The Mission of Jesus as "Paying Homage"
In his article, “Paying Homage: Being Christian in a World of Many Faiths,” Bruce Sanguin describes “two distinctive religious pilgrimages:”[1] one is a model for what Eboo Patel describes as Totalitarianism and the other is an example of Pluralism. In the first instance he speaks of a “modern pilgrimage of thousands of American Southern Baptists to the biblical land of Persia, now known as Iraq, to convert the heathen Muslims”[2] to Christianity; wherein, he says, “the current occupation of Iraq” is seen as “a unique opportunity to win the souls of the Iraqi people for Christ.”[3] However, in the other case, Sanguin describes an “ancient visit” which was led by Persian astrologers, the ‘wise men,’ to pay homage to the Christ child.” Both “represent two radically different models of faith and two different notions of how to get along with people who” inhabit a faith tradition which is “different [than] one’s own.”
In his article, “Paying Homage: Being Christian in a World of Many Faiths,” Bruce Sanguin describes “two distinctive religious pilgrimages:”[1] one is a model for what Eboo Patel describes as Totalitarianism and the other is an example of Pluralism. In the first instance he speaks of a “modern pilgrimage of thousands of American Southern Baptists to the biblical land of Persia, now known as Iraq, to convert the heathen Muslims”[2] to Christianity; wherein, he says, “the current occupation of Iraq” is seen as “a unique opportunity to win the souls of the Iraqi people for Christ.”[3] However, in the other case, Sanguin describes an “ancient visit” which was led by Persian astrologers, the ‘wise men,’ to pay homage to the Christ child.” Both “represent two radically different models of faith and two different notions of how to get along with people who” inhabit a faith tradition which is “different [than] one’s own.”
In the first case, Sanguin is right to argue that “The primary purpose of being a Christian is to convert other people” to Christianity and “The Muslim people quite naturally understand this for what it is—a holy war.”[4] In this form of mission, “the Mission of the Disciples,”[5] all efforts are made to demonize the religion of the religious other and to slander all that is held sacred to the opposing tradition. Nothing is to be gained by the exchange except another notch in the crusaders belt. While this type of missionary mentality is quite prevalent throughout the Christian world, one such case made local news this summer when a Sprinfield, TN pastor named Bob Old sought to stage a Quran burning in solidarity with an internationally recognized Florida pastor who advertised plans to torch a pile of holy Qurans on the anniversary of 911. In characteristic fashion, when asked what was motivating him to perform such an act he replied, that Muslims “worship a false god [,] have a false text [and] a false prophet.”[6] Likewise, when asked if it could rightly be perceived as an act of hate, he replied, “How can it be an act of hate when what I am doing is trying to save their souls?”[7]
Returning once again to Sanguin’s second case, he argues that the Magi in Matthew’s gospel “have the wisdom to realize that the Holy One is not restricted to revealing [God’s self] to only their people;”[8] for, “they go to Israel for a single purpose, to pay homage.”[9] Through this model, Sanguin rightly challenges our understanding of mission and asks, “What would it mean for Christians to make the long journey across strange cultural and religious landscapes bearing only gifts of respect for all that is sacred in other traditions?”[10] Added to this, he points out a very important detail in the story of the Magi. The text tells that upon the conclusion of their visit, which involved no proselytization either way, they ‘“returned home by another road’ […] suggesting that their encounter with the sacred center of another religion had a transformative effect on them.”[11] Furthermore, he says, “they went home” but they returned there through a different route because “they [had] allowed themselves to be influenced by the experience.”
Sanguin offers us a powerful image for the way in which Christian mission, as “the Mission of Jesus,” looks more like “paying homage” rather than proselytization. As such, he rightly concludes that “It’s time the religions of the world, including our own, got over having to convert everyone to our belief system.”[12] Reconnecting this to the dual commandment and the call to love our Muslim neighbor as ourselves, John Thatamanil insists that, “In the space between my neighbor and me, something like affection, respect, and admiration begins to grow.”[13] What is more, he beautifully argues that, “If by grace what transpires amounts genuinely to love, we will soon find that we cannot authentically claim to love our neighbors despite their deepest convictions;”[14] indeed, he continues, “we will find it difficult to bypass the central experiences, practices, and insights that animate and sustain persons of other faiths […] Should we embrace the calling to love our neighbors, we will find ourselves vulnerable to what is healing and life-giving in their religious traditions.”[15]
[1] Michael Schwartzentruber, (edtr.), The Emerging Christian Way; Thoughts Stories, and Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation, (Canada: Copperhouse, 2006), 137.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid, 137-138.
[4] Ibid.
[5] See past post: “Christian-Muslim Dialogue Part 5”
[6] Kim Gebbia, “Springfield Pastor Plans to Burn Quran,” (http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=13129871&v_t=keyword_rollover, September, 9th 2010).
[7] Schwartzentruber, 139.
[8] Schwartzentruber, 138.
[9] 139.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] John J. Thatamanil, The Immanent Divine; God Creation, and the Human Predicament (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006) xii.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
