A blogger informs us that the Mennnonite Central Committee and four other religious organizations are hosting Ahmadinejad for dinner on Sep. 25th, 2008. He calls this “Beyond comprehension…..” His blog’s commenters call these groups CINOs (Christians In Name Only) and “Christians” (in quotes). But wait just a moment. Who is really following the commands of Jesus?
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
We see that complaining about Jesus and his followers eating with sinners is not a new phenomenon.
As for the gentleman who said that eating with Ahmadinejad was “Beyond comprehension”, the Bible talks about that too, in 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV):
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Now let me be crystal clear: I despise the horrible things that Ahmadinejad stands for. Let me also go on the record as saying that I oppose many of MCC’s militant* “peacemaking” activites. Furthermore, I very much doubt that MCC’s actions will have efficacy for peace on the national scale. I also don’t think MCC’s actions are shrewd political/diplomatic actions for the U.S. However, as Christians and followers of Jesus, it seems to me that in a broad sense they are following his commandments and example in this case. (However, this meeting needs to retain a spiritual focus; it cannot attempt to be a diplomatic meeting.)
That concludes a look at the big picture of simply eating with Ahmadinejad. Below I will do a more indepth look at some of the details of how MCC has carried that out and how they probably will carry it out.
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There was a similar meeting in 2007 that we can examine to figure out a bit of what the 2008 meeting will look like.
As Maureen Shea, an Episcopal who participated in the meeting said, “Meeting with people does not mean you agree with them. The more there is inflammatory language going back and forth, the more we feel there needs to be a way for our two countries to communicate.”
Christian Worldview Network writer Jan Markell says the following:
The NCC delegation included leaders from the Mennonite, Quaker, United Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, and Catholic churches. I think they need to do a reality check. There are some outfits you don’t do business with and this is one rogue regime that leads the pack. We are not dealing with a man with a full deck. Ahmadinejad’s comments while on U.S. soil recently should have sent a message loud and clear to outfits like the NCC that holding hands with a man like this could lead to unbelievable consequences. Trusting his word could be fatal to nations, not just individuals. The entire Middle East could go up in flames. An oil crisis the likes of which no nation has yet seen could erupt, and Israel could be devastated by Iranian missiles at any time.
Jan is having a difficult time taking off her government hat and putting on her Christian hat. What she says is probably true on a political and diplomatic level. However, it is incredibly anti-Biblical and anti-Jesus on a spiritual level. Unless–and this a big unless because we’re dealing with MCC here–MCC does try to make it a government/political/diplomatic affair. In which case she is entirely justified in her remarks. Her concluding remarks show she understands this:
I suggest rather than doing a “Minnesota-nice” job on Ahmadinejad, the NCC reps share the gospel with him and tell him he needs a Savior, not a Mahdi.
Amen to that! If we follow Jesus’ example we will love and dine with evil people like Ahmadinejad, not to validate their actions, but to show them the way of Christ. If MCC keeps this as their central focus, they will not go wrong. However, if they detour into trying to be amateur diplomats, they will fail spectacularly. That’s not Jesus’ mandate.
USA Today quotes Ron Flaming, a Mennonite leader as telling Ahmadinejad, “Many people have interpreted your public rhetoric as a threat to destroy Israel, but that doesn’t mesh with your private comments. For the sake of understanding and peace, we urge you to publicly and clearly say so.” Sounds like good advice to me. That is something that I have learned hanging out with Palestinians all the time. The phrase “wipe Israel off the map” (explained in further detail here by a Mennonite who hangs out with Ahmadinejad) is a bit of an ambiguous phrase. Many Muslims take it to mean simply a one-state solution in Israel/Palestine (wiping Israel off the map literally, not killing all its inhabitants) while others take it to mean “kill all the Jews”. The former view is the idea that there should be a single democratic state that encompasses the area of Israel and the West Bank.
The fundamental flaw in MCC’s approach is seen in something James Beckwith, a Church of the Brethren representative to the 2007 meeting, said, “It seems to me that truth telling is a critical step in seeking justice and peace.” This is a fundamental tenet of MCC’s mission: to promote justice and peace.
It’s also quite clearly not what Jesus came to promote (Matthew 10:34). If He would have wanted to promote that, he would have come as the Jews expected Him: a conqueror driving out the occupier Romans (much as MCC styles itself doing in Israel; they see the Israelis in much the same light first century Jews saw the Romans). The peace Jesus came to promote was an inner peace of being right with God and having our sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. (More on this in a moment.) The Bible clearly shows that while we are to be peaceable and loving to everyone around us (a point conservative Christians in America often miss), we are not to try to force peace or justice for someone else. That’s God’s job:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21 (NIV)
It’s God who metes out justice. It’s not our responsibility as Christians to judge between Palestinians and Israelis and pronounce justice on side or the other. Living in Israel and Palestine, I have found that there are horrible wrongs on both sides. On a practical level, we see the truth (as laid out in Scriptures) of the impossibility of demanding or specifying justice.
