The National Cathedral recently opened its doors to
a Muslim-led prayer service. According
to the Cathedral’s website, the
goal was to encourage greater acceptance between Christians and Muslims. Planners hope that the
people around the world will take note of this service and the welcome extended
by the Cathedral so that Muslims everywhere will adopt a reciprocal welcome of
Christians by Muslims.
One word describes such nonsense: stupid.
Sorry to be so blunt,
but a quick review of how Christians get treated in Muslim countries throughout
the world shows how obviously off-kilter such thoughts are. For instance, in Saudi Arabia it is illegal
to build a Christian church building. In
America, we allow all religions to practice their beliefs in a relatively
unhindered manner (you’re not free to do anything
– child sacrifice to Baal isn’t allowed, for instance), so mosques dot our
landscape even in states like Tennessee in the midst of the so-called Bible
Belt. We don’t require the death penalty
for worshipping other Gods or no God. However,
in some Muslim countries, the opposite is true.
The case of Asia Bibi is a good example.
She is a Pakistani Christian whose death sentence for blasphemy was
upheld because others claimed she insulted Muhammad. The case of Saeed Abedini, in jail for over
two years in Iran because of his activities there in creating house churches,
serves as another high profile example of Muslim “tolerance.” It’s illegal to build a Christian place of
worship in Iran, but the government had long permitted house churches until
Ahmedinejad became prime minister in 2005, after which there was a severe
crackdown. In America, we open our doors
to Muslims in our so-called “National Cathedral.”
Shockingly, I don’t care that the National Cathedral allowed Muslims to pray inside its walls. Buildings are just that: buildings. There is nothing sacrosanct about a Christian church building. It’s a convenience for the gathering of the local body of Christ, not the place where God dwells. As Christians, we believe our individual and corporate human bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. When we leave our church building after Sunday services, the building itself no longer houses God’s presence. Church can be done anywhere, at any time, and at any place a body of true Christian believers gathers. My problem here isn’t the entry of Muslims into the building, my problem is the nonsensical rationale offered by the folks that operate the National Cathedral.
Symbolism matters. You can bet many Americans will see this move
as in keeping with America’s tolerant nature.
It symbolically shows our openness to all and our willingness to provide
freedom to all. I agree. But that’s not why the folks at the National
Cathedral did this. They are seeking
reciprocation from Muslims around the world.
I suspect Muslims likely see this act as one of weakness and proof of
the inferiority of our beliefs. They would never allow Christian worship to
take place inside a mosque. Never.
Here’s the thing:
Muslims rightly don’t accept
Christian worship because according to their beliefs to do so undermines the
proper and correct worship of Allah.
Muslim countries practice what they preach, if you will. Allowing Muslims to pray at the National
Cathedral does nothing to ameliorate Muslim actions throughout the world and,
from the Muslim viewpoint, shouldn’t. It’s
a hopeless, nonsensical, and futile gesture, filled with grandiose silliness
that thinks tolerance as the ultimate religious viewpoint will win the day.
So, what would I
suggest? The National Cathedral should
have said something like this:
We are allowing some
Muslims to offer prayers to Allah in our building to show them the stark
differences between our faiths. We have
no ill will toward Muslim believers, as they are, in every way as us, made in
the image of the one true and living God.
As such, we hope and pray that this gesture will help Muslims in the
United States and elsewhere come to see the gracious reality of service to
others in the name of Jesus Christ. We
do not, in allowing this observance at the National Cathedral in any way accept
the tenets of Islam nor do we acknowledge it is true, but we understand that in
America all are welcome, even those with whom we have profound disagreement. No one from the National Cathedral will
actively participate in this event.
Reverend Gina Campbell,
the National Cathedral’s director of liturgy, claimed Christians and Muslims
worship the same God. We are not going
to win Muslims to Christ with mealy mouthed nonsense about seeking reciprocity
and by telling Muslims we worship the same God.
Devout Muslims don’t think we worship the same God as they do, and nor
should they.
Christians should
practice tolerance, or as the apostle Paul called it, conscience. In 1 Corinthians, Chapters 8, 9, and 10, Paul
discusses Christian tolerance at length.
He explores how Christians can exercise discretion and judgment in
matters which do not undermine the faith.
What Paul does not do, however, is ever suggest conscience rises above
the clear tenets the faith: we are sinners in desperate need of salvation,
which is found only through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the
life.” He did not offer multiple means
for accessing true religion. Islam is
false.
The leaders at the
National Cathedral bungled this not because they allowed Muslims to pray in
their building. They bungled it because
they refused to stand tall for their faith.
They bungled it because they see tolerance as more important than
holiness, and reciprocity as more important than truth. They bungled it because they are cowards who
would rather seek worldly approval than the approval of the holy and living God
into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall.
