Pax Americana or The Kingdom of God?

We thought we might share a few pictures from the last week first.

Roman pillars standing in the middle of Beirut, across from out bus stop, the National Museum.

Alethia waiting for the bus outside the museum. We have now started to get the hang of public transportation in Beirut.

The chapel at the American University of Beirut.

Given the upcoming National Holiday of Independence in the US, and our current presence in the Middle East (speaking of Alethia and Ryan but also the US military) we thought it might be appropriate to post this article written by our Seminary's President, Richard Mouw. It was a piece written 10 years ago for the magazine Reformed Worship and can be found at http://www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=1689


As Christians we pray that God's "kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven." A kingdom that is beyond national boundaries and allegiance, and a kingdom that is one of peace, not war.


The Danger of Alien Loyalties

As any liturgist knows, we have to take more than one “church year” into account as we plan our worship services. The last time I counted, I came up with six distinguishable “years.”

First is the Lectionary year, used by congregations from many denominations to organize their worship planning. Next, and familiar especially to churches within the Reformed tradition, is the Catechism year, patterned after the “Lord’s Days” of the Heidelberg Catechism. Third is the Hallmark year—Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day—a list of special occasions that many churches recognize in one fashion or another. Fourth and fifth are the Denominational Programs year (Missions Sunday, World Hunger Sunday, and the like) and a Local Congregation Activities year (Stewardship Sunday, Boys’ or Girls’ Club Sunday, the service for
commissioning of church school teachers). And, last but not least, is the Civic Holiday year.

Most of these “years” are not very problematic on a theological level. They are, to be sure, often difficult to juggle—what do you do, for example, when Mother’s Day and Pentecost occur on the same Sunday? But a creative mind and a willingness to do some compromising are often adequate for dealing with such challenges.

The Civic Holiday year, though, presents some special theological problems. And it also raises some emotionally laden issues. In the World War I era, for example, a well-known Reformed pastor in the Midwest refused to allow the American flag to be displayed in his sanctuary. This caused such an uproar in his Dutch Calvinist community that he was physically attacked one night as he walked home from church.

Is it appropriate to integrate civic themes and symbols into our Christian worshiping life? As worship planners, how do we deal with the fact of a Dominion Day or an Independence Day?

The Relevance of Context

One possible solution is simply to ignore our civic life altogether. Some Christians have argued for this option. They believe that a Christian worship service should in no way reflect the national setting in which it takes place. If a Christian family from Ireland should happen to attend a service in Minneapolis, they insist, the Irish visitors should be able to identify with everything that is going on in the worship event.

But this requirement is defective for both practical and theological reasons. On the practical level it is simply unreasonable to expect that foreign visitors will feel completely at home in our services. Our language and accents and modes of cultural expression will inevitably reflect our specific surroundings.

Furthermore, from a theological point of view it is good that this is so. God has placed us in specific cultural and national contexts. We shouldn’t ask black worshipers in South Africa or a peasant congregation in El Salvador to make no mention of their particular political circumstances as they worship the divine Ruler. Nor should we ask it of ourselves. Applying the gospel to our actual circumstances is one of the exciting challenges of the Christian life.

Remembering Our Loyalties

It is one thing, though, to incorporate our national context into our worship. It is another to foster non-Christian loyalties as we worship. And there can be no question that the danger of alien loyalties is a real one in dealing with the relationship between Christian worship and civic symbols.

Take the flag question. Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with having a national flag in a place of worship. As a reminder of our national “place” and as a stimulus to reflect seriously on what it means to be Christian citizens, a flag can be a rather innocent symbol.

But it is difficult to assess this issue properly without also reckoning with the constant danger of nationalistic pride. We are often asked to offer to our nations the kind of allegiance that we should direct only to God. A national flag seldom serves as a mere reminder of the fact that we are citizens of a specific nation. It is a powerful symbol—even a seductive one—that can evoke feelings of loyalty and pride that are not proper for Christians. And when a national flag stands alongside the so-called Christian flag, we can easily be led to think that God and Caesar have equal importance in our lives.

When we come together for Christian worship, we are acknowledging our identity as members of “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9). And we need to be reminded that other racial and priestly and national loyalties are constantly competing for our allegiance. Our worship services are gatherings in the divine throne-room, where we acknowledge that our true loyalties belong to God alone. Nothing in our liturgical content or setting should detract from this expression of fidelity.

Political Heresy

The relationship between Christian commitment and political citizenship is subject to considerable confusion. Much preaching on this subject is downright silly, full of shallow sentimentality and naive interpretations of such passages as the “render unto Caesar” saying and Romans 13. This is certainly inexcusable in the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition, where John Calvin and John Knox and Abraham Kuyper and Allan Boesak and other Calvinists have provided us with such a rich store of Christian reflection on the basic issues of civic life.

