America The Church and the Middle East in a New Era 

William Burns, former US Ambassador to Jordan, now Undersecretary for Political Affairs spoke to the Middle East Institute yesterday.  Thanks to YMedad for including this link to his speech.  I'd encourage your reading of the whole speech or watching the video... interesting remarks.  I said earlier this year after Obama's Cairo speech, that the church should have led this new posture of humility and mutual respect towards Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East years ago. I wish I could say things have changed even in the last year, but there isn't much positive evidence of such I've seen.  How about you?  Have you seen any positive change in the church's and church leader's attitude towards Islam, Muslims and the Middle East recently? Are there any church leaders taking up the cause of peace-making in the Middle East conflict?

A few excerpts that I found particularly resounding if applied to the church as well are below.  This was not Mr. Burns' purpose, but I'll take some liberties and borrow these quotes.  Just substitute 'church' for 'America' in a couple places, and you'll find a gentle rebuke akin to the message ofThe Outer Court. Well stated Mr. Burns.

"I’ve learned that a little humility goes a long way in the exercise of American the church's power and purpose in the Middle East. We come by that humility honestly, through many trials and many errors. (ie the Crusades) Winston Churchill, a life-long admirer of America, once said that the thing he liked most about Americans the church was that “they always did the right thing in the end … they just liked to exhaust all the alternatives first.” The latter describes much of our historical experience in the Middle East; the former is an outcome to which we always aspire.

I’ve learned that America the church can lead more effectively through the power of our example than through the power of our preaching. I’ve learned that other people and other societies have their own realities, not always identical or hospitable to ours. That doesn’t mean that we have to accept them or indulge them,(isn't this what contextualization of a biblical world-view is?) but it does mean that understanding them is the starting point for successful policy. (or evangelism in the church's case)" (italics and strikeouts mine).

 The whole speech in video (thank you US State Dept).