For the Common Good

by on June 14, 2010

I have drafted a statement which explains the friendship and cooperation I have with Ahmed El-Sherif (an Arab-American Muslim) and Samuel Nachum (an Israeli-American Jew) as we work together in the Let The Children Play for Peace project. It goes like this:

For the Common Good

We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek to follow our respective religions faithfully.
We do not believe all religions are the same.
We recognize the reality of our religious differences.
But we are friends.
We are devout in our faith and respectful of our friendship.
Our faith and friendship need not be mutually exclusive.
We recognize that we share common space—the common space of a shared planet.
For the sake of the common good we seek common ground.
We do not share a common faith, but we share a common humanity.
In our different religions we do not practice the same rituals or pray the same prayers.
But in our shared humanity we hold to a common dream: Shalom, Salaam, Peace.
We hold to the dream that our children may play in peace without fear of violence.
And so…
We pledge not to hate.
We pledge not to dehumanize others.
We pledge to do no harm in the name of God.
As individuals we do not compromise the truth claims of our respective religions—
But we will not use truth claims to fuel hate or justify violence.
We will practice our respective faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.
But we believe our faith can be practiced in the way of peace—
We believe our faith truly practiced need never be at odds with humanitarian ideals.
Our religions share a complex and intertwined history—
A history of interaction that has too often been tumultuous and bloody.
We believe there must be a better way and we seek that better way.
The way of peace.
We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek common ground for the common good.
Shalom, Salaam, Peace.

Ahmed El-Sherif
Samuel Nachum
Brian Zahnd

I think it is a good statement. A step in the right direction. And if asked: Are you implying a concession to not proselytize in exchange for coexistence? This is my reply:

My statement does not preclude evangelizing Muslims and Jews; it precludes endorsing hatred and violence in the name of Christ. I confess Jesus is Lord. I believe in proclaiming the gospel. I am for sharing the gospel with everyone, including Muslims. But Christianity and Islam have been coexisting for 1,400 years and today there are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. In a world that has suffered deeply from religiously inspired violence we must find a way to live together in peace. Ultimately I will argue that peaceful dialogue is more conducive to successful evangelism than entrenched hostility. While seeking to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to my Muslim neighbor, I am willing to pledge to do him no harm and respect his humanity. I cannot imagine Jesus being opposed to this.

What do you think? Can you befriend people of other faiths?

BZ

(The painting is The Good Samaritan by Vincent van Gogh)

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  • Dan Weiser

    What a beautiful statement without comprimising who you are and what you are about spreading the Gospel of Jesus. Thank you dear friends for taking the first step in showing we don’t have to be violent to coexist! Sometimes Friend have to agree to disagree!

  • John Cummings

    Jesus taught love – and patience. While we may be frustrated by the fact that our friends so not see what we know as truth, we still love them, and try to realize that love and patience is crucial to bringing them to God’s love, hopefully, in God’s timing, not ours.
    Thanks, Brian

  • http://www.maryligon.wordpress.com Mary Ligon

    Some of my best friends are Muslims. When we lived in Egypt and the Gulf War commenced, our Muslim neighbors were the ones who begged us to stay indoors lest we be attacked by fundamentalists, and promised to bring us food and water. In Beirut, Lebanon (most famous for Hizballah and the 1982 horrific bombing of the US Embassy and its hundreds of Marines posted there), on the day of 9/11, it was our Muslim neighbors who came weeping to our door to beg us to understand that “they were not like that,” and to ask if our family in the States were all OK, and phoned us from as far as Yemen.

    I don’t believe we can avoid befriending — and I mean authentically, not solely for an ulterior motive — those from other faiths, and follow closely the Christ of the gospels. If Christ did not live as “Friend of sinners,” where would any of us be? Was I of the Christian faith before He pursued and found me? Hardly; I was one of an “other” faith, which is any faith — even those named atheism, agnosticism, humanism, secularism or materialism — not rooted in Christ.