Jesus’ mission here on earth was to bring peace, but not the kind of temporal peace MCC is apparently seeking:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27 (NIV)
I fear the peace MCC is trying to bring is the “peace…as the world gives”. Romans give further insight into what Jesus meant when He said “my peace”:
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
Romans 8:6 (NIV)
If introducing Ahmadinejad to that “mind controlled by the Spirit” kind of peace is the goal of MCC meeting with him, I would be delighted. In conclusion, let’s return to the words of Jesus (which I used to show that meeting with Ahmadinejad is not a problem, but rather simply following the commands of Jesus) to see what Jesus’ purpose in eating with sinners was:
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ’sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 5:30-32 (NIV)
* Two of my friends–one Lutheran and one Mennonite with MCC–and I were discussing this post tonight. The Lutheran rightly pointed out that militant was not a good word to use. I agree. The MCC’er pointed out that CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) and MCC are separate organizations, though they do work together. My comment about “militant peacemaking” was based upon my knowledge of CPT (confirmed by reading their Wikipedia entry). While CPT and MCC are apparently both organizations sponsored by MCUSA (Mennonite Church USA), I was under the mistaken impression that CPT was an organization under MCC. However, I do still disagree with MCC’s focus on pursuing “peace and justice”. I believe from reading the Bible that this is something that God has left to governments and to Himself, not to Christians. I believe that as Christians we should be “non-resistant” not “pacifist”. Non-resistance is the way we respond to others’ hostility or violence, while pacifism is trying to force peace on others (which I believe violates non-resistance).
However, my impressions of liberal Mennonitedom certainly could be wrong. In fact, I welcome input from my liberal Mennonite friends clarifying MCC’s purposes and actions. I sent an email to a friend who works for MCC asking him to give me some feedback on this post. I invite others to give me further feedback. Am I misunderstanding MCC’s goals and purposes?
13 Responses
September 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
Thanks Mike! I was hoping this would answer a few of your questions. Actually, this probably answers more of my liberal Mennonite friend’s questions. I do plan to address your question as well.
This post has actually been written and open in my browser window for quite some time. (I was leaving it gestate and to think and to give me the opportunity to get some feedback from some people on it.)
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 am
Excellent, thoughtfully written post. Some of it did make me think of J. H. Yoder’s The Politics of Jesus, which I read recently. I still feel like I’m fairly far from understanding/remembering all of what he’s saying, much less reading it from a meaningfully critical perspective. (It’s one of the many important subjects I haven’t taken time to drill into ultra-deeply.) But, my first impression was that his argument that Jesus advocated “political” engagement was quite cogent. The trick is, this “transformation of the polis” must, if it’s to follow Jesus’ teaching and example, forgo most of the conventional forms of power. So…if you go w/ that understanding, MCC may have some of the right idea (Christ’s ethics should be manifest in society), but some of the “forceful” tactics employed seem counter to that same understanding. At the same time, I think Yoder would say (and substantiate) that Jesus came to bring more than just “inner peace”, even while he rejected the temptation of Zealotry and told his followers to “go the second mile”.
Again, that’s based on a fairly superficial single reading of Yoder–but I found it intriguing, and I’d say enlightening. You may well have already beaten me to reading, thoroughly digesting, and critically analyzing his writings–but if not, they may offer an input worth considering.
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
@ Joel:
Thanks. Interesting comment. I’m afraid I lack the context (I have not read JHY’s Politics) to respond to your comment with anything but a simple (and perhaps simplistic) statement of what I believe from studying the NT that our responsibility as Christians is:
Our first priority should be to bring people to Christ. A secondary task is to do simple, non-resistant things such as voting to try to have a government that acts righteously and justly, as God designed.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
That seems like a fair summary–that is to say, one with which I think I agree.
It does, of course, open a can of worms for those Christians who do choose to engage politically. Though Christianity should be primary, it seems as though political philosophy can fairly quickly assume a place higher than it deserves, compromising integrity of both faith and reason. (That’s not just a dig at the Right; I’ve seen examples of it as well among the Christian Left.) Especially given the fact that Christians can legitimately differ on which Christian–and secular–values and policies to emphasize in their votes, I don’t have much trouble respecting those who choose to “opt out”, even as some participation in the political process seems appropriate to me.
