One of the central tenants of Christianity is love.
‘Love one another’, Christ told his disciples. ‘As I have
loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another’ (John 13-34-35).
Every Christian knows that faith, hope, and love abide, but
‘the greatest of these is love’ (I Cor. 13:13).
We know we’re supposed to love our neighbors (Mark 12:31);
We even know that we’re supposed to love our enemies (Matthew
5:44);
We know we’re supposed to ‘speak the truth in love’
(Ephesians 4:15).
Every Christian knows about love, and every Christian, in
their dealings with those with whom they disagree or oppose, insists they are
speaking and acting with love.
Unfortunately, for many Christians, ‘love’ is such an
abstract, spiritual concept that it becomes undefinable, a vague, existential
form of amorphous good will that they extend without spelling out in concrete
terms what it is they’re extending.
Many Christians seem to have no problem saying the most
rude, offensive, ignorant, or untrue things about others- others that it’s quite obvious they patently dislike-
all the while insisting that they ‘love’ these individuals or groups.
They exclude, slander, hinder, make unwelcome, campaign
against, speak out against, preach against, and write against…
All ‘in love’, of course…
‘We love gay people. Why else would we tell them that their relationships
are disgusting, destructive, and a danger to the common good?’
‘We love Muslims, but it’s important that we make clear that
their religion is cruel and backward and we don’t want a mosque in our town.’
We love Catholics… It’s a shame, though, that they don’t
know their Bible, they’re idolatrous, and God doesn’t hear their prayers.’
‘We love Protestants, of course, even though their services
are so empty and they know so little of God or his Church.’
It becomes obvious very quickly that these people have never
truly interacted in any committed or meaningful way with the people they’re
talking about.
But if you don’t know someone, how can you say you love
them?
‘Love’ at that point becomes essentially
meaningless.
I worked for almost two decades with an evangelical missions
organization, hearing endlessly about the oppression and darkness of other
religious traditions- how lost they were, how poor they were, how unhappy they
were, how their traditions were empty and their beliefs were absurd.
Most of this we learned from other Christians. Sometimes,
they were missionaries, who were held up as authorities. Some were converts,
who were held up as experts.
There was one group we never heard from: the people themselves.
We never heard from any Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or humanist about what they believed, why they believed it, what their faith meant to them,
or what they found beautiful or life-giving in it.
In fact, listening to them was risky, dangerous- partly because
they might confuse us or lead us astray, or they might confuse our engagement
with acceptance and not understand their need for conversion.
We talked so much about these people, but we never talked to
them.
The fact is that, if I get the impression you’re patronizing
me;
If I get the feeling that you don’t care to hear my thoughts
or opinions;
If you assume the worst about me is true;
I don’t feel loved.
I’m not loved.
All this brings me to my point: Christians might love- by
whatever definition and logic they choose to define it- but they very often don’t
respect.
Respect reflects esteem for a person or group.
Respect recognizes the value and abilities that a person of
group has to offer.
Respect recognizes the pride and dignity that an individual or
group have for who or what they are.
Most importantly, respect recognizes the qualities in a
person or group and seeks to emulate them.
That’s the most important aspect of respect: recognizing and acknowledging quality, with an eye to applying those qualities to your own life.
If you were asked to say what you most admired or respected
in those you see as ‘others’, would you have an answer to give?
Would you feel comfortable giving your explanation of Muslim
or Hindu faith and practice with a Muslim or Hindu in the room?
No one is fooled by this kind of ‘love’- love devoid of respect.
Those who give it might be deluded, but the recipients rarely are.
The photo above is of the Imam of the city of Akka in the
West Bank celebrating St. George’s Day with the Orthodox Christians of the city
by lighting a candle during the service.
He is not a Christian, and very likely not planning on becoming one.
He’s taking part in a Christian ceremony, and by doing so,
he is communicating to his Christian neighbors that he values them and what
they bring to the whole community.
He is showing that, despite their differences, he
understands and values their traditions, their culture, their piety.
He is giving respect.
I respect this Muslim man; I want to emulate him.
By giving respect, he is giving love.
And God is love…
