Love thy neighbor!
What is it? The Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine where followers of Islam believe that the prophet Muhammed ascended into heaven, met with Allah, and subsequently returned to the earth. It is by far the most distinct landmark in Jerusalem, built on the Temple Mount in the Eastern portion of the Old City.
This building stirs many emotions in the heart of today's evangelical Christian: anger, jealousy, even fear. Why? Although scholars are unsure, it is probable that the Dome of the Rock is built directly on top of (or at least very close to) the site of the Holy of Holies, where God resided in the long-destroyed Old Testament temple. In one sense, some have said that this site holds more importance to the religion of Islam than even their holy city of Mecca, where all able-bodied Muslims are supposed to make a pilgrimage at least once in their life (the Hajj). The reason for this dates back to the Old Testament as well: controlling an opposing religion's holy site or icon is the same as saying "our god is greater than your god." This is why the Philistines placed the captured ark of the Lord in their temple to the false god Dagon in 1 Samuel 5. (Read this humorous story if you're not familiar with it, including 1 Samuel 4-6 for context, to see how YHWH makes a mockery out of Dagon, the god of the Philistines). In addition, for evangelical Christians who believe in a literal tribultation and millenium (which I believe is the majority), this Dome of the Rock must eventually be destroyed to make room for the rebuilding of the Temple, where regular sacrifices seem to be taking place in Daniel. Since the Dome of the Rock's destruction seems so inexorably linked with the coming of Christ in the end days, Christians today delight in speculating the event of its destruction, since this would be one step closer to ushering in the second coming of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah).
Is this attitude biblical? It seems that the general attitude of today's Christian towards the Dome of the Rock is the same as his/her attitude towards the Muslim in general. But aren't they our neighbors? Do you hate your Muslim neighbor? Jesus commands us to love them. Even if you consider the Muslim your enemy, you are to love them!
When you see pictures of the Dome of the Rock, do you feel anger, or sadness? Sadness, because 1.3 billion of the world's population is deceived by Islam (that's 1 out of every 6 people). Sadness, because only 2-3% of today's Christian missionary task force is devoted to working with Muslims. Sadness, because more missionaries are serving in Alaska than with the entire Muslim world put together. Sadness because your stereotypical Christian stereotypes the Muslim, hating him for 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, and Iraq, and forgetting that over a billion of them are on their way to hell.
Don't sin against the Lord by taking the attitude of Jonah, anxious for the destruction of Ninevah.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
- Ephesians 6:12
posted by Nate Boone @ 1:38 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Nate,
I agree with you... sadness is most appropriate, yes, but if you are making a correlation between the Mulsims occupying the space that was the Holy of Holies and the Philistines posessing the Ark of the Covenant (and I believe you do so correctly) as sort of a mocking snub towards Christians and essentially Christ, then anger, righteous anger because God is intentionally being offended, is justified.
We should love them and pray for them and witness to them, but an offense against God is NOT something to be overlooked.
Be wary of hippy christianity. Anger sometimes is the appropriate response for the Christian. Furthermore, wrath and anger are just as much attributes of God as are love and kindness. We must see God as the whole context of scripture presents Him. Psalm 110:5-6 is just as much inspired text as is John 3:16.
Also, the people in Alaska without Christ are going to the same Hell as the people in Saudi Arabia without Christ.
I don't mean this harshly in any way, I just felt I should respond to some of the insinuations in your post that definitely raised my eyebrows.
I really hope you're doing well and I wish you would email me!!!
Your friend,
Steve
Hey Steve--
A few clarifications:
"Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers.'"
-John 4:21, 23
Since the coming of Christ, the worship of YHWH has been delocalized from the Temple Mount. Now anyone can worship Him through our great high priest, Jesus Christ, regardless of location. As Christians, it is very interesting to visit the historical site of the temple, but it is not a "sacred" or "holy" place for us. Thus, the Dome of the Rock may be a snub to Jews and even Eastern Orthodox "Christians", Catholics, etc., but not to us.
Be careful about righteous anger... Certainly God is always justified in wrath against those who rebel against Him (which is all of us!) because he is completely righteous. However, we are not. Being righteously angry assumes we are righteous, but because of our depraved state I think the line between righteous and unrighteously manifesting it can quickly become blurred. Yes, I believe it is appropriate to be angry when we see others defame the name of God, but we are too often tempted to take the logical next step and execute justice for God on our own. Rather, this is God's job. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." (Heb. 10:30)
I believe that in this situation the natural application of righteous anger is evangelism, missions etc. We are angry that people are rebelling against God, so we share the gospel with them so that they might one day worship Him! My concern is that I see Americans as largely prejudiced against Muslims, stewing and hating them rather obeying Jesus' command to preach the gospel to all nations. Hate the sin, not the sinner.
I recognize that people in Alaska need the gospel just as much as those in Saudi Arabia, I'm just pointing out the numbers. Don't you think the church is having a bit of a strategy problem here?
Thanks for the thoughts, I appreciate you forcing me to think more about my statements. Do you still use your Yahoo account? Check it.
God Bless!
--Nate
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