On Saturday, June 17th, our Mission Team hosted, at Central Church, two
Presbyterian missionaries who have lived and worked in a war zone for several
years.
You have heard much about the on-going fight to recover
Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. One hour's drive north is Dohuk in the
Iraqi province of Kurdistan. It is in Dohuk where these missionaries live and
work.
While they are not personally under fire, they are focused
on some of the evils of long-term war conditions. They work with
displaced persons from Mosul, they help teach children whose schools were
destroyed, sometimes they organize medical assistance for people in need, and importantly they
show the Christian faith in action.
Our meeting with them was more than just a mission-grant
discussion! While the Mission Team did vote to make a grant to them, the
longer-term benefit of this meeting was to explore some ways we can narrow the
gap between Islam and Christianity. This important objective is a goal at
Central Church ---- building bridges of understanding between Christians and
followers of Islam. This occasion was a nice opportunity to hear first-hand
some ideas from Presbyterian folks living in a Muslim culture.
While much of interest was imparted in the verbal
discussion, our visitors also offered us some valuable and authentic written
materials, as well. Some of the following is drawn from those materials.
What Muslims Believe:
1.) Muslims understand religion as a whole and integrated
way of life. They see it as the total code of their social and personal
values, not limited to just spiritual and God-related beliefs. Secular and
Christian-influenced cultures can confuse and even anger Muslims who see things
completely through their holistic world view. For example, they
often mistakenly view "Hollywood and sexuality" as part of the
Christian faith.
2.) In the practice of Islam, brotherhood and consensus is
emphasized, and individualism is avoided. It is the duty of the "community
of the faithful" to enforce the moral and social codes of belief
and behavior. This may explain how a lone Muslim, outside a
community support structure, does not feel very guilty when breaking the
code. However, bringing shame on his family or community would be seen as
a great sin.
3.) Avoiding shame and protecting honor are the primary
motivations of most Muslims. Because shame and honor are community-related,
they are to be contrasted with Western emphasis on individualism with its
possibly of a strong sense of personal guilt for wrong-doing.
4.) Radical Muslims, often called "Jihadists," use
this sense of community honor and shame to recruit and motivate their
followers.
5.) Perhaps the greatest conflict between Western
values and Muslim beliefs, is in regard to the role of women. Some
Muslims say that adopting Western values regarding the role and behavior of
women would be more feared than the problems they address. However, many
Muslim women say they prefer their family-based life style, as opposed to
lonely singleness, sexual exploitation, and the desire for money that makes
home and family unimportant.
6.) Muslims are often quite gender-sensitive, interacting
man to man, woman to woman. They try hard to avoid any compromising
situation, even just to protect from a possible rumor. An Arab proverb
says, "A man and woman alone together are three with the devil."
7.) Muslims are taught to practice modesty, even among
Westernized Muslims. For women, this often takes the form of loose-fitting
out-of-home clothing which hides their facial and other female features. For
women this is very important because family honor is tied to their behavior and
reputation.
What Christians Believe:
1.) Followers of Jesus believe that they are to impact
culture for Christ by going into all parts of the world to peacefully bring the
message of Jesus to the people who live there. It wasn't always so, as in
earlier centuries Christian Crusades in the Middle East violently attempted to
convert or kill Muslims and other non-Christians. Today, some radical
Muslims attempt to use the same method of religious conversion on Christians.
2.) In the West, a division exists between culture and
religion. Religion is separated from government, and some people object
to any influence of religion on state institutions and symbols.
3.) Followers of Jesus do influence Western culture and
institutions, but less so than Muslims do, because Western culture affirms
individualism, and community/family responsibility is less compelling.
Some Muslims say that tolerance of sin and non-Biblical practices continue in
Western society to dilute the true Christian message. Generally, they
say, Western culture does not have a widespread sense of the "community of
the faithful," compared to the Muslims.
4.) The easy commercialism and acceptance of popular trends
in the West play to the fear of Muslims of being dominated and corrupted
morally by "Christianity."
This interesting meeting left many of us considering how
extensively the culture we happen to live in shapes the practice of our
relationship with God. However, it was reassuring to find we have many
ideas and practices in common with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
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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 summer at CPC.
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