Jesus and the Mosque

For weeks I’ve been listening—sadly—to the heated public debate about the proposed community center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York. I’ve wished I could add something constructive to the conversation, but what? I didn’t know, so I continued simply to listen, ponder and pray. Then two days ago I stumbled upon a brief article by Leighton Ford that captures my thoughts.

Like many who grew up in the church, I’d heard of Leighton Ford for decades. The brother-in-law of Billy Graham, Leighton is himself a gifted evangelist who has spoken to millions of people in 37 countries. He served as the Vice President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and for many years was the featured alternate speaker to Billy Graham on the Hour of Decision radio broadcast, and hosted his own daily TV and radio spots in the US, Canada and Australia.

Clearly, Leighton Ford is well grounded in the historic Christian faith and has long been respected in the mainstream of evangelical Christianity. That’s all I knew about him until I recently served with him on the US Board of World Vision. That’s when I discovered that Leighton is also an incredibly warm and soulful man, an accomplished artist and author, and a deep and careful thinker. I am most grateful that Leighton Ford Ministries is committed to raising up younger leaders to spread the message of Jesus worldwide. And I hope many American Christians will read and espouse the perspective Leighton shares in the following words. I’m convinced he’s right: Jesus’ voice is the one we need to pay attention to.


Jesus and the Mosque, Leighton Ford



On a shelf at home I have a copy of Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road, the story of the Syrian-born writer Mazhar Mallouhi. As a young man who grew up in a Muslim family he had a profound spiritual hunger, read widely, learned of Jesus in the Bible, and became a follower of Christ while remaining loyal to his Muslim culture.



His novels are read by millions in the Middle East. Through them he has sought to bridge misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians. 



In the book is a photo of him in the famous Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, sitting with a group of Muslims as they read the Gospels together. It is his custom to say, “I am a follower of Christ. Here is what Jesus said. Tell me honestly, do you think I am living as Jesus said I should?”



I thought of Mallouhi’s question during the heated dispute over the location of a Muslim mosque and community center near Ground Zero in New York. Among the voices being raised – some harsh with anger, some deep with indignation about rights – I wonder if the missing voice is that of Jesus?



If I were a Muslim I might want to claim rights, but also want my leaders to consider whether another location would work and help to heal some deep hurts. But I am not a Muslim. Those issues are for the Muslim community to decide.



What I need to ask is: what does Jesus say to us who say we follow him?

Suppose we, like Mallouhi, sat down with some Muslims in the new community center, and read with them some of the words of Jesus, words like “Do good to those who hate you.” That could apply to radical terrorists who want to blow us up. So how can it not apply to Muslim neighbors who are living among us?



Many years ago my late friend J. Christy Wilson was pastor of the first ever Christian church in Kabul, Afghanistan. Through the good offices of President Eisenhower permission was granted to build the church, attended by Christian expatriates.



The time came when the Afghan authorities revoked permission and announced they would knock the church down. When the bulldozers arrived what did the church people there do? Served tea to the workers who were pulling down their church building!



They were living out a central tenet of our Christian faith – that we are “saved by grace” – God’s grace freely given in Jesus Christ – and they showed grace.



How can we do that? I hope the churches and the Christ followers in New York can figure it out. Perhaps delivering a cool drink to the workers who will build the center? After all Paul went so far as to write (and this was about enemies, not neighbors) “If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.”



Does this mean we naively accept real evil? Not at all. I understand the rage that 9/11 stirred. Force is often needed to protect the innocent. But ultimately I have to follow Jesus as Paul did when the apostle admonished us to “overcome evil with good.”



What does the love of Christ compel me to do? Perhaps, whether in New York or Charlotte, to extend a little more grace – actually a whole lot more. Wouldn’t that be the best witness we could make right now?


Mothers and Kids and Letting Go

I just received a note from a friend from Seattle who is driving his eldest son to Wheaton College in Illinois to begin his freshman year. Any parent who has driven that particular route will understand why my friend asked if we could schedule a necessary business call during his return trip home. He claims it will be a welcome break from the ubiquitous signs for the infamous Wall Drugs, but I suspect he might also appreciate the sympathies of a mother who well remembers what it was like to send my kids cross-country for school. Another friend recently wrote an essay about sending her son off to the same college that his older sister was attending when she died suddenly of unexpected illness. My friend wants to lift her son up into the winds of life and let him soar, but oh how hard it is. Last week, a friend I hadn’t seen for years, an old man now, asked me how I felt when Todd left on his two-year round-the-world sailing trip. As he asked detail after detail I realized that in his mind he was detailing the events surrounding a similar trip his son took. How many decades had it been? Two? Three? Yet, how quickly the details of that memory wrap around a moment, or twist through a conversation. Any experience of letting go of a child, whether for a year or for a lifetime, deeply marks a parent.

I have no children leaving for school or taking off on adventures this fall. But in honor of so many of my friends who do, I’m posting an article I wrote when Todd was leaving for his sailing trip. Click on the Articles page and under the Bits and Pieces header, read “Mothers and Sons and Letting Go.” Every time I read this article I feel like I’m right back there, talking myself into being braver and more mature than I want to be!