Yesterday I had the privilege of getting together with four guys who wanted to be able to let down their guard and explore other ways of looking at God and scriptures than what they had always been taught or believed from their own studies of our Christian scriptures. They specifically wanted to hear my perspective on Islam figuring that it is quite likely all they have heard through the media and even the pulpits in their churches is probably not a fair assessment of this religion, and wanted to know how someone as versed in New Testament theology as me could conclude that Mohammed was a legit prophet of God.
One of the four is a newly sober ex-felon, another one is an Evangelical pastor who relishes being able to do something apart from his own church to be built up in the Christian faith, including being built up in ways that might not sit well with members of his own church or denomination. We had planned for 2 hours but after 3 hours the only reason anyone left was because of prior commitments. It was hard to get out the door.
I think one thing they may have discovered or have started to discover as they mull over our conversations is that God is not as bad as they thought.
We didn't really spend much time on Islam specifically because our conversations centered around the topic of Eternal Salvation. Some Christians might have accused us of "Easy Believism", seeking an understanding of God that is more palatable than what the church puts forth as the true version of God. I think yesterday many realized that that version is as they have suspected all along, a version that makes God to be something less than a God of love (to put it conservatively), and they were happy to be introduced to legitimate ways of interpreting the Christian scriptures that break down the elitism and spiritual pride that comes from the assumptions we make about just exactly how Jesus, and God, save people.
That "how" question is one that rarely gets considered when Jesus is quoted saying things like, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me," or, "You must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God." Yesterday was a delightful day of exploring ways of looking at the same words and many others in a way that restores a person's confidence in God. We plan on having more meetings like this.
