What does he have to teach us? Be more Christian.
Dr. Eboo Patel is a Muslim who teaches interfaith leadership at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He has important ministry lessons for Christians.
He goes beyond saying what you believe is right and what I believe is right so let’s be friends (which describes a lot of interfaith dialogue I’ve seen) and you are the enemy and I must prove you’re wrong and maybe bad (which describes many debates I’ve seen).
We live in a religiously diverse world. That is a fact. Some simply give in to relativism and believe that all paths lead to God. Others tend to cultivate an us vs. them mentality that sees people of others faiths as enemies. He wants to take a third path where we respect one another, work with one another, care for one another and at the same time make truth claims that may contradict one another. It is a kind of religious plurality that leaves room for people to take a stand for what they believe the truth is and even to seek to convince others of it. This is helpful and refreshing.
His advice to Christian pastors in the midst of religious conflict? Be Christian. “If you don’t use the Christian narrative to define reality for your people, then someone else will define reality for them with a different narrative.”
Dr. Patel says this at the end of the article, “The ability to bring mutually exclusive people together is the gift of the great leaders of our time. If religious leaders will not model for their people how to live beside other faiths, then who will?”
Read the whole thing.
