Observation: First John is a letter or sermon written for a Christian community toward the end of the first century. It was a community trying to define itself: who are we? What do we believe? What are the essentials? Top of the list is faith in Jesus as the Son of God. This is the faith that "conquers the world", which does NOT mean military expansion of Christian territories (sorry Constantine, Charlemagne, et al), but rather a spiritual anchor in the hearts of believers that holds true through the worst indignities the outside world can throw at us.
Application: I am a huge proponent of interfaith dialog. One sadness of living in a more rural, predominantly Christian area now is that I have less opportunity to do it. But a key to real, authentic and respectful interfaith dialog is owning your own exclusive truth claims. Every faith has them. Buddhists have the Four Noble Truths. Jews have their Covenant with the Lord. Muslims have the Qur'An as revealed divine truth. And as a Christian, a defining feature is recognizing Jesus to be God's Son. That does not mean I don't respect those who believe differently. But it means I understand who and whose I am, so that I can go into any discussion sharing my authentic self with others. Knowing our differences leads to deeper, more meaningful discussion than glossing them over and keeping things surface-level. The "I'm nice, you're nice, we both like to love our neighbors" talk is good for as far as it goes, but it withholds key parts of ourselves that we would be blessed by exploring.
Increasingly, life for Christians is a life of interfaith dialogue. This can mean dialogue with adherents of other ancient faiths, yes. But it can also mean dialogue with those with no religious faith, or for whom other, non-religious truth claims have become central. Understanding who we are, whose we are, and what we stand for equips us to be real in those discussions...and frankly, in my view, the more closely connected we are to our roots, the less threatened we feel when we encounter those who differ. The discussion becomes less about "winning them over" than demonstrating my truth with how I conduct myself, and how well I'm able to listen to your truth.
Prayer: Jesus, I know you as God's Son. I praise you for saving me from sin and death. I ask your help in sharing you with my neighbor, not as a weapon inflicted but as a gift bestowed. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment