Lebanese Assasination

Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian political leader in Lebanon, was assasinated today. He was part of a prominent Christian family involved in the political affairs of Lebanon. It seems from most of the news reports that I have heard and read that the assasination was more politically motivated, than specifically religiously motivated. However, in much of the Middle East right now the line between politcal affiliation and religious affiliation is almost non-existent. Either way, the news of this tragic event has me thinking of a couple of things.

First of all, it reminds me of how easy and cush we have it as Christ followers in America. We have no fear of being persecuted, imprisoned, or otherwise harmed for our beliefs in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don't have to secretly worship or be involved in any type of underground church movement. Most believers wear symbols of their faith openly in jewelry, car stickers, t-shirts, and more. In fact, Christianity has it's own little sub-culture hear in the USA, which has turned into a big money business. I think maybe that's why we miss the point of what Jesus has called us to so much these days. As I look at the New Testament I don't see a world that was friendly, welcoming, open, and even a good consumer of Jesus and what He called people to. I find a world that was against so much of what Jesus stood for and consistently misunderstood the love and grace that he taught and lived. In light of that, I think that the ease and popularity of Christianity and church in general in America has caused a lot of people who claim to be Christians to look a lot more like this "church sub-culure" that we have developed instead of the Jesus who calls us to leave everything behind and follow Him in reckless, radical, risky, rebellious faith. In fact, I think that when a person does try to follow Jesus in this way, many times the "Christian culture" that we have created works against him or her and is a big hindrance to what Jesus has called that person to be. In light of all this thought, it also reminds me of my own responsibility to pray for other Christ followers around the world who live in an environment so hostile to the ways and truth of Jesus that I cannot possibly begin to get my mind around it.

Secondly, this news makes me think of how muddy the waters have become between politics and religious beliefs these days. It seems that the idealogy of much of the religous Crusades where one's religious belief system was identical to one's country/kingdom/region has crept back into the mindset of many people when it comes to politics, power, and religion. This causes me concern for a number of reasons, the biggest one being this: Any time a political party/idealogy/country/policy is linked to or seen as identical to the beliefs of a certain religion, specifically Christianity, we do a disservice to our religious identity. The calling to follow Christ trancends any obligations toward a certain politcal viewpoint and even any loyalty to a country or political leader. As Christ followers we are called to be devoted and loyal to one entity and that is the person of Jesus. Any time we mix politcal ideas in with this calling we muddy the waters for ourselves and for anyone who we would try to reach with the gospel that cannot make a logical connection between what our politics say and what our faith says.

With all that rambling said, let me encourage you to pray if you are a person of faith for those followers of Jesus that live in places where loyalty to following Christ may cause them pain, punishment, imprisonment, and even death. And pray for yourself too, that you might know the kind of passion and devotion to Christ that those who live in these places exhibit.