Finding friendship and spiritual enrichment in non-Christian faiths
On the 4th of July last year, my wife and I hosted a cookout at my church with local friends and guests from Brazil and Iraq. Our guest from Iraq put down his Halal dietary restrictions, and I happily cooked veggie brats and burgers on the grill next to the pork for everyone else. Midway through the meal, our Iraqi guest pulled me aside and made a request. It was time for Salah, his midday prayers. He needed a piece of cloth to use, but I could not find anything. The tablecloths were locked up and the carpets or mats were too big or dirty.
Looking into the church sanctuary, I finally saw something he could use. I walked up to the huge cross on the stage, pulled off the white cloth wrapped around it, and came back to provide spiritual hospitality to my guest and my friend. He prayed, returned the cloth a few minutes later, and I placed it back on the cross of my Lord and Savior. At the end of the day, he gave me a small ceramic boat from Iraq as a gift. I still cherish it.
It's no secret that I find spiritual enrichment in other faiths. My prayer nook at home contains items and books from Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Transcendentalism, Hinduism, and indigenous or ancient faiths. I have portions of the Quran memorized along with the Bible. I have prayed, worshiped, and held precious friendships with people of many different faiths.
Sometimes, this garners accusations of idolatry from others, that I am worshiping some other God besides God, or that my spiritual hospitality subverts Christ and "waters down" the truth of the Gospel. Thinking through such accusations, I found guidance in many portions of the scriptures. The story of Melchizedek and Abram in Genesis 14, however, is most prominent.
After a successful battle, Abram meets Melchizedek, the king and priest of El Elyon, or God Most High, in Salem. While some readers may automatically associate God Most High with just another name for God, this isn't the case in Genesis. In fact, outside of describing Melchizedek's worship, using Elyon as a name for God is not mentioned in Genesis, Exodus, or Leviticus, and El Elyon is found no where else in the Torah. It was not a normal name for God. Yet here is is, being used four times in a row. It was, however, phrase used to describe Aramean, Canaanite, and Phoenician deities. Keep in mind as well that up to this point, the terms El and Elohim were never used when God was revealed to Abraham. God was known to Abram by the name Yahweh. But here is a priest-king of a different Canaanite city, with its own established religion and exotic name for God, coming to meet Abram. And what do they do? They pray together.
Blessed be Abram by El Elyon,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to El Elyon,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.
Then Abram responds.
With raised hand I have sworn an oath to
Yahweh, El Elyon, Creator of heaven and earth
Sitting with a priest of a Canaanite religion to a deity of a different name, Abram identifies their gods as one and the same God, the Highest God. And how do they know it is the same deity? This God gave Abram victory and created the world. With this knowledge, they eat together, drink wine, and offer each other good will. With Abram's example, I also believe what the scriptures say, that in God "we live and move and have our being" and that in Christ "all things hold together." (Acts 17:28, Colossians 1:17) God sits just behind the veil of this world in Creation, in relationships, and in experiences. When I speak to a Muslim or Hindu of God, I know that we speak of the same God who formed and holds us together, even if we understand that God differently. This same God is the source of Love, Truth, Justice, and Beauty. When I read in the Quran that "He found you, Lost One, He guided you," I know that God did find when lost and guide me. (Ad-Duhaa 7) So, in the steps of Abram and with eyes wide open, I will continue to be a Christian who eats, drinks, worships, prays, and shares religious hospitality with those of different faiths, honoring and learning from their different ways. After all, even if the Son is the only way to the Father, perhaps there are many ways to the Son.