    Is it possible *not* to be of “an other” faith before our faith finds home in Him? Was He — is He — not the Friend of [all] sinners? Did Jesus befriend only those who would go along with His plan and believe in Him? or… was He simply Friend of sinners, loving each one for their value, not based on whether they would respond the way He longed, and follow Him? This is part of His love, in respecting our God-given free will, and loving us whatever the outcome of each free will. “Friendship evangelism,” if offered in anything but unconditional love that truly says, “I love you for who you are — no strings attached — and whether you follow Jesus or not, I love you because you are exceedingly precious to Him, and *He* loves you whether you believe and follow Him or not,” and that remains a friend, as Jesus has done with us, then is it really either friendship of evangelism? Or is it a ruse toward a target, a “catch,” with love and friendship withheld if we “do not get our way with them.” Must we not say, I HOPE for you Jesus, but I LOVE you and will be your friend whatever, as He does.

    Thanks be to God that to this one — who deeply knows both the paths of “other” faith and excruciating faithlessness — He has been, and remains for this sinner, ever Friend and faithful. And it is that love that prevailed and continues to prevail with me.

  • http:// Brian Zahnd

    Thank you for your comment, Mary. You are one of the most qualified people I know to comment on this subject. Blessings to you and Terry.

  • Steve Parsons

    Thanks Brian. I think your statement is open and inclusive without being marginal and compromising. I think it reflects the heart of Jesus.

    I have an uncle who is a muslim. He’s Egyptian. I’ve always related to him first and foremost as a human being. I want my theology to be a bridge that engages me with humanity, not a trench that segregates me from humanity.

    I think the spirit of what you wrote in your statement (although I understand the context of religious hatred) could also be applied to other groups of people in society. I want to relate to people primarily as human beings created in God’s image. I don’t want to relate to them primarily as ‘hindu’s’ or ‘gays’ or ‘politicians’ or ‘atheists’ or ‘popstars’.

    It’s time for us to come out of trenches, take down our protest signs and realise that people are not our enemy. They never were.

  • Peter Vandever

    Yet the truth remains…. the Islamic world is filled with people walking in utter deception enslaved to a religion that will land them a RVSP in the lake of fire. I am not being a nationalist here as many Evangelicals can be at times. Just truth.

    We can not hate them but we MUST reach them and we must be authentically biblical among them.

    I was in Pakistan this February briefly and I can tell you one thing. These people are lost and have NO hope. I believe that Jesus is that hope. That’s message is something we must be willing to die for.

    On September 11, 20001 a few dozen used what they have learned to operate to bring down a structure they believe needed to fall. In the aftermath of the US Embassy attacks in Lebonnen, an officer was asked how it happened. His reply is biblically backed, “You can’t stop a man that will willing to die for what he believes.”

    Today, few are willing to die for what they believe.

  • Cord the Seeker

    What was the question again?

  • jan

    what would impact the world more?

    if people believed what you believe?
    inwardly and outwardly…

    if people loved as you love?
    inwardly and outwardly…

    if people love in deed and word, as Jesus loves.

  • http:// Brian Zahnd

    If driven by the spirit of triumphalism, evangelism comes across as little more than, “My religion is better than your religion.” And no matter how true that may be, it will be largely ineffective in calling people to faith in Jesus Christ.

    For those who don’t know Mary Ligon, she and her husband Terry are career missionaries to the Muslim world and have lived in Egypt and Lebanon. Her insights (in her comment above) should be seriously regarded and contemplated.

  • http://www.angiewashington.com/ Angie Washington

    Sounds like the whistle on the train is blowing letting us know that this is one of the stops on the new line we are riding. Thanks for being real and encouraging us to do the same. Your statements and Mary’s comment have challenged me today. Shalom, Salaam, Peace.

  • http://www.respiratorytherapistguide.com Respiratory Therapist

    Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  • anand mishra

    lucknow in india is known for its muslim food and culture,14 years back lord gave me opportunity to share with a young muslim man – we interacted for two years,i never forced him into any thing(at times we make this mistake),
    last month i got a call from him,he preaches christ today ! there are other family members who accepted christ.there is a group of muslim believers who gather and pray together in the name of jesus !