In the midst of continuing turmoil throughout the Middle East related to Muslim's anger toward the YouTube film, I've read a lot of articles from various news sources and watched countless videos (live and prerecorded) regarding the situations. As I often do, I have scrolled past the report to the opinions and comments; it's one thing to get the story, it's another to get a pulse on what people think about the story.
And, as is often the case, I am sadly disappointed and embarrassed by the responses that I read. Hate, bitterness, condemnation, stereotypes, bigotry, and every negative connotation that you can imagine often fill these areas; worse, is when these attitudes are given under the guise of "facts" or "reason" of "intelligent" arguments in reply to "stupid," "ignorant," or "phobic" posts. (Once again, I find that news agencies have to bear some responsibility to creating discord and not just reporting it; and, within the opportunities to respond to stories, media has created forums that create more argument rather than agreement with no responsibility or recourse to resolution.)
Now living in an predominant Muslim nation and society, the preconceived notions, stereotypes, and ignorance of Islam is confronted every day, and at times we have to humble ourselves and confess of decades of western ideals that have tainted our worldview with arrogance that is unfit for a believer and representative of Jesus Christ. I have found exponentially more gracious Muslims than angry ones; daily we are welcomed in this country and treated well, whereas I can not remember any time in which we were treated poorly because of our nationality. I admit that I have never seen a Christian with calloused knees from prayer, but each day I am confronted by dozens of Muslims with callouses on their foreheads from prostrating themselves before God.
And, we would like to challenge our family, friends and supporters back home who pray for us and follow our stories, as well as worry about our safety, especially at times like this. There are many well-meaning friends and family who are terrified for us, and particularly for our family members that are visiting us at such a time as this. In the midst of expressing these concerns, there are at times these out-of-order attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes lacing and underlying some statements. Again, not always--but sometimes.
Last fall, I went to Portland to meet with potential support churches. During that time, "Occupy Portland" was in full swing and there was all sorts of turmoil downtown. I only had one comment about being careful (thanks Dad), and no one urged me not to go. Portland has a population around 600,000 people and a few hundred were involved in the "peaceful" demonstrations that had some destruction of property and even some aggression. Yet, here in Cairo with a population of around 11 million, the percentage of demonstrators to the population is far less, even at its onset when as much as 2,000 showed up--and many, it now appears, were paid to do so while there were also many there attempting to talk reasonably and to prevent such acts. Yet there have been dozen of emails and comments of concern as if the whole of the region was against us. Why? I believe it is not just the result of sensational reporting, but also related to latent or underlying prejudices many in the west carry about this region, these people, and/or this religion.
And it's important for us to "catch the little foxes that ruin the vineyard" (Song of Songs 2:15); that is, it is important to discover and rid ourselves of the little ideas, attitudes, or actions that if left uncontrolled will destroy the desired fruitfulness of our lives and faith.
To that end, we would like to submit a couple of messages that we urge you to take some time to listen:
1) The Truth Between Us: Islam, by Pastor Erwin McManus of Mosaic in Los Angeles. I highly respect and value the writings and thoughts of McManus; I've read several of his books, listened to countless hours of messages, and met him on two occasions where he was speaking. His first book, which I consider his best, "An Unstoppable Force: Daring to be the Church God Intended" is a book I not only constantly recommend, but I have also made interns and would be young leaders read and discuss this as a part of their time under our ministry. You can find this recording on iTunes if you like to download podcasts, or you can click the link of the title to go to a webpage where you can listen to it. This message was given on the 10th anniversary of 9-11 and was the start of this series that not only explored Truth-connections between Christianity and different religions/philosophies, but also the Truths that were differences. McManus begins the lesson with an Skype-interview with an Islamic scholar in Turkey and shares stories of interacting with Muslims from LA to Lebanon.
2) Go Ahead, Ask Anything 2: #7 Will There Ever Be Peace in the Middle East?, by Pastor Jim Lyon of Madison Park Church of God, Anderson, Indiana. This successful sermon series last year led to the book Go Ahead, Ask Anything (check out the reviews on that Amazon link!). In this second annual series, Jim addresses questions not just posed by the community around Madison Park, but narrowed and decided upon by a panel of men and women outside of church. This question not only rose to the top ten by the external panel, but it ends up providentially scheduled to be preached this past Sunday in the midst of such unrest throughout this region. The Madison Park media page allows us to access the Vimeo post where I could get the info to imbed it here for you to make it easier to take time to listen. I encourage you to visit the Madison Park website so that you can listen to the other messages in this series, as well.
