least half of its Christians over the past
decade, to Egypt, which saw the worst spate of anti-Christian violence in 700
years in the summer of 2012, to Syria, where jihadists are killing Christians
and burying them in mass graves, the followers of Jesus face violence,
declining churches and ecumenical divides. Today, fewer than 500,000
Christians remain in Iraq from a prewar population of between 1 million and 1.4
million. As many as 450,000 of the 2 million refugees fleeing Syria today
are Christians. Christians now make up only 5% of the population of the Middle
East, down from 20% a century ago."
It would seem that as political Islam has gained support,
Christians can no longer find refuge in a shared Arab identity with
their Muslim neighbors, but are instead increasingly stereotyped by an emphasis
on religious identity. Calls for citizenship with equal rights are
countered with stories of Islamist extremists demanding that Christians convert
to Islam, or pay an exorbitant tax, or die! Naturally, this has prompted many
Christians to flee their country.
Historians tell us that there have been many cycles of
Christian persecution and prosperity over the centuries. But those who
study these trends see four major differences between the problems Christians
face today in the Middle East, and those of the past.
First, jihadist groups have access to weapons today on a
scale unknown in history. The disciples of Jesus were not confronted with
road-side bombing and aircraft attacks. The ability to kill and injure
one's enemy has been much "perfected" since Jesus' time.
Secondly, propaganda can be spread today more easily by the
enemies of Christianity than ever before. In the time of Jesus, family
tradition determined life values for most people. Today, values are
taught subtly on cell phones, T.V. and other media, which often devalue
tradition.
Thirdly, because of Western military involvement in the
Middle East, local Christian communities are more easily accused of disloyalty
to their own society, given the assumption that their loyalty would be to the
West.
Fourth, it would seem that today's social and religious
values are seen as of more consequence than perhaps they were in the time of
Jesus ---- in the sense of being more "black" and "white". The
Bible notes there were certain tribes and classes of people with which one did
not associate. Today in the Middle East, members of different tribes, classes
or faiths may be strongly "encouraged" by extremists to adopt the
Muslim faith or be punished with death. Furthermore, today in the Middle East
one's religion may be the primary test for a job, not whether one is qualified
to do the job.
For those Christians whose families literally live in the
present turmoil of the Middle East, what would Jesus tell them to do? We
know from Matthew 5:44 that Jesus told his disciples, "Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you." It would seem that
confrontation with one's enemies is not what Jesus had in mind, even two
thousand years ago. Today, perhaps the only way to avoid that
confrontation with a determined enemy is to move physically to a safer place.
That is what much of the population of Syria has already done.
So, what is our role if we are to stand behind these refugee
Christians? Perhaps Jesus would say it is to welcome them, feed them,
educate their children, help them obtain jobs, and guide them in a new culture
to become self-sufficient, contributing citizens.
Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan? A
traveler came upon an injured man on the side of the road. But the man
was not of the traveler's tribe. Nevertheless, the traveler cared
generously for the injured man. Could Jesus be saying we are called to do
the same?
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this fall at CPC.
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