How are you at building bridges?
Khaled and Saleema have moved in next door. Aisha is your new office mate. Ashraf and Zahra own the convenience store around the corner. They’ve come to Canada from societies where they’ve never heard the truth about Jesus.
You can build walls.
Or you can build bridges.
Walls And Bridges
Fear builds walls.
Love builds bridges.
The more you understand about people you don’t know the less you fear.
The more we know about each other the more we understand we are like each other.
Understanding is like finding the right key to a locked door.
3 Shared Longings
When we recognize our shared longings we are more willing to engage sensitively with someone from another faith.
What are these shared longings?
- Peace and security.
Is there any Christian or Muslim or any human being who doesn’t long for peace and security for themselves and those they love? It is foundational to being human, but ironically can result in waging war to find peace.
- Hope in the future.
Every culture/faith has symbols of hope, whether monuments or skyscrapers, mosques, or churches. When a culture/faith destroys symbols of hope, deeper meanings and values can also die. A hopeful future requires reaffirming or creating new symbols of hope.
- Right relationship with God.
The commitment to pray is a strong value in all faiths. How do Christians communicate respect for the longings Muslims have for Allah?
Presently, there are some 100,000 newcomers from the Middle East and Horn of Africa in Edmonton. And this number will grow to 300,000 in the next twelve years.
Isn’t time to be building bridges?
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