Thoughts on: "A Common Word Between Us and You"

Well I hope and pray that everybody has had or is having a great Christmas! My family and I had brunch with our best friends and enjoyed a time of fellowship and discussion. It’s always such a pleasure to get together with people who enjoy chatting about the Word! And what better day to spend chatting about the things of God than on the day we set aside to observe the birth of Christ? :)

My post today will be relatively short. I was going to wait until tonight to post anything else but as I read this afternoon about the open letter from Muslim clerics to Christians I could not help but sit down to write out these thoughts.

First of all, in case you have not heard, in October of 2006 about 138 Muslim clerics wrote the above-mentioned open letter in which they called, basically, for peace and unity of purpose with Christians. Now then, I’m all for peace with the Muslims among us, but unity? No. How can there be unity when there is no common theological ground between us? We must, out of obedience to the Bible, seek to convert the Muslim! So while we can reach out a hand in friendship to them, and while we can live in peace with them, we cannot have any type of ecumenical unity with them. After all, can we truly say that we love them if we don’t at least try and tell them about Jesus?

For those of you who are curious, the letter can be found at http://www.acommonword.com/

The reason I am writing this post right now is not because of the letter from the Muslims. It is because of the response by some who identify themselves as Christians. And to be completely honest, it is because of the presence of two specific names on the response: Rick Warren and Brian McLaren.

Rick Warren is someone I have had strong reservations about for a very long time. He is, in fact, one whom I would identify as a wolf among the sheep of God. That may sound harsh and judgmental but I can find no other way of referring to him in light of all he has done, whether it be his Purpose Driven drivel, his tolerance of sin among his tithe giving members (if you’re curious about this one, email me and I can get you information), or his basic endorsement of anti-life politicians (he recently allowed Hillary Clinton the use of his pulpit!). The fact that so many churches, especially SBC churches, embrace him as their guru is saddening and sickening at the same time…it shows just how much will be forgiven so long as attendance numbers are high…

Brian McLaren is a champion of the emergent movement, also among the latest evangelical fads. When discernment in the church is practiced so little, the church becomes filled with the blasphemy that oozes out of the emergent churches.

The reason it should shock us to hear of all these men signing the letter response to the Muslim call for peace and unity is because of the content of the letter itself. Compromise runs rampant throughout the letter…see for yourselves at http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm

I will briefly point out one example. The letter begins with the following words:

"In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors…we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world. [emphasis mine]

Did you note whom these good Christians are asking for forgiveness? The “All-Merciful One”! In other words, Allah! They are using the language of Islam…but dear brethren, Allah and Jehovah are NOT the same! And unless you think this is not shocking enough, I tell you that the signers well understand what this means since later on in the letter we find the following:

"We find it equally heartening that the God whom we should love above all things is described as being Love. In the Muslim tradition, God, “the Lord of the worlds,” is “The Infinitely Good and All-Merciful.”

Do you grasp the significance? This letter acknowledges in its body that the phrase “All-Merciful” is well within the “Muslim tradition” understanding of whom their god is. And it is this god whom the men signing the document ask for forgiveness. Talk about selling out on your convictions.

Brothers and Sisters…read the letters and see for yourselves what is happening here. Does your church idolize men like Warren and McLaren? If so, start asking the tough questions and begin calling for a repudiation of their teachings! And above all, stay true to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today is the day we celebrate His birth, don’t do it just as a tradition…do it out of love and appreciation for what He has done for us, and never compromise on His truths!

Amen?