As a Christian who fully supports the building of the Park51 (aka Ground Zero Mosque), I am deeply distressed by the voices of some within the Christian community. I do not take it upon myself to apologize for them. I can speak only for myself. I confess that like most Christians, I stray from the path of Jesus Christ more often than I would like to admit. I too see through the filtered lenses of my limited life experience and worldview.
What amazes me is that there are those within the Christian community who consistently conflate their own will with God’s and take it upon themselves to determine which of God’s children is deserving of their neighborly love. I am unconvinced that this is the result of meanness. It can certainly sound mean and even hateful at times, but I am unconvinced that these voices are the voices of bad people. I believe that they are the voices of unimaginative theology.
The apostle Paul reminds us that we all “see through the glass dimly.” None of us has a monopoly on wisdom or the mind of God. The God we worship and in whom we put our faith and hope is far bigger than ourselves. And Christ, the axis around which the church moves and has its being, has called us to a love that extends far beyond the boundaries of our own self-selected communities. Christ’s is a love that begs not mercy for itself but for those who raise it on a cross. Only a theology that can imagine a world beyond the pettiness of the moment can embrace such a thing.
The question before the Church regarding the building of Park51 is not one of freedom of religion or freedom of speech or liberty or even political tolerance. It is a question about our fundamental identity as the community of Jesus Christ. Can we, who follow Christ who forgave from the cross, imagine a world in which the mercy of God exceeds our expectations and imaginations? Can we look beyond our own fears and prejudices to see the many faces of God’s children?
Islam did not attack America on 9/11 and it certainly did not attack Christians alone. The evil perpetrated that day was equal-opportunity in its devastation. What happened on 9/11 was not an act of faith; it was an act of murder; of evil; of crucifixion. Crucifixion demands healing not hating. Nonetheless, some within the Christian community have chosen to react to that day with an ethic of fear and revenge. Protests and Koran burnings sponsored by churches have declared that there is no room in this nation for Islam.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said recently, “There is no neighborhood in this city that is off-limits to God’s love and mercy.” His words echo true in my heart and to them I would add that there is no neighbor that is off-limits to Christ’s love and, by extension, our own.
How we as Christians respond in this moment will testify to the world who and whose we are. By responding to the creation of the Park51 community center as an opportunity for healing and unity, we declare to the world that the act of madmen will not and cannot lead us away from the fundamental core of our being as Christians; the reconciling love of Jesus Christ.
This is a moment for Christian love in action. I pray that the sentiment of Mayor Bloomberg’s message to New Yorkers will serve as a reminder to each of us that we are called to love not those we choose but all God’s children.
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