From the Irresistible Revolution:

“Too often we do what makes sense to us and ask God to bless it.  In the Beatitudes, God tells us what God blesses - the poor, the peacemakers, the hungry, those who mourn, those who show mercy - so we should not ask God’s blessing on a declaration that we will have no mercy on evildoers.  We know all to well that we have a God who shows mercy on evildoers, for if he didn’t we’d all be in big trouble, and for that this evildoer is very glad.  Rather than do what makes sense to us and ask God’s blessing, we’d do better to surround ourselves with those whom God promises to bless, and then we need not ask God’s blessing.  It’s just what God does.”

He’s talking to America when he says, “we should not ask God’s blessing on a declaration that we will show no mercy to evildoers.”  How many times have you seen God’s name associated with the political agendas of this nation?  Or of this world?  “God bless America!”  “God bless this nation!”  Did you know that people in Iraq look at what those in our government leading the war in Iraq and call them “Christian extremists”?  I’m thankful thaht so far they haven’t written all of the Christian faith off over such insanity! Whatever happened to Christians following a Prince of Peace?

Maybe the answer to this nationalistic religion which breeds violence of the foreigner (whether Muslim or Christian) is learning to begin following the Way of Christ.  His teachings on God’s propensity to blessing the poor, the peacemakers, the hungry, etc. is closer than we think to a simple yet profound strategy for world peace.  When we stop following our own “God-blessed” propositions and begin getting to know those whom God has already blessed (see the above list), we begin to discover the mighty ways of God’s Kingdom.

See, American Christians can be so turned around that they read books like the Prayer of Jabez and conclude that God wants to bless them with tons of money and success.  I don’t think Wilknson (the author) necessarily saw how people were going to take his book.  It just tells me that we think that we know better than Jesus does what God should bless.  “It shoure ain’t the poor, cuz that’s what I am now, and I don’t feel blessed!”

Feeling poor?  Down and out?  You are not far from the Kingdom of God.  Feeling distant from God?  Head downtown, look down the alleys; you might find him there.  Head to Iraq as a peacemaker (not a peacekeeper, Clint Eastwood!).  Give away your lunch to someone who hasn’t seen one in days, comfort someone grieving…you’ll find that God and his blessing is not far from any one of us.
Next to the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Does she sound American anymore?

Recently Katrina and I have been getting into the show “30 Days” (check it out here); the same guy who did Super Size Me (ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days) is now out to see other people try another life (usually a diametrically opposed lifestyle) for several weeks to see what personal changes take place. (e.g. A upper-middle class from NYC couple move to Ohio to live on minimum wage).

I was especially impressed with the episode Muslims in America, which reports on a Christian from West Virginia moving to Dearborn, MI to live with a Muslim family and experience Islam up close and personal. He engaged in political/theological dialogue with the Muslims he lived with, he went to Jumuah (Friday prayer service), ate Halal foods, and basically lived “on the other side of the tracks” for a whole month. It got me thinking about my own preconceived notions of who Muslims are - and what they believe as part of their faith.
Even beyond that, it reminded me that each religion of this world, while they share many of the same tenets, practices, principles, and even forefathers, are all going in different directions.

Buddhists are after enlightenment through emptiness.

Hindus seek the absorption and unity with the ONE.

Animism goal is cosmic harmony, and human well-being.

Islam’s religious end is total surrender to Allah.

Christianity’s ultimate goal is communion with God.

What does this say about the world’s religions? To me, it says that they are not necessarily “right” or “wrong” but it shows me what their aims are. After 30 Days, the man who had lived with Muslims learned to embrace the people, the culture and even their prayers/worship because he saw their aim as different from the aim of Christianity.
Can one aim be “better” than another? Sure! Before the world began, God existed in community. He is innately a relational God - he IS communion. Seeking communion with him through the salvation that Jesus Christ offers is the ultimate goal a “religion” can have. There are not many ways of being saved - because only Christ offers salvation. Salvation from self. Salvation from sin. We are only like God when we are tied in with God, and become communal just as God is by participating with God in communion with others. There are however many different genuine goals world religions can have which do not compromise the ultimate goal of communion with the one God.

If Christians took seriously the fact that they are fundamentally relational, then our outreach and good works would not come from a form of guilt, but from a deep sense of who we are as relational beings. As God is communal, so I am communal. We become the sacraments to the world.

I am sure that I do not have the authoritative voice on the issue of the world’s religious diversity. I do know that Jesus is the only one that offers salvation - and that is what I am desperate for. All other religious ends seem fickle in light of eternal communion at the Lord’s Table. In the end, a Buddhist gets what he is looking for: the end of existence. Could it be that Christ will offer then the ultimate goal of salvation in the moments after a Buddhist’s death? That’s a question I’m definitely not qualified to answer. …maybe if I got my doctorate…

I have a really good friend who is engaged to a young woman in Beirut.  Of course, right now that city is under attack from Israel, and it looks very grim for even the civilians of that Lebanese city.  What makes this even more intriguing is that my friend has devoted his life to Jewish studies, and is planning some pretty amazing work on the language of 1st Century Palestinian Greek.  So to see him dealing with the hate and anger for the nation of Israel, and yet working so passionately on this project in Jewish history has got to be making his head spin.

More than anything of course, he just wants his fiancee back.  I don’t blame him.  Last night as I was laying in bed I looked over at my beautiful bride and kept thinking to myself, “Why do I get to lay close and keep safe my wife tonight, while my friend aches with fear and is riddled with the political imbroglio of the Near East?”  I don’t deserve the life I live - the maddeningly gorgeous woman that sticks with me through thick and through thin - the opportunity to devote an entire week carefully examining God’s Word, not to mention the years I have been involved in training for mission in the US… The blessings in my life are a mystery.  Last night as I lay there wondering why I had been offered the undeserved blessing of watching my wife sleep soundly, I gave up all pretenses of wondering “why” and just began to thank the Lord for the gift of the moment.  I thanked him for the gift of my wife.  I thanked him for the life he had given me and the life I was leading.  I gave thanks to him for the peaceful situation we live in, even while there is so much turmoil in the world around us.

The peace is not universal or fair, and that means the thankfulness should not lead to apathy.  But for one moment - one blissful evening, I am reminded of just how much I am to be thankful for.

I don’t usually pray for anyone named “Abdul” (not your normal Western-type). But today I am. Over in Afghanistan, Abdul Rahman is on trial for converting to Christianity. The penalty? Death. Read the story here.

What might the world become after witnessing a man die on the basis of his Christian faith? How much is the cause of Christ and his Kingdom impacted positively and negatively when the whole world watches someone’s faith silenced in death by another government-backed faith? It really places me in the shoes (sandals) of those living in the first, second and third centuries. This was a common reality for them – and it made their faith all the more zealous.

Would I turn down my Lord if I was to be executed for remaining by his side? What about torture? What if they told me they would torture my wife if I did not put away Jesus Christ? How does suffering and the suffering of those I love weigh in on my devotion to Christ?

You know what they’re saying in defense of Abdul Rahman? They’re saying “he’s crazy, no normal person who talk like he is talking”. They’re saying this because he has stated openly that he is ready to die for his faith. 99% of Afghans are Muslim, and 1% is “other”. With such a spiritual stronghold on a country, converting to the Way of Jesus means something totally different than it would in Abilene, TX. I agree with them – he’s not normal…he’s what I’m striving to become.