Yesterday, Alliance Christian Fellowship (the campus fellowship I'm currently interning for) hosted a lecture entitled "Confessions of a Former Terrorist". We brought in Dr. Daniel Shayesteh to speak. Coordinating this event has been one of my major tasks (and one of the many reasons why I haven't found time to blog in forever).
Daniel grew up in Iran, memorized the quran by age 9, became deeply involved in Islam, was a member of Hezbollah and trained others in terrorist tactics. He and others helped oust the Shah of Iran and bring the Ayatollah Khomeini to power. After experiencing the limited freedom in Iran under the Ayatollah, Daniel joined the opposition party, was kidnapped, and sentenced to death. He escaped to Turkey, met some Christians there, and eventually came to know Jesus. He got his wife and three daughters out of Iran, eventually bringing his wife to Christ as well. They moved to Australia where Daniel taught as a university professor. He now travels much of the world speaking about his experiences and about Islam.
As last night approached I got fairly nervous, how many people would show? On a Friday night of all inconvenient times? What would Dr. Shayesteh talk about? How would it be received?
My fears were relieved, and I left feeling pretty good. At least 400 people came to 100 Thomas, and they gave him a standing ovation. He gave a powerful testimony about how he and his wife came to know Jesus. About half his talk was devoted to explaining Islam and revealing some of the more frightening parts of the Quran. Everyone I talked to after, especially ACFers, had a generally positive impression.
But... something in the back of my mind was not happy. I mostly ignored it. Chalked it up to tiredness. To pre-show jitters. To having to do the intro and closing. It took me almost 24 hours, and 2 phone conversations with some friends to figure it out.
We all left happy, encouraged, and patting our own backs for having the truth.
I don't begrudge Dr. Shayesteh his amazing and encouraging testimony. It was excellent to hear. And I agree that there are some disturbing parts of the Quran; but I think Islam just is not the truth, so that's not the point.
The point is, no matter how much some extremist Muslims hate Christians and Jews, we are called to love them (Matthew 5:44). It's not about what the Quran says, not about what they might be planning to do, or how they feel about us. It's not about our rights. It's about how we are to humbly and sincerely love and serve our Muslim brothers. How we should be turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), being the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), feeding their poor and caring for their widows (James 1:27). Not that we are to compromise what we believe, but are we really willing to sacrificially love our neighbors?
The question is not "why are we right and they wrong?" The question is "how do we do good to those who hate us?" (Luke 6:27).
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The question is not "why are we right and they wrong?" The question is "how do we do good to those who hate us?" (Luke 6:27)
^That's is so, so real. It's one of the most difficult things as a Christian but (in my opinion) one of the most important.
I'm sad I missed the talk. But I'm glad it went well overall.
1. I love the title.
2. I wish I could have been there.
3. Those words are ferocious.
Glad to see you update, Kenny. I was about to start harassing you to. Seriously, let's get personal with them. Simply relating your question to the challenges that God is presenting me currently, perhaps loving our enemies or strangers can begin with a little quality time and asking questions at a respectful, yet personal level. Mom once noted how the children in Iraq lose their baby teeth too. We can't force them to love us, but we should try to reflect Christ's sacrifical love to people who bleed red too. I hope you are crying onion tears and growing closer to God each day.
see kenny.
i told you that you're wise ;)
seriously love your final statement. its definitely something to think about especially cause of all the anti-mormon talk going on out here in Utah.
I don't know how we can articulate love for those involved in militant Islam, given our geographical isolation in State College, but we could start working to break down barriers of "holy huddle" syndrome and nonassociation among students. I think UCM was working to coordinate a Muslim-Christian dialogue sometime later this semester...could be an excellent way to put love into action.
You got the question right. Now the next question is how to put it into practice. It’s the question that always slows me down. Maybe that’s why we brought you into this world. Keep looking and learning, you may find a way to get it started.
Update! Update! Update! (chanted as if at a basketball game) P.S. Your dad sounds like mine. :-)
I remember the days when you blogged...what a distant memory.
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