Christ at the Checkpoint conference... you're invited!

Palestinian Christians are calling for Western Evangelicals to learn about current Middle East issues, by coming to the center of the conflict, meeting and listening to different perspectives on Christian Zionism, peace alternatives, the struggle of Israelis and Palestinians and current issues of justice and reconciliation in Bethlehem.  The conference is hosted by Bethlehem Bible College in March of 2012. 

Hope in the Midst of Conflict from Christ at the Checkpoint on Vimeo.

Organizers say: "The aim of the Christ at the Checkpoint conference is to provide an opportunity for Evangelical Christians to prayerfully seek a proper awareness of issues of peace, justice, and reconciliation in the context of the realities on the ground in the Palestinian Territories. It will also provide a platform for serious engagement with Christian Zionism and an open forum for ongoing dialogue between all positions within the Evangelical theological spectrum."

My experience has been with numerous visits to Israel and Palestine, that one leaves changed.  The typical party line of Western Evangelicals doesn't hold up when you walk the shores of Galilee, the streets of Bethlehem, and see the old city and the temple mount.  Most shocking for visitors I've brought there is the wall, and the churches and dear brothers and sisters in Christ who live behind it.  

Tony Campolo wrote after the first Conference  "I personally have witnessed the sadness and disillusionment of Christian Palestinians who feel that their American Christian brothers and sisters could not care less about the sufferings that they must endure. What troubles them most is that their fellow Evangelicals in America have very little understanding of the way the entire Islamic world views what is happening in the Holy Land, and how American Evangelicals who unquestioningly support Israel's policies are hindering evangelism among Muslims.” (emphasis mine) 

Did you hear that...? I've said it before too.  American and Western Christians can have amazing influence in the Middle East, both in the peace process and in evangelism among Muslims by correcting their posture.  This conference presents a unique opportunity to immerse in the Holy Land experience and learn first hand what God is doing.  

Read more about the past conference from the organizer here.

See the conference website here.

After September 11: Muslim Missions

Please check out this article, Muslim Missions: Then and Now, written by J. Dudley Woodberry, a leading scholar on Islam and professor of Islamic Studies.  Great summary of efforts made and developments in recent history, particularly after September 11. 

Favoritism

This is expressed in numbers of situations around the world, possibly none so incendiary as the Palestinian-Israeli issue.  

Christians in the West have abandoned Palestinians, especially Palestinian Christians in their plight.  We've favored the state of Israel, aside from political and economic motives, out of a misplaced end-times infatuation that has perpetuated itself since 1948.  Tens of thousands of Palestinian Muslims, and Christians, residents in Israel and Palestine since the time of Christ, have had to flee because of systematic persecution at the hands of Jews, who themselves not only a few years ago, were suffering the same things at the hands of the Germans.  Hardliner Jews have been systematically persecuting, expelling and even exterminating Palestinians for over 50 years. There are always two sides to the story, and we have not bothered to care about the other half of the story, namely the discrimination and ethnic cleansing that has been wrought in the holy city of Jerusalem.

Palestinians, even Arab-Israeli citizens are routinely denied building permits, have to pay 5x higher taxes in many cases, and have difficulty finding employment.  In the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza, water is rarely turned on, once every two weeks, while government subsidized Jewish settlements in neighboring areas have water 24 hours a day.  The settlement expansion continues, where Jewish settlers take over land that not even the UN recognizes as legally theirs, taking what little the Palestinians have. In these days, Western Evangelicals wouldn't be caught dead agreeing with a Democratic President Obama, who regularly speaks out for peace and the stopping of settlements.  Are we showing favoritism?  

Palestinians react in anger, throwing rocks, sowing dissent, blowing things up... this is a mess.  Palestinians play the role of the underdog, classically making things sound worse than they are, being unreasonable and refusing to reconcile, choosing violence over compromise. They are a hardened bunch, angry from years of oppression and conflict.

In favoring Jews over Palestinians, and not even caring to hear the other side of the story, the Muslim world has reacted in utter horror at how Western Christians have responded.  We have not come to the aid of the suffering, and the Muslim world has not forgiven us for it.  How can they believe a gospel message from us when we have ignored their suffering, and chosen sides? 

Osama's Dead... what now?

I have to admit a small slice of joy over Osama's death this week.  And then I felt guilty.  The Facebook posts varied from 'Justice was done' to 'Love your enemy' and I'm still waffling between the two emotions.  I was going to write a treatise on this, but frankly, someone beat me to it... kudos to Chris Seiple for his article recently published in Christianity Today.  I couldn't have said it better, and I'd highly encourage reading it in full.  It's worth quoting a few highlights:

"This weekend, the perpetrator of 9/11 learned that there are consequences for sin. Those consequences are sometimes delivered by governments whose responsibility is justice (Rom. 13:3-5; 1Pet. 2:14)—even if their bows, according to their condition, may yield evil with the good.

Indeed, since it is a "dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31), we are also humbly reminded of and hopefully repent of our own sin.  And we remember anew that God's Son lived, died, and today teaches a New Testament, calling each of his believers to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:44-45).

I didn't love bin Laden. And I can count on one hand the number of times I prayed for him over the past ten years. My heart convicts me—forgive my sin, dear God—but I have no qualms about his death, or how he died.

I do know, however, that it is not a time for celebration.The God of history is quite clear:"As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live" (Ezek. 33:11). Bin Laden's death, instead, should be a time for somber reflection. We should be grateful for justice, even as we renew our call to live out the message of reconciliation "as though God were making his appeal through us" (2 Cor. 5:19-21).

Pray for more people-to-people relations between America and Pakistan, such as the relationship I have with my Islamist friend. It is these relationships of reconciliation that break down the walls of misunderstanding, creating the possibility of mutual respect and peace. Pray that you might be given a meaningful relationship with a Muslim in your own community.

Finally, pray for wisdom and stamina. This stuff isn't for sissies. As Jesus forewarned: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16).

The times are too many when I have been less than shrewd, less than innocent, as I have journeyed into the Islamic world. It is not an easy thing to let go of stereotypes and preconditions, but I am learning.

It gets easier, I have found, the more I rely on the One who died for his enemy, for my sin. After all, did this Jewish rabbi not engage the enemy Samaritan at the well in mid-day (John 4)? Did this Prince of Peace not forgive his enemies on the cross when nobody asked (Luke 23:34)?

Do we dare aspire to anything less?"