Embracing Our Spiritual Kin

I can’t say that I gave it serious thought while I was growing up, but the missionary mentality of that evangelical context seemed to regard the Roman Catholics of Western Europe and Latin America and the Eastern Orthodox Christians of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa as targets for evangelism and not as our spiritual kin. They were considered to be competitors luring people away from saving faith with religious deception. Understandably, they certainly viewed evangelicals in similar ways. I really am not interested in engaging in some sort of debate about the “errors” of one tradition and the “truth” of another or the inferiority and superiority between different Christian traditions.

I can say, however, that through my high school and college years I came to an appreciation of the authentic faith of Christians of an ever widening range of traditions and was increasingly enriched by learning from them. Through my adult life as I have been involved in a variety of ecumenical groups and have drawn on many diverse sources in my contemplative journey, not only have I gained a deep admiration for those with exemplary walks with Jesus, my own faith and journey have been shaped in ways that have been nourishing. I know some of my evangelical friends question whether I have lost my way, but I can only leave that between them and God. I would add that I am sure that in every context of these Christian rivalries, there are more than enough spiritually hungry people to introduce to Jesus without really getting in each other’s way.

This is not to say that theological differences don’t matter. I know that certain approaches and doctrines inhibit and harm. While identifying them in other traditions, particularly those that are unfamiliar, may be easy. Identifying the damaging teaching and practices of one’s own tradition is much more challenging and indeed threatening. But in keeping with Jesus’ word about the log in one’s own eye (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 6:41-42), I think each of us needs to tend to the flaws in our own context before we go pointing out the flaws in a tradition that we may not understand very well.

All of this is background to my reflections on a current issue in which the political may be more controversial and confounding than the theological. That is the urgent appeal of Kurdish and Syrian Christians in the face of Turkey’s assault with US troops standing down. This is just the latest instance in which Christian minorities in predominantly Muslim areas are being victimized by international power politics and deep ethnic divisions. To be sure this is not strictly an issue of US foreign policy but the international community and regional government have contributed to a drastic decline in the Christian presence in these areas, generally with tragic suffering. Nevertheless, as illustrated by Turkey’s attacks on Kurds since the US troop stand down, US policy has been a contributing factor.

As I have suggested in my opening paragraphs, I have come to consider these folk to be my Christian kin, even with theological and political differences of opinion. The irony here is that many in the evangelical community in the US have celebrated what they consider increased religious freedom in the last couple of years. My own perspective is that much of what has been celebrated is trivial (saying “Merry Christmas” for example) and even hurtful to people whom Christ loves (LBGTQ for example – I don’t want to be distracted by a debate of those issues here, but suggest that many attitudes and strategies have not expressed love.) My point is that while some Christians in the US are celebrating these “freedoms,” our sisters and brothers in Christ elsewhere in the world are being violently persecuted and our country’s policies have been one contributing factor.

This is not new and may well be the unintended consequences of actions taken for other political and economic reasons. Nevertheless, our Christian kin have suffered and been reduced in number, in some cases to the point of extinction. Egypt, Libya, Palestine, and perhaps most vividly Iraq. Saddam Hussein was undoubtedly a vicious dictator, but his demise effectively emptied Iraq of Christians. Sadly, some who came to the US as refugees are now facing the prospect of deportation to a country where they will face extermination.

Let me be crystal clear that I do not consider my fellow Christians to be any better or more valuable than any other people. But I do find it sadly ironic that while some are championing what they perceive as increasing freedom for Christians in the US, our Christian kin elsewhere in the world are experiencing intense suffering in which US policy is complicit, though not the whole cause. Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of evangelical Christianity in the US has also recognized the plight of Kurdish and Syrian Christians as a result of Turkey’s military action that is no longer restrained by US military presence.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/october/syrian-christians-kurds-us-withdrawal-turkey.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=11185627&utm_content=675635839&utm_campaign=email

I must also be candid and humble about my moral conundrum as one with a lifelong commitment to non-violence as essential to my aspiration to follow Jesus as his faithful disciple. I believe in protecting the weak and vulnerable from violence inflicted by nations or any other entity that has the power to deploy lethal force. However, I also believe that deploying more lethal force is inherently contradictory and contributes to escalating violence. Developing more creative and effective alternatives is hard work and demands an extraordinarily high level of bravery to face lethal force armed only with moral courage. With only a handful of exceptions, such as Gandhi’s Salt March that brought the British Empire to its knees, history suggests that non-violence has not failed but has not been fairly tried. To be sure there will be casualties and fatalities with a non-violent response to lethal force, but casualties and fatalities are also inherent in war. Somehow we need to do better than “might makes right” or “we won so we must have been right.” I also readily acknowledge that my commitment to non-violence is intrinsically tied up with following Jesus, which is impossible for nations as entities, even if many of its citizens do. I would contend that following Jesus always has been and always will be counter-cultural. I am also acutely aware that my perspective is a minority opinion not just in nations but among professing Christians. I do not intend to be judgmental, nor will I attempt to persuade those who do not accept my premise but honestly acknowledge my lament for our Christian kin.