Bless those who persecute you

Flip through your AM dial and you will hear liberal-bashing on your conservative shows and bashing of conservatives on your liberal talk shows. Rather than talk about the issues it seems most are more interested in lobbing slander at the other side.

What about Christian-Muslim relations? Heard anyone talk about “blessing” our Muslim neighbors around the world? If the conversation isn’t vindictive then it’s all about “converting” them. And I agree that they need to hear the gospel. But what if our Muslim neighbors were continually blessed by their Christian counterparts? How open would they become to hearing what we have to say after experiencing continual kindness from Christians? And I’m not talking about kindness with ulterior motives. I mean acts of kindness because we are called to bless our “enemies.” My parents and brother just spent a few weeks in a village in Morocco and said most of the widows and single women want to marry a Christian man. Their reason? A local woman experienced severe bleeding while giving birth to her child and the Muslim men of the village, including her husband, decided to let her bleed arguing that if Allah wanted to save her he would. And if he didn’t then she must have done something to anger their god. A Christian missionary in the village found out about this woman’s plight and rushed her to a local hospital where her life was saved. Because of this man’s actions the women of the village want a Christian husband because they believe he will take better care of them.

What about gay rights? Why do we hear so much gay-bashing emerging from the mouths of many Christians? Yes, the lifestyle is wrong; the Bible clearly calls it a sin. But what would the gay community think of Christians if they experienced blessing instead of cursing?

We are all quick to judge anyone on the “other side” of our own values, theology, and culture. It even happens between Christian denominations. Conservative churches denigrate Pentecostal ones and vice versa. I’m not saying we can’t disagree. I’m simply saying my Bible says “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse" (Romans 12:14). It doesn’t say “tolerate those who persecute you.” It says to bless them. What would our world look like if all Christians took this command seriously?