Paul Louis Metzger – Page 54 – New Wine, New Wineskins

January 29th, 2013July 9th, 2013

Christian-Muslim Whack Jobs and Work for the Common Good

This piece was originally published at Patheos on January 29, 2013.

Christianity is not one-dimensional or monolithic. Nor is Islam. I don’t like it when all Christians are lumped into one category. For example, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants differ on substantial points concerning Christianity. While many Christians will acknowledge that there are different Muslim communities (such as the Sunnis and Shiites), they may not be willing to account for differences concerning how various Muslims live. For example, given how the news media and Hollywood at times portray Muslims as hostile and violent people, and given certain events from history, we may tend to think that the Muslim tradition or Islamic beliefs lead to violence. Some critics of Christianity make the same assessment of our religion: Christianity at its core is destructive and fosters hatred and intolerance of those outside the camp. Not all Christians attack the homosexual community and many speak out against hatred of gay people. So, I would want to challenge the claim that all Christians hate gays and lesbians. The same goes for how we approach people of diverse ethnicities and religious traditions. One size of Christian does not fit all.

I believe Muslims feel the same way, based on my personal interaction with them. We need to guard against saying all Muslims act in the same manner. Moreover, when we find Muslims operating in a different manner than what we believe to be uniform for Muslims, we should not say they are out of step with true Islam, but allow them to define how they see and practice Islam. For example, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has developed an initiative titled Muslims for Peace. While persecuted by other Muslim groups as heretical given their claim that Jesus has already returned metaphorically through the founder of their movement, and while Christians may find their peaceable posture inconsistent with Islam as they perceive it, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sees itself as an orthodox Muslim tradition due to their adherence to all pillars of Islam. Just as I don’t like it when some other Christian groups consider Evangelical Christianity as counterfeit, so I don’t like it when Christians, including Evangelicals, view the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in this way.

The former president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s mosque in Portland, Oregon said that Muslims and Christians need to move beyond who has been guilty of the most hatred and bloodshed in its treatment of the other. Mr. Richard Reno claimed that we need to get beyond who has committed the most “whack jobs” (See the chapter by the title “Whack Jobs” in my book, Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths, Thomas Nelson, 2012) and focus on core theological differences between Muslims and Christians such as what we make of Jesus, whom both religions honor, albeit in very different ways. More will be said about this matter in a future post.

Values I share with this Muslim community include promoting peace between religions, thoughtful reflection on the theological and ethical convictions that unite and distinguish us (see the exchange with Mr. Reno on Christianity and Islam in my book, Connecting Christ), and civil discourse that celebrates free speech and religious expression (see for example the op-ed piece in The Washington Post by Mr. Harris Zafar, the National Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community entitled “Making Islamic Sense of Free Speech” ). Mr. Reno, Mr. Zafar and I, among others in our immediate Muslim-Christian circles, are moving beyond claims about who has committed the most whack jobs to ways of working together in pursuit of the common good.

January 26th, 2013July 9th, 2013

White Evangelicals, Islam and American Values

This piece was originally published at Patheos on January 26, 2013.

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According to the Public Religion Research Institute’s survey, “What it Means to be American: Attitudes towards Increasing Diversity in America Ten Years after 9/11,” “Nearly 6-in-10 white evangelical Protestants believe the values of Islam are at odds with American values, but majorities of Catholics, non-Christian religiously unaffiliated Americans, and religiously unaffiliated Americans disagree.”

If the percentage is accurate, what does this say about American Evangelicalism? That white Evangelicals’ skin color often shapes their perception of Islam? Could it be that white Evangelicals are biased against Arabs and that this prejudice shapes their view of Islam, even though there are, I believe, more Asian Muslims than Arab Muslims? Could it be that white Evangelicals often have nostalgic and/or narrow views of what it means to be American—’white and Christian like me’?

Some white Evangelicals might think they are simply more spiritually and culturally discerning than other Christian groups and the broader populace, and that they understand better what Christian values, American values, and the values of Islam really are (the last set of values being viewed as out of step with the former two). But do Christian values and American values really line up well together? It seems as if many white Evangelicals think they do. Still, could it be that what has gone on for so long is really a subsuming of Christian values under those of America? If so, perhaps the conversation with Islam will cause the church to perceive well where their real fight can be found–not with Islam, but with the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12) that often distort the church’s vision and cause it to align itself with this power or principality rather than the person of Christ and his kingdom reality.

These questions reflect my own consternation with what I find to be a certain kind of cultural hegemony within American Evangelicalism. My hope is that Evangelicalism in this country will become increasingly diverse and expand its vision, missional values, and public witness to the kingdom of God in Christ in view of the Bible even while developing greater openness to various people groups and religious traditions in American society today.

January 24th, 2013

People Are Strange

This piece was originally published at Pathoes on January 24, 2013.

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You may know the song “People Are Strange” by The Doors that sings of people being strange and looking ugly when you are a stranger and alone. How people view you and me often shapes our views of them.

Do you ever encounter people who view you as strange? If so, how do such encounters make you feel? I would assume that such experiences don’t generate pretty feelings. Encounters I have where I am viewed as strange will cause me either to become hardened and view others as strange or to become more sensitive not to treat strangers in my midst as strange.

