{"id":1345,"date":"2010-01-19T15:21:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-19T15:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=181"},"modified":"2010-01-19T15:21:56","modified_gmt":"2010-01-19T15:21:56","slug":"digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/","title":{"rendered":"Digesting the “Deadly Misunderstanding”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn\u2019t happen very much. \u00a0Instead we learned about the terror tactics of \u2018racial Islam\u2019, and some of us even made the grave error of generalizing radical Islam, imputing those values to all Muslims. \u00a0This is very kind of objectification that Jesus warned against when he spoke of people who \u2018have eyes but don\u2019t see\u2019, \u2018ears but don\u2019t hear.\u2019 \u00a0It\u2019s time to step away from our stereotypes and get educated.<\/p>\n

One of the better tools that might help you towards that end is Mark Siljander\u2019s book, \u201cA Deadly Misunderstanding\u201d.<\/a> Mark shares the evolution of his own thinking on the Christian\/Muslim divide with us, going all the way back to his being offended by a Muslim speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in DC, to how his senate, and later ambassador responsibilities intersected with his Christian faith to create a crisis of questions: \u00a0\u201cHow can I learn to show love to Muslims?\u201d \u00a0This first question led Mark to approach heads of state from the middle-east and North Africa as one eager to learn about the values and beliefs of Islam. \u00a0He began studying languages, including Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke), bought a copy of the Koran and began reading and studying it.<\/p>\n

The book is a blend of narrative (Mark\u2019s own expanding web of relationships with Islamic leaders, teachers, and scholars), and theology (Mark\u2019s ever expanding discoveries of common beliefs between Christians and Muslims). \u00a0I won\u2019t reveal those points of common interest because I think you should take the time to read the book. \u00a0After all, nearly every nation in which our military is involved in conflict has a sizable Muslim presence. \u00a0Conventional wisdom, even, would tell us that we should know our enemy. \u00a0Jesus would tell us that we should love our enemy. \u00a0Mark will tell us that when we begin to study our enemy, we realize that he might not even BE our enemy, that we perhaps share more in common, than we differ.<\/p>\n

I was skeptical as I read the book because I found myself thinking, at each point, \u201cYes, we might share that in common, but what about\u2026?\u201d as I raised the flag of a great divide between Islam and Christianity. \u00a0Then Mark would address my concern. \u00a0I\u2019d be satisfied for a few pages, and then ask again, and then again. \u00a0Each time, Mark has an answer.<\/p>\n

Mark isn\u2019t saying there are no differences between our respective faiths. \u00a0He is saying that we can find fellowship and even friendship by focusing on the ethics and teachings of Jesus and discussing them with Muslims, that this is a common ground. \u00a0This work will challenge your notions of evangelism, and even the use of the word Christian, as Mark hints that Jesus didn\u2019t come to establish a new religion at all, but rather to draw people into relationship with Himself. \u00a0I disagree on this last point (Jesus is the head of a body called \u2018the church\u2019, and though the church has mucked things up over the centuries countless times, the truth is that when we\u2019re called to Christ, we\u2019re called into a community of faith, because Christ\u2019s life is displayed through community). \u00a0In spite of my disagreement on this point, I think Mark has made some remarkable discoveries.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s shared his research about common points between the two faiths with scholars of both Christianity and Islam, along with Evangelical leaders, and found an overwhelmingly positive response. \u00a0 I\u2019m so intrigued with what he\u2019s done that I\u2019m hoping to find a way to have him visit us here in Seattle for a weekend. \u00a0We\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed the book for personal reasons as well. \u00a0I did a wedding in DC this past summer for some Bethany missionaries, and as Mark began sharing his story, several names of people I\u2019d met at the wedding popped up, including the father of the bride! \u00a0This makes me all the more intent on finding a way to further the discussion.<\/p>\n

Buy the book, because you\u2019ll want to mark it up. \u00a0Don\u2019t swallow everything without thinking, praying, and searching the Bible. \u00a0But don\u2019t reject anything simply because it doesn\u2019t fit what you\u2019ve heard before. \u00a0The points of common ground with Muslims just might be one of the most important discoveries of the past ten years, and getting the word out, an central mission for next ten.<\/p>\n

Cheers\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn\u2019t happen very much. \u00a0Instead we learned about the terror tactics of \u2018racial Islam\u2019, and some of us even made the grave error of generalizing radical Islam, imputing those values to all Muslims. \u00a0This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nDigesting the "Deadly Misunderstanding"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digesting the "Deadly Misunderstanding"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Dahlstrom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/\",\"name\":\"Digesting the \\\"Deadly Misunderstanding\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\"},\"description\":\"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Digesting the “Deadly Misunderstanding”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/\",\"name\":\"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728\",\"name\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Richard Dahlstrom\"},\"description\":\"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \\\"making the invisible God visible\\\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \\\"We're being the presence of Christ\\\" he says, \\\"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\\\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Digesting the \"Deadly Misunderstanding\"","description":"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Digesting the \"Deadly Misunderstanding\"","og_description":"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/","og_site_name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","article_published_time":"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00","author":"Richard Dahlstrom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard Dahlstrom","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/","name":"Digesting the \"Deadly Misunderstanding\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00","dateModified":"2010-01-19T15:21:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728"},"description":"The past decade could have, and perhaps should have been a time for Christians to begin learning about Islam. \u00a0But that didn't happen very much. \u00a0Instead","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/01\/19\/digesting-the-deadly-misunderstanding\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Digesting the “Deadly Misunderstanding”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/","name":"Fibonacci Faith: Changing Everything","description":"The Blog of Richard Dahlstrom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/35cc34ea723fe19cdf6bfe9446fde728","name":"Richard Dahlstrom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c70ef6941167d00acda35b40d90cb1e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Richard Dahlstrom"},"description":"As Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, Richard teaches with vision of \"making the invisible God visible\" by calling people to acts of service and blessing. It's working, as a wilderness ministry, homeless shelter, and community meals that serve those living on the margins are all pieces of Bethany's life. \"We're being the presence of Christ\" he says, \"and inviting everyone to join the adventure.\" Many have, making Bethany one of the fastest growing churches in America in 2009 according to Outreach Magazine.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/author\/richarddahlstrom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}