GlocalNet

Colossians 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

I am so tired of hearing this, “When you were introduced as an evangelical and then you explained what that meant and what you believed I thought - yuck - but when I began to listen to you it made sense and I understood it - I didn’t know there were evangelicals like you - you’ve made me rethink my view.”  I spent a fair amount of time in London with the South African ambassador to the US.  He’s muslim - and though there are not many Muslims in South Africa - he is one of Indonesian/Dutch descent.  I loved this man, if I lived near him we’d hang out a lot.  He is the guy who worked with the Lausanne Committee – that’s for another blog . . . .

Last week in London I heard that several times from Imams, diplomats, educators - you name it.  I had the exact same experience in Boerne, Switzerland.  I’ve heard it a lot, but I’m hearing it more.
To “outsiders” the term evangelical has become a dirty word.  It means arrogant, bullying, bigoted, judgmental, and not very global in your perspective, not willing to work with other people, Republican and far right politics, and the list goes on.  It reminds me of Rick Warren taking Baptist from the name of his church when he started it because of the negative view so many people in Southern California had from the “Baptist” stereotype. 

But this is different and cannot be ignored and segmented - we’re not talking about a single church - we’re talking about the broader body of Christ and how we have impacted the world - in a negative way.  IT IS NOT OUR BELIEFS THAT GET US IN TROUBLE WITH OTHERS - IT IS OUR SPIRIT, ATTITUDE AND HOW WE COMMUNICATE! 

As I was speaking at one of the forums (you can Google Islam Channel in England, they’ll all be on line along with an interview they did with me) some asked me “you really are an evangelical?”  I answered, “Yes, I believe the Bible is true, just like any Imam believes the Qur’an is true.”  Several imams began to shake their heads - they haven’t had textual criticism, etc.  They all believe their book to be inspired.  “Because I have rejected Mohammed as a divine prophet - I cannot go to heaven, any Imam and most Muslims would tell you that.  But it doesn’t mean they’re bigoted or evil - it means they value the truth of their Qur’an.  I cannot reject my Bible.  If I believed Mohammed was a divine prophet - then I no doubt would be a Muslim.”  All the Imams were grinning and shaking their heads. 

Something fantastic in that room was taking place:

1.  We were being honest about what we believe - not sitting there smiling, hiding, concealing, or hoping no one asked us the bad questions. 

2.  By me taking the first step in what I believe, because I have confidence in my faith (!), and then undergirding the concept of divine truth with the Imams it gave us all permission to hold our different views even viewing one another as heretics!  You will never talk to people about God with whom you don’t listen, respect, or care about deeply.  It’s so much easier to build walls and ignore others, even entire populations, than to love like Jesus loved. 

3.  There was no need for anyone to get angry, upset, emotional, or hateful - we were there as friends and fellow global citizens trying to understand each other and how to get along.  We were talking about ways we could even work together in the world - particularly around humanitarian causes.  Can you imagine the impact of that?  I am so tired of people who want to keep people in the faith by isolating them from others - that just isn’t our world. 

4.  The beauty of our message and the power of the Gospel rarely get to be shared because of the arrogant and hateful way in which we make exclusivist statements.  Do you care about someone enough to eat a meal and just have fun with them?  I hung out with this one guy who had a dyed red beard - I’ve seen that in Muslims often.  I asked him, “Mahmoud - why don’t dye that beard black instead of red?”  “Bob, the prophet Mohammed dyed his beard red with henna so we do - the Hadith teaches that if you dye it black it makes you look younger than you are and you should never do that.”  I told him, “Mohmoud - you’re not making a good case for me wanting to be a Muslim; my beard would be half gray by now!”  We all died laughing followed by questions on the Trinity.  We have to stop preaching - and start listening and building friendships and sharing. 

The second question I was asked was - “And are there more evangelicals like you?”  I answered, “Millions - you just don’t always get to meet them or hear from them - come to our http://www.globalfaithforum.org and you can meet a lot of them - but there may be some there that are also hateful - I can’t promise you everyone is going to be respectful.”  Already one nation is interested in us bring the forum to their country where there is a lot of tension. 

When I read the verse Paul wrote in Galatians it summarized how he responded to people on Mars Hill, to people in the Jewish synagogues - be gracious - and give answers.  I’m learning so much right now - and a lot about my own faith from having to give answers to others about what I believe.  Just one thing I’m learning is trying to explain the Trinity in terms of essence and form is nearly impossible - explaining the Trinity in terms of functionality is powerful.  It’s helped me in giving clearer answers to other Christians - not just Muslims or Jews or Hindus. 

The world is connected - there really is just one conversation now - there is no public and private - it’s all public.  Evangelicals need to come out of the closet about what they believe but they need to leave in the closet the hatefulness, the arrogance, and the mean spiritedness that often accompanies people who think they have all the answers - and let me be clear - I DON’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS - BUT ALL MY ANSWERS ARE IN JESUS! 

Register today at http://www.globalfaithforum.org and join literally hundreds that are coming together - you are not going to want to miss this.