Fear Should Never Ever Trump Love

As many of you know I have a strong interest in living by the truth of the Bible and defending it against attack. I have spent many years studying God’s Word, and while there is still much I do not know, I can smell an attack on the fundamentals of our faith from a mile away. As believers it is crucial that we abide by the precepts of Scripture through which we grow in relationship with God. We must equip one another to understand the content of our faith (theology), the defence of our faith (apologetics) as well as the practical living-out of our faith (ethics). To these disciplines I am committed.

At the same time, I am well aware of the fact that we live in a world that is very sceptical of the authenticity of Christianity and the authenticity of Christians. We all have met people who refuse to listen to the Gospel message because they have been hurt by far too many Christian messengers who lack tact, wisdom, discernment, love and grace. For this reason I have long felt that although the message of the cross is offensive, we must be careful not to be offensive ourselves in our approach to theology, apologetics or ethics.

Recently, a friend and I had a 3½ hour conversation in my office with two Muslim men we know. This conversation was marked by clear differences in belief, and we rigorously challenged each other’s underlying assumptions about Christianity and Islam. Our conversation however was clearly marked by grace and love, and as such was very productive. Both sides hugged and commented how much they appreciated the openness and honesty of the others. In no uncertain terms we told these fellows that apart from personal faith in Christ they are destined to eternal Hellfire, and they told us the same from their religious perspective. But in all of this, there were no angry outbursts, yelling or screaming. We enjoyed lunch together and plan to meet again in a few weeks.

As Christians, I think this is a good paradigm to adopt when it comes to inter faith dialogue. As I talk with members of other faiths, I try to abide by three principles:
(1) We must love people of other faiths deeply and go out of our way to saturate them with the love of Christ in the process of addressing life and death. Sadly, my Muslim friends shared that they often feel attacked personally by Christians.
(2) While I would not debate the idea of substantial differences between other faiths and Christianity, we need not fear other people. The Power of Christ in us is greater than the power that is in this world. While it might be tempting to adopt a “go get ‘em, Tiger” mentality toward other Christians who boldly attack other faith, it was not the ethic of our Lord.
(3) Abrasive terminology toward other faiths does not win converts. It is one thing to openly discuss world religions among believers but think about how you would respond if other faiths were inflammatory against Christianity. Yes, I am aware that many Christians have suffered for their faith at the hands of other faiths. I personally know Christians who have been imprisoned simply for pastoring a church. But personal attacks against unbelievers only breed distain. We don’t like it, so why should they? I believe that such rhetoric is a violation of the principle of defending our faith with “gentleness and respect” found in 1 Peter 3:15. If I err, I would rather err on the side of gentleness. Jesus taught us to be “as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16), and I think that applies to evangelism. I for one am not afraid of other religions, but if I fear for their eternal destinies I must seek to become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. (1 Cor. 9:22b).
That’s my take.