The Bible has a lot to say about not treating a stranger in one’s midst as strange, but to care for him or her. Exodus 22:21 states, “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” Leviticus 19:34 says, “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 10:19 exhorts, “And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” Jesus tells the goats in Matthew 25:40-45 that they will suffer eternal torment as a result of not caring for him by failing to care for the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. In that context, Jesus declares: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’” (Matthew 25:41-43)

How does this biblical material bear upon immigration reform? Whatever our political position on the subject, one of the things Christians must account for in addressing the matter is the Bible’s own claims. We must not mistreat the immigrant no matter their status. As fellow humans created in the image of God, we must show them respect. We must respect them, just as we would want to be respected.

However, we often forget what it’s like to be disrespected or mistreated or viewed as strange. The Israelites were to remember that they were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. Most if not all of our ancestors came from other lands. Our ancestors were once aliens. Perhaps we were, too. In one way or another, we have all been inside a stranger’s shoes. How would we have wanted our ancestors or ourselves as strangers to be treated, regardless of legal status? How would we wish to be treated if for some reason we had to depart for another land based on a personal or national crisis and with or without official papers?

No matter how we land in the end on the issue of immigration reform we need to make sure we personalize the issue so that we know what it is like to be people without a land and to treat others as we would want to be treated. Are you willing to step inside a stranger’s shoes—again?

January 22nd, 2013January 24th, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty and Zero Sum Gain

This piece was originally published at Patheos on January 22, 2013.

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How can violence ever bring closure to violence? I considered this question while watching Zero Dark Thirty—the controversial movie on the hunt and killing of Osama Bin Laden. So much of the controversy around the movie centers on factuality and on whether or not it glorifies torture. From the standpoint of acting and cinematography, the movie is a great success. Moreover, regardless of whether or not the movie is accurate, it can prove beneficial for fostering important discussions. Here are two key questions. Should a democratic society such as the United States ever resort to torture to bring an end to mass killings and the perpetrators of horrific evil to justice? Moreover, can violence of any sort ever bring about justice and closure to injustice?

Yesterday we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. How might he have responded to the possible torture and eventual killing of Osama Bin Laden? He spoke out strongly against the Vietnam War and militarism. Would he have spoken out against America’s response to terrorism at the hands of Al Qaida? On a personal level, Dr. King was the victim of violence, but he never retaliated. He also encouraged those in his movement birthed in the church and centered on civil rights not to retaliate against their oppressors. Speaking of the church, how would King have responded to those who would claim that the response of a nation state will and should be different from the church when it is attacked? Tough questions. All of them went through my mind as I watched and pondered Zero Dark Thirty this holiday weekend.

Regardless of our answers to these questions, King’s life of civility and unswerving compassion and love even of his enemies brought justice to bear on torture and violence, exposing the darkness of hate, and bringing it into the light of day. King lived out what was true of his Lord and bore witness to how Jesus’ cross and resurrection absorbs evil and serves as the basis for the eventual eradication of all injustice. As G. B. Caird argued so King and his Lord lived and died, “Evil is defeated only if the injured person absorbs the evil and refuses to allow it to go any further” (G. B. Caird, Principalities and Powers: A Study in Pauline Theology, with a foreword by L. D. Hurst {Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003 [1956]}, p. 98). In view of Jesus’ cross and resurrection, how will we live? Will we live in light of his cross and resurrection, or in view of Zero Dark Thirty?

If we live out Zero Dark Thirty in our lives and eventually destroy all terrorists around the globe, will we bring an end to the terror of hate and unforgiveness that so often rages within? Or will we only mask this internal terror, developing calloused hearts as well as fingers after pulling the trigger over and over again? In the end, will Zero Dark Thirty lead to a zero sum gain?

January 17th, 2013July 9th, 2013

How to Sustain Jesus’ Justice Movement, Part 4

This piece was originally published at Patheos on January 17, 2013.

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“We can’t do this alone.” These were the sentiments of my former student and her husband, who moved from Portland to Minneapolis/St. Paul to be involved in a community focused on addressing poverty while taking the vow of simplicty themselves.

How do you sustain a justice movement? Stay crazy. But it’s hard to stay crazy if you don’t live among beautifully crazy people who share the same values and who will inspire you and hold you accountable.

Hopefully, your accountability partners include some people who have been at it a while. My former student would let you know that you need crazy people who are also very wise. She and her husband knew they needed help. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Their justice movement would only last for a few days, if they didn’t connect with people with shared vision who had been at this work a lot longer than they had. Not those shock jocks and celebrities who talk a good talk, but people who had walked the walk a very long time, who had lived it out and had slugged it out with poverty, bearing wounds of loss and grief, while sharing life with and living among the poor.

You and I cannot do it alone. Whatever the justice initiative that we are aligned with, we need to make sure that we are aligned with other like-minded crazy people. Such people will include those who have been at it a good long while and who will help us put down solid foundations so as to build a house of justice that will withstand the storms of life that would beat us down and cause us to abandon the work.

A lot of people start out well and end poorly. They no longer care for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger in their distress. Disillusionment is one of the worst forms of poverty. People who end poorly often say that they used to be crazy and embraced the ideals my former student now embodies until they got wise and learned to play it safe. They thought they could do it alone. They should have known better. My former student knows better. She and her husband know that to conquer such foolish talk they must invest in a community that is rich in integrity and wisdom. Only then will they remain beautifully crazy through the years. Stay crazy and stay close to those who’ve gone before you. Finish strong.