Go Ahead Ask Anything 2 - Question #7 from Madison Park Church on Vimeo.
Both of these messages not only seek to help build bridges of understanding, but underscore the responsibility of our responses as believers in the midst of turmoil and prejudices: to be people of grace and peace, revealing Jesus Christ through our very lives.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support.
Pray for peace as you live out the example of grace and peace.
And, as is often the case, I am sadly disappointed and embarrassed by the responses that I read. Hate, bitterness, condemnation, stereotypes, bigotry, and every negative connotation that you can imagine often fill these areas; worse, is when these attitudes are given under the guise of "facts" or "reason" of "intelligent" arguments in reply to "stupid," "ignorant," or "phobic" posts. (Once again, I find that news agencies have to bear some responsibility to creating discord and not just reporting it; and, within the opportunities to respond to stories, media has created forums that create more argument rather than agreement with no responsibility or recourse to resolution.)
Now living in an predominant Muslim nation and society, the preconceived notions, stereotypes, and ignorance of Islam is confronted every day, and at times we have to humble ourselves and confess of decades of western ideals that have tainted our worldview with arrogance that is unfit for a believer and representative of Jesus Christ. I have found exponentially more gracious Muslims than angry ones; daily we are welcomed in this country and treated well, whereas I can not remember any time in which we were treated poorly because of our nationality. I admit that I have never seen a Christian with calloused knees from prayer, but each day I am confronted by dozens of Muslims with callouses on their foreheads from prostrating themselves before God.
And, we would like to challenge our family, friends and supporters back home who pray for us and follow our stories, as well as worry about our safety, especially at times like this. There are many well-meaning friends and family who are terrified for us, and particularly for our family members that are visiting us at such a time as this. In the midst of expressing these concerns, there are at times these out-of-order attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes lacing and underlying some statements. Again, not always--but sometimes.
Last fall, I went to Portland to meet with potential support churches. During that time, "Occupy Portland" was in full swing and there was all sorts of turmoil downtown. I only had one comment about being careful (thanks Dad), and no one urged me not to go. Portland has a population around 600,000 people and a few hundred were involved in the "peaceful" demonstrations that had some destruction of property and even some aggression. Yet, here in Cairo with a population of around 11 million, the percentage of demonstrators to the population is far less, even at its onset when as much as 2,000 showed up--and many, it now appears, were paid to do so while there were also many there attempting to talk reasonably and to prevent such acts. Yet there have been dozen of emails and comments of concern as if the whole of the region was against us. Why? I believe it is not just the result of sensational reporting, but also related to latent or underlying prejudices many in the west carry about this region, these people, and/or this religion.
And it's important for us to "catch the little foxes that ruin the vineyard" (Song of Songs 2:15); that is, it is important to discover and rid ourselves of the little ideas, attitudes, or actions that if left uncontrolled will destroy the desired fruitfulness of our lives and faith.
To that end, we would like to submit a couple of messages that we urge you to take some time to listen:
2) Go Ahead, Ask Anything 2: #7 Will There Ever Be Peace in the Middle East?, by Pastor Jim Lyon of Madison Park Church of God, Anderson, Indiana. This successful sermon series last year led to the book Go Ahead, Ask Anything (check out the reviews on that Amazon link!). In this second annual series, Jim addresses questions not just posed by the community around Madison Park, but narrowed and decided upon by a panel of men and women outside of church. This question not only rose to the top ten by the external panel, but it ends up providentially scheduled to be preached this past Sunday in the midst of such unrest throughout this region. The Madison Park media page allows us to access the Vimeo post where I could get the info to imbed it here for you to make it easier to take time to listen. I encourage you to visit the Madison Park website so that you can listen to the other messages in this series, as well.
Go Ahead Ask Anything 2 - Question #7 from Madison Park Church on Vimeo.
Both of these messages not only seek to help build bridges of understanding, but underscore the responsibility of our responses as believers in the midst of turmoil and prejudices: to be people of grace and peace, revealing Jesus Christ through our very lives.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support.
Pray for peace as you live out the example of grace and peace.
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