September 25th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Thank you for your thoughts, Hans- but I still am quite uncomfortable with your usage of the words: “militant ‘peacemaking’ activities” for the MCC. There is nothing “militant” about the work that the MCC does. Relief, development, and peace work is quite separated from the warfare activity that “militant” alludes to. I appreciate your verbal explanation of it last night, but I would encourage you to reconsider your rhetoric.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:42 am
To prove you are not a hypocrite I want you to invite the ten worst black drug dealers from the nearest urban hood into your house and have a nice meal and a sit down chat with them. Make sure they bring their prostitute girl friends with them. Have plenty of matches and incense sticks for your get together and after dinner aparatiffe. Also indicate that they should go and sin no more.
After that I want you to go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor.
If you don’t do these things you aren’t a real Christian either.
Morons like yourself never heed the parts that say you are to be as crafty as serpents but as innocent as doves. Also, the government was not given the sword for nothing. Government is supposed to reward those who do good and punish those who do evil. Sucking up to the worst evil in our world is not helping rightiousness prevail.
Of course, from your picture, you haven’t graduated from eigth grade yet. This probably also indicates your a socialist too. Have your mama wipe the snot from your nose and be in bed by 8:30.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Actually, I already have.
Actually, you need to study the Bible a bit more. When Jesus said that, he was talking to a rich man whose love of wealth was keeping him from the Kingdom of God. Jesus gave a specific instruction for his situation to reveal the condition Jesus saw in his heart. Because of his loving money above God, he refused. If God asks me to give all my money to the poor, I would gladly do so.
Actually, I’ve graduated from two years of Bible college (in addition to graduating with honors and a 4.0 from High School). With your skill in Biblical interpretation, I suggest you do the same. (Also, when engaging in ad hominem attacks against someone’s (appearance and) education, you would do your argument a service to properly spell “eighth”.)
And, no, I’m not a socialist. In fact, the furthest thing from it. If you would make that comment after meeting me on the street and chatting for a few minutes, it would be understandable. However, you have my entire blog archive (most importantly the last three weeks of blog archives which has tons of material relevant to showing that I most definitely am not a socialist) at your fingertips to show the absurdity of such a comment. Many have ostracized me for being a right wing Republican, but never have I been accused of being a socialist!
September 25th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Tyler, as soon as I got home last night, I wrote an edit for the post (which you now see). Unfortunately, as I was writing it, my internet conked out and I didn’t get the update posted until now. Hopefully this assuages some of your concerns?
September 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Question for (self) righteous, but clever Hans: Were the moneychangers in the temple Jesus’ enemies? (Caution readers – contemplating this question following Hans’ logic could result in an endless theological loop.)
September 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
@ Knott Buyinit:
I’m sorry that I’ve given the appearance of self-righteousness. It’s certainly not true. I am a very flawed man whose only good comes from God’s grace.
As to your question, I think I’ll follow Jesus’ lead and answer your question with another question: According to the commands of Jesus, does their status as enemy or friend change the way He asks us to treat them?
September 25th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Excellent post. To “RA”, I would suggest that you review the following
Psalm 23.5 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies”.
Old testament kings and prophets were pretty clear on what they thought of “non-believers”. 1 Samuel 17.36-37 “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. > David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Thankfully the “eye for an eye” of Exodus was replaced by a doctrine of love and perpetual forgivness from every human heart to every other human heart in the personage of Jesus.
Try Luke 10.27 starting with “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Jesus then imparts the story that every frist grader that ever went to Sunday school knows (you know the one about the Samaritan), ending with “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
It’s not my place to judge an intollerant scumbag like Ahmadinejad, but at least as a Christian I can take comfort and strenght in knowing that it is not my place to judge him. Moral rights and wrongs exist. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were all evil people, but only God can judge them. Sometimes, however good people have to stand against up to them and tell them they are wrong.
Iran and it’s entire theocracy is evil. Top down it must be opposed, yet as Christians we must be able to still see their leaders as both human, and our neighbors. Otherwise we are lost.
September 27th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Wow! Great stuff Hans! It appears to be the writing of a man who is digging deeper and progressing in his thots as he gains more information. Continue on this path and you will exceed many people. Too many Christians aren’t doing this kind of indepth study. Far too many Christians are xenophobic hypocrites who claim the name of Christ but don’t actually love as he loved and don’t really resemble him at all. Perhaps we should be preaching the message of repentance to our own fellow Christians before we condemn the God ordained leaders of other countries? Romans 13 also applies to Ahmadinejad… does it not?
Anyhow, great thot provoking post! We need more of this!
September 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Thanks Stoltz! My opinions on some of this have definitely been evolving as I live and work with Palestinians here in Israel/Palestine.
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