Of silk robes and gold bracelets

It started with a trivial discussion about the war in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah but soon turned into something else. My (sort of) Christian roommate was gisting (more like arguing) with my Muslim colleague when I came into the room last night. I came late to the exchange but what I caught at that time went something like this:

colleague: Muslims are not supposed to wear silk

roommate: why not?

colleague: because that's what we'll wear in paradise. and Muslim men are not supposed to wear gold bracelets either.

It was all I could do to hide the smirk on my face. I had to leave the room then - to have myself a good laugh at the absurdity of it! "Silk in paradise", yeah right. But then I caught myself. It was hardly a joke. My Muslim friend is misguided through what may be little fault of his. He's been raised up to believe what he believes and he's going full speed in the wrong direction.

Later on, after I had joined in their conversation, several other things became apparent. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of this young man's mouth.

"Bin Laden's a hero"

"America's the enemy"

"I'd rather live in Afghanistan under the Taliban than in present day Nigeria"

my roommate challenged him with the question, "would you give your money to fund Al Qaeda?"

"Of course" was his reply. "Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah are resistance movements and not terrorist organizations like the West chooses to call them."

Well, as you can imagine, the debate went on and on.

Really the details are not necessary. It was just such an eye opener for me. There really is an evil called Islam and it's right next to you (don't look now). There is so much deception in the form of this religion in particular that it's hard to believe.

Should our response to them be one of contempt? I think not. Look at what Jesus said: "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they're doing." Reminds me of that verse: "The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers..." Jesus' response to such people around him would have been one of accommodation more than just tolerance, of caring rather than indifference.

I think the onus is on us to reach out positively to those around us who are being deceived with love and care. And words.

Our debate yesterday reminded me of "Springboards" that we had learnt about in discipleship class several years back. Do you remember Nguavese? Grace? Springboards are those parts of conversations we have with non-believers that provide opportunity to redirect thought and share the Gospel. There are a plethora of springboards we come across in everyday conversation.

Like silk robes and gold bracelets.

Love you all.

Doosuur