I feel sorry for the pain Christians have caused. I cannot deny that men and women (the Lord only knows if they were ever brothers and sisters of this family) have done terrible things claiming the name of Christ. Wars and rapes, abuses of power and nails driven deep have left many children, mothers, and fathers beaten and forgotten.
I cannot deny the pain caused by so many people who claim the God of the Bible as the only God. True, some have done it out of ignorance. Many, however, know what the Word says but never care to listen and live it. I think I once heard that the Jews did not make a distinction between knowing and doing. If this is true, then love is not passive.
I apologize for what others have done to slander the name of Christ, but I apologize first for what I have done to slander the name of Christ. Where there have been judgements coming from myself, others have been wounded, and yet His grace has abounded. His grace has always abounded--much much more than I will ever presently know. That a God who made the heavens and the earth would look upon me with favor...well that is a ridiculous proposition.
I know that apologetic words will never be enough to heal wounds, but all I know is that He can heal. Heal the body, heal the mind, heal the heart. It sounds trite because either I am trying to make some non-truth sound incredible or because it is some truth too incredible for our deaf hears to hear without His help. I pray that those I have hurt have gone to Him and that others whom Christians have hurt would likewise run to His arms.
I will admit that partly I am saying this as a preface to something I want to ask those who do not believe in the God of the Bible. But I do sincerely apologize for abusive and destructive actions and words from Christians, and I am not merely using such an apology to gain favor long enough to ask a bold question.
My bold question is fairly simple. I do not know who is reading this so let me say that I am not meaning to assume your intentions by asking this. My question is for people who believe that they look at the world objectively. (Whether objectivity is possible is another question entirely reserved for multiple, lengthy, heart-to-heart, and face-to-face conversations built upon the foundation of relationship and trust.) Here is my question:
Do you give the Bible and the God of the Bible the same grace that you give other religions?
What I am not asking is, "Why are you so stupid as to believe the Bible is not true?" What I am not saying is that the pain you have received from Christians is not legitimate if the Bible is true. What I am not saying is that I have the answers to all the questions that burn in your heart. What I am not saying is that your doubts or questions are ignorant or irrelevant.
What am I asking is this. When the Al-Qaeda raids and destroys a Syrian village, the Islamists say that Radical Islam is not true Islam and that Islam is a religion of peace. If you listen (as I do) to the Islamists and believe that Al-Qaeda is not representative of the heart of Islam, do you likewise listen to sorrowful Christians apologizing for Westboro Baptist picketing another soldier's funeral? (True, I am speaking in extremes, but my goal is not to accuse you but to encourage you to search your heart.) Do you give Christianity the same grace you give other religions?
What I am also asking is what if you there is another side to the coin that you do not yet see? Maybe we are standing on opposite sides of a coin. You see the one side with the life you are living and the experiences you have endured. We stand opposite you and see the other side of the coin. At one time we have seen your side of the coin and sometimes still see it starkly, but now this other side of the coin has changed how we see the first side.
If I may draw upon an image from Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark. One of the Nazis gets his hand burned with the inscription from the medallion they need to locate the ark. The information needed to use the medallion to find the location of the ark was (coincidentally) written on the medallion and is now burned into the Nazi's hand. Thus the Nazis build a replica of the medallion and use it to determine the location.
Meanwhile Indiana Jones has the real talisman and has the inscription read by a translator. Little do the Nazis know, there are more instructions on the other side of the medallion which change the information on the first side. Thus Indiana is able to find the location of the ark because he knows both sides of the coin.
All I am saying is this: what if there is another side to this coin we call life? Going back to my original question, I ask you to have the grace to consider that what you think about Christianity may be different than what it actually is. And I ask you (and also my friends who are Christians) to explore what the Bible says about God, not what others may have shown or told you who He is.
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