If Joseph and Mary were to venture into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve looking
for a room at the inn, they would need a fast donkey to dodge bullets.
If Joseph and Mary were to venture into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve looking
for a room at the inn, they would need a fast donkey to dodge bullets.
Caught in the crossfire – that is how Christians in the
Middle East have felt as Jews and Arabs fight over a homeland. Now that hopes
for Israeli-Palestinian peace have collapsed once again into street warfare,
the Christians’ sense of living under siege has returned.
That even is true for members of the Palestinian Christian
minority, despite their general support for Palestinian statehood. However,
since the violence has exploded even they have been denounced by some militant
Muslim leaders.
It also is true for American Christians working in the wider
Arab world, who must cope with Muslim friends and neighbors who are angry at
what they see as unjust United States policy in the region. “In our three
years living in the Middle East, we have received many warnings from the U.S.
Embassy regarding possible terrorist actions or other anti-American activity,”
one American evangelical couple writes to friends. “Yet we have never felt
those past situations affected our relationships (with Muslims).
“This time it is completely different. Literally our whole
country is talking about it, …” the couple explains. “There is strong
anti-American feeling all around because of our government’s support of
Israel.”
They plead for prayer. “Please pray that God would anoint
our words when we are with our friends. (We’re) surprised to find even
(our) most unpolitical friends very wrapped up in the situation. From their
view, they see an oppressed people struggling for independence … .
“Most Arabs see Christianity hand in hand with America
and they reject it all the more now – and even us to some extent –
because they see the USA and Christianity as so uncaring to their plight. …
Please pray we do not take on a ‘siege mentality.’ We need to stay
engaged that they might see our God in us, as well as his compassion for (those
suffering) injustice.”
Whether the Muslim perspective is entirely accurate or fair
is irrelevant. Perception is reality on the Arab “street.”
“Infinitely more painful” was the reaction of several
young men who recently turned back to seeing Jesus as only a prophet after affirming
him as Lord, the couple explains.
“Please pray for these guys that God would continue the
good work he has begun in them,” they ask.
Despite the grim realities in the region, Christians see many
reasons for hope as they strive to express the love of Jesus. For one thing,
most Arabs prize relationships above national identities. “Arabs are relational
people,” a veteran Christian worker says. “Though I’m an American,
I do not relate to Arabs as an American but as a person. Arabs make a decision
to invite you into their relationships, and, in a sense, you become an extended
family member to them.
“I’ve had Arabs say, ‘We hate American foreign
policy but not you. You’re our friend.’ We just need to be bold enough
to live Christ and to strip ourselves of political and cultural baggage that
we carry almost unconsciously.”
More important, Christians see people on both sides of the
conflict seeking spiritual truth with new intensity – because of the conflict
itself. Among Arab Muslims, the issue is “knowing that God sent his Son
and that he lives victorious today after dying on a cross so that they can have
eternal life,” the worker says. “In the midst of this suffering is
a prime opportunity for them to respond to that.”
The same opportunity exists among Jews. Volunteers distributing
the “Jesus” film in Israel recently reported tremendous openness on
the part of Jews because of the dangerous situation. “They were ready to
receive the film,” one worker says. “They asked questions. One lady
openly said, ‘I have watched this film, and I am going to follow this Christ.’”
In another case, the family of an Israeli soldier shot during
a skirmish warmly welcomed believers into his hospital room when it learned
many American Christians who witnessed the shooting via CNN were praying for
the soldier’s recovery.
Violence and suffering are painful, but God has consistently
used such events to reveal himself and his love to people who might otherwise
never discover him, the worker says.
He calls on all Christians to pray that God would bring many
people caught in the current turmoil – both Jews and Arabs – to the
true peace found in Christ alone.
“It’s unpleasant to us, because we would rather not
go through these events,” he says. “Jesus would rather not have gone
through the cross. But God uses the evil machinations of humanity to bring about
his redemptive path.” (BP)
(Persons may search for prayer requests for Israel, Palestinian Arabs, Israeli
Arabs at www.imb.org/CompassionNet/index.asp. Profiles of people groups in Israel
can be found at www.bethany.com/profiles/c_code/is
rael.html. Profiles of Palestinian Arab people groups are posted at www.bethany.com/profiles/clusters/
8049.html.)