A Baptist
Pastor’s Plea To Love Our Muslim Neighbors
Louisville community members come together
for an interfaith service to honor Muhammad Ali at The Louisville Islamic
Center. June 5, 2016.
Hundreds of people packed the Newton County courthouse in Covington, Ga., on August 22 to
protest the placement of a mosque in their neighborhood. Sadly, it was not the
first time that fierce anger and opposition to Muslims was expressed in the
metro Atlanta area.
Two years ago, the Kennesaw City Council voted (without
cause) to reject a permit for the creation of a small, storefront mosque in
their community.
Two months ago, homeowners in Cobb County fought against
the placement of a Muslim cemetery.
It is not only happening in our community, but across our
country.
Many of the loudest protesters are people of faith and members
of my faith community—Christians. We are people called and commissioned
to love God and love others, but still struggling with an age-old question: Who is my neighbor?
Words like “us” and “them” are some of the first we learn as
children and we never forget those words. I have heard them echoed over and
over again in recent days. “We” don’t want “them” here. “They” don’t have a
place in “our” neighborhood.
At the 2016 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, a
pastor rose with some comments and a question. He said, “They (Muslims) are murdering Christians,
beheading Christians, imprisoning Christians all over the world…These
people(Muslims) are a threat to our very way of existence as
Christians in America…How in the world (can) someone within the Southern
Baptist Convention support defending of the rights of Muslims to construct
mosques in the United States?”
Dr. Russell Moore, President of the SBC Ethics and Religious
Liberty Commission, listened patiently and responded unequivocally.
“Sometimes questions are complicated and sometimes we have hard
decisions to make, but this is NOT one of those times,” Moore said. “What it
means to be a Baptist is to support soul freedom for everybody.”
His answer was grounded in Baptist theology, but it was also
grounded in an ancient rule―often called golden―that we “love our neighbors
as we love ourselves.”
In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus answered the
question, “Who is my neighbor?” Defying the conventional wisdom of his
day (and ours), Jesus broke down the walls of “us” and “them,” calling for us
to love beyond ethnic differences and religious labels.
My church, Smoke Rise
Baptist Church, is located at a great cultural crossroads just a
short distance from Clarkston, Ga., the largest refugee community in the
Southeast United States. Within 10 miles of our church, we have a Hindu Temple,
Muslim mosques, Jewish synagogues, and Buddhist Temples.
The neighborhood is changing.
Our church has decided to respond not in fear, but in faith.
Fear labels. Faith loves.
Our church welcomes other houses of worship in our community,
because we believe that religious liberty must be for all, or it will not exist
at all.
We choose to be a Good Neighbor.
Jesus said, “Love God and Love your neighbor.” It is not an
either/or, but a both/and. If we love God, we will love our neighbor,
regardless of our differences.
Clarkston, Georgia is the home of the
largest refugee community in the Southeast United States.
The conversation in Newton County and in many others places
across the country is about more than politics or building permits. It is about
people.
One person who has inspired our congregation is Malik Waliyani,
an Indian-born Muslim. In April, he purchased the local gas station about a
block from our church. In July, his station was robbed and ransacked. After
learning of his loss, we wanted to be a good neighbor and support him. So, one
Sunday, our congregation went to buy gas and groceries from his store.
He gave us the items we purchased, but he also gave us something
else that Sunday, something that you can’t get on a shelf, something priceless…
He gave us his friendship.
In August, Malik came to our church and shared a meal with us,
expressing gratitude and introducing himself and his faith to his new
neighbors.
Malik is a Muslim AND Malik is our friend and our neighbor.
Georgia is still scarred from a time where exclusion was the
order of the day. But, a new day is dawning. Today, Georgia is the most diverse
state in the Southeast. We have a unique opportunity to move beyond our
prejudicial past and embrace a new identity as a community of welcome, a place
where words like “us” and “them” are outdated and obsolete.
Georgia can be a place where everyone is treated like a neighbor
and where strangers are welcomed as friends—Southern Hospitality in the best
way.
We stand at the intersection of yesterday and tomorrow. Will we
will run back to the past with fear or walk forward toward the future with
faith?
Rev. Dr. Chris George is senior pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist
Church, a congregation located in Stone Mountain, Ga., and affiliated with the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
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