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Relating to our multi-faith neighbors
On vacation in Australia recently, my family and I went to church with our friends on the Sunday we were in Brisbane. The preacher that morning was to be a visiting American missions pastor. In the message, he told of growing up in an unbelieving family. Now, as the only church-related person in his family, his relatives always pressured him to preach at the funerals of family members. He told of begging his family not to invite him to do this task, but they insisted and were always angry with him afterward because of his message. He believed that fidelity to the gospel required him to tell the mourners, "You will see Uncle So-and-So again, but I won’t. I’m going to heaven because I know Jesus." After the message, we had an interesting conversation with our friends about American arrogance. While the preacher’s seeming arrogance is offensive to some, it unfortunately is not peculiar to this American pastor. His actions didn’t even come close to the long and often bloody history of the Christian movement represented in such tragic expressions as the Spanish Inquisition, the European Holocaust, the Crusades, the brutality of the conquistadores and the destructive era of slavery. Sadly, Christians rationalized and supported all of these tragedies.
I praise God that, instead of making war and giving room to xenophobia and tribalism, some in the church recognize that our identity as the children of God requires us to offer hospitality and welcome to our neighbors. Unfortunately, the coercive violence, insensitivity and atrocities in the Christian response to diversity have resulted in some people insisting that welcoming and hospitality are all we are called to do in relation to our non-Christian neighbors. Some Christians are offended even at the suggestion of witnessing to our neighbors about the good news of God in Jesus Christ. While I lament insensitivities like those I heard in Australia and grieve the tragedies of the past, I ask myself, Is there another way between these two poles — witness without respect and tolerance without witness? Undoubtedly, the purposes of God require that a Christian response to our neighbors includes generosity, hospitality, welcome and respect. There is, however, in the biblical text another stream. Particularly in the book of Luke, Jesus links compassionate response to the poor, the broken and the suffering with an unapologetic, enthusiastic announcement of the reign of God, and that announcement invites a response (see Luke 4:18–19; 7:18-23; 10:1–16). In his letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians, Paul writes of the cosmic, al encompassing scope of God’s redemptive purposes in Jesus Christ: For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:19–20 NRSV). And again: With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:8b–10 NRSV). We are not called to judge whether those who are not Christians are outside the scope of the grace of God. Yet the Bible seems to call us to a witness “in bold humility,” as author David Bosch says, to Jesus Christ as the embodiment of the purposes of God. If, indeed, the Bible is our primary text, then as Christians we must tell the story of Jesus, the story of the Bible, as the power of God for salvation. God does not call us to determine the destiny of those who have not responded to Jesus Christ, but even a cursory reading of the New Testament makes it plain that we are called to share the good news of Jesus with our neighbors and leave to the Holy Spirit the evocation of a response in those with whom we share. To fail to do so is to betray our identity as the followers of Jesus. Thank you for your companionship in the gospel. Along with our prayers and the financial resources we share, let’s also offer ourselves in friendship and hospitality to our neighbors as we bear testimony to the hope we have in Jesus Christ. In this issue: Features Highlights Viewpoints |
Meeting Our Multifaith Neighbor
