I was listening to NPR tonight while driving around and they were telling the story of a Muslim family and what they went through in the wake of 9/11. The story focused on the experiences of the family’s eldest daughter who was 9 and in 4th grade at the time. In the day’s following 9/11 the school she was going to used a short book written for children which tried to explain what happened. The jist of the book is that while no one is quite sure why it happened it probably had something to do with Muslims hating Christians and hating the U.S. Suddenly the girl went from being popular to being an outcast because she was a Muslim. But as if that wasn’t enough when Christmas came around the teacher told her class that Jesus shed his blood for them and that he wanted all Christians to be in Heaven but that anyone who didn’t have Jesus in their heart would go to hell. Which, while technically true, is hardly an appropriate thing to be sharing in a public school 4th grade class. Telling a 9 year old her religion is evil and hateful is hardly a way to build bridges as a Christian. Am sure the teacher thought she was being a “good” Christian by spreading the Word of God but I was floored none the less. The teacher eventually went so far as to tell the young girl that if she didn’t feel comfortable in the class that she needed to leave and not come back. Sadly, it took the Justice Department filing a religious discrimination law suit against the school before they ordered the teacher to take sensitivity and diversity training. I was talking at work the other day with one of my co-workers about how people in church, who are often well meaning and wonderful people, can be so frustrating. The family basically ended up leaving town because of the treatment they received from their former friends. It is stories like that that make me want to find these people and apologize. It breaks my heart when I see Christians being legalistic and using God as a weapon to brow beat non-Christians. There are two things I pray for on a regular basis, for wisdom and that my life, not just my words, would be evidence of my faith. To close I look back at a statement I gave to a writer for the school newspaper at Seattle Pacific. When I meet someone of a different faith background I can choose one of two options. I can confront them with the fact that they are going to hell because they haven’t accepted Jesus into their hearts and that I can’t associate with them until they do. Or, I can be as kind and loving as I can be in the hope that my life would be an undeniable witness to the love of Christ so that they have no choice but to ask about it.

Filed under: Uncategorized by Jonathan Assink