GlocalNet

Steve’s blog is citizenbezner.org - I think - you can google Steve Bezner’s blog and you’ll find it.  Steve is a fantastic church planter I’ve had the joy of knowing the past couple of years.  He went through our church planting stuff and has begun working globally - he was with me on a trip and I was blown away by what he wrote - read, enjoy, then do something! 

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

What Does Fort Worth Have To Do With Jerusalem?
I’ve recently returned from a trip to the MidEast, touring Israel and the West Bank. The trip was not primarily for pleasure, although I did have a fantastic time. Instead, the trip was intended for educational purposes. One of the pastors teaching me church planting and global engagement invited me (and other pastors) on a week-long trip to understand the complexities of interacting within the international community.

The experience was eye-opening, to say the least.

My background, education, and American-mindedness had led me to think in terms of Israel and the West Bank in black and white terms. Israel was good. The Palestinians were bad. I suppose that, if pressed, I would have conceded that it was probably more complex than that. But I had no idea just how complex it really is.

It would be impossible for me to surmise the trip in one blog post, but I thought that by highlighting a few of my experiences I could begin to explain the variable nature of the conflict facing the region.

I was amazed at the hospitality I experienced on my trip. I sat down to meals with Muslims, Christians, orthodox Jews, and secular Jews. I found them all to be exceptionally engaging people with a love for their city and their country. Interestingly enough, I also found that almost each of them believes in and wants peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. They want to see some sort of solution by which these two groups of people can co-exist. When you experience such hospitality and hear such opinions, then you begin to recognize that the categories of “good guys” and “bad guys” are rather naïve and passé. Are there people who do bad—even evil—things? Absolutely. But do they represent the entire population on whose behalf they believe they are acting? Not even close.

We will soon begin walking through the Sermon on the Mount at The Commons. I’m reminded that Jesus talked of loving our enemies. When you drink mint lemonade, share hummus, feast on tomato and cucumber salad, and sip Turkish coffee with someone, you begin to like them. When you hear how the current political climate has put his family in a difficult position and made economic recovery almost impossible, you begin to identify with him. Soon you find that he is not your enemy. He is like you. And you want to help him.

I was also amazed at the remarkable sorts of Christians I met in the West Bank. I met a man whose family has lived on the same hillside, farming the same land for literally hundreds of years. He possesses a deed to the land issued by the Ottoman Empire. Around him are settlers, bent on taking his hillside because he was Palestinian. They have vandalized his land at various times, uprooting his olive trees, breaking his fences, and issuing demolition orders on his property. He is forced to live in a cave because the government will not allow him to build. Nevertheless, he is committed to being the Presence of Christ in this place. Outside his gate is a simple sign that reads: “We Refuse to be Enemies.” His goal is to love those who want him removed. I could not help but be moved by his commitment. I wondered if I would have the same sort of commitment. He is living the Gospel in a difficult place while this morning in the United States we are arguing over much more petty items.

His question to us: “Why do the Christians in the United States not support us?” His point: “My family received the Gospel two thousand years ago. We have been Christians and lived on this land forever. Why do the Christians of the West not speak out on our behalf?” That’s a great question, and it’s one I’m definitely mulling since my return.

The Israel/West Bank region is exceptionally complex because next to the same people who pray for peace there those who dream of violent revolution. There are those who fire rockets from Gaza into a small Israeli town called Sderot. There are those who are militant—both Jews and Muslims—who believe that only in violence will the conflict be resolved.

But, perhaps most importantly, the region is of global significance. The world watches how the United States relates to the Israelis and Palestinians. And it watches how the Christians of the United States relate to both of these groups. If anything, I learned that. Those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus can no longer ignore this part of the world, for it is central to the future of the world. If we talk about engaging the culture and shaping the future, then we must engage Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, for this is where the future is being formed. Either it can have strong Christian voices, or it can find its way forward without them.

I know which option I choose.

I am unsure of how or where I (or The Commons) will be involved in this part of the world in the future. I am still learning. But I find myself watching the news differently. I find myself reading articles with a new eye. I find myself discovering voices I did not know existed just a few weeks ago.

I think this is the heart of global engagement, and, frankly, I think this is what Jesus had in mind as He described the spread of His Kingdom—a place where enemies dine together and discover they are friends by the time the kanafeh is served.