Reformed theological wisdom is desperately needed on such matters today, given the heresies that are so prominent in popular political piety. How, for example, can Christians who believe that only Christ’s sacrifice can truly atone for sin refer to deaths of soldiers who have died in the service of their country—however courageous their actions—as “the supreme sacrifice”?

Patriotic songs also contain many dangerous teachings. Take, for example, the “eschatological” verse of “America the Beautiful.” Themes that in the book of Revelation are used to describe the Holy City are here applied to the United States: “alabaster cities,” “undimmed by human tears,” the “shining sea.” As if the United States will become the promised New Jerusalem! And yet Reformed Christians—even the kind who sometimes boast of their commitment to “sound theology”—often sing these words without a thought to the heresies they are mouthing.

This is not mere nit-picking. Given the sinfulness of the human condition, idolatry is a very real threat. Political life has certainly not been immune to the general dangers of forming idolatrous allegiances. And when nations and governments have exceeded their God-ordained boundaries by asking citizens for their ultimate loyalties, they have often borrowed the language of religion.

The Roman emperors demanded that they be addressed as “Lord.” And Hitler deceived the German people into thinking that they were a “holy nation,” and a “chosen race.” We must be very diligent in warning the people of God against applying the themes of Zion to the nations in whose midst we are called to serve our only true and righteous Sovereign.

A Multinational People

It is one thing, though, to acknowledge the dangers that we must guard against; it is another to put these concerns into practice. How can we sensitize God’s people to these important concerns, knowing full well that we are dealing with issues that carry much emotional freight?

We can promote a general awareness in our worship of the multinational character of the body of Jesus Christ. Our worship here below is a preparation for the worship of the Lamb, who has ransomed us “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”: (Rev. 5:9), thereby giving us a new kind of communal identity. “No other blood will do”—not Canadian blood, or Scottish blood, or Dutch blood, or Brazilian blood.

We can regularly give expression to this new sense of identity in our worship by praying for Christians in other national settings, by reminding ourselves of the dangers of national pride, by remembering the ways in which Christians have had to oppose existing political regimes in order to be faithful to the gospel.

Healthy Paradigm

There is a legitimate place for patriotic sentiments in the Christian life. Some Christians deny this, but they are usually focusing on patriotic excesses when they issue their condemnations.

To be a “patriot” is to have affection for the “fatherland.” The explicit analogy to the parent-child relationship is a helpful one. It is a good and natural thing to love our parents. But our love has gotten out of bounds if we think our parents are literally the best parents in the whole world—so wonderful that everyone else also ought to value them as the world’s greatest parents.

That’s the kind of out-of-bounds thinking that takes hold when nationalistic feelings get to be excessive. People start to think that their country—which they quite naturally have very affirmative feelings toward—is the best country in the world.

Christians need to work hard at keeping patriotic feelings within proper bounds. There is nothing wrong with my loving my country simply because it my country—just as I love my parents simply because they are my parents. But this does not put my country beyond criticism.

To honor our nation in a godly manner is to want it to contribute to the cause of Christ’s kingdom. To love our country with a Christian love is to want our nation to do justice and love mercy and walk in humility before the face of the Lord.

Citizens in Church

We don’t leave our citizen roles and our patriotic affections at the door when we enter the church building for worship. It is not reasonable or good to expect that we will do so. God has given to each of us a national setting in which to live. Christian citizenship is a good and important calling.

Our worship services provide us with opportunities to become more aware of who we are as the elect people of God. Worship must speak to the actual dilemmas and trials and joys and challenges that we experience as we attempt to serve the Lord in the broad and complex patterns of our lives. Liturgy and citizenship, then, must intersect.

But seductive patriotic symbols and nationalistic boastings have no proper place in Christian worship. Nor is the church a place where superficial sentimentality and dangerous political heresies can be tolerated. Our worship services are opportunities to come, as the blood-bought people of the Lamb—a people who are presently scattered among the nations—into the presence of the one Ruler whose authority knows no rivals.

Please Excuse Our Absence...

Marhaba! We apologize for the long silence…this past week has been quite busy during the conference which overall was quite successful despite the lack of participants from outside the country. Yes, there were other countries represented, but mostly because they were already working within the region and could easily come to Lebanon. Besides ourselves there were a handful of students from Gordon Conwell Seminary and an elderly couple from the States… Now seriously, if they could come of their own volition, what about others?

It was good to hear from an Eastern perspective on some of the larger, complicated questions of life and politics and theology. This is what we hope to take back with us. In the evenings we had a few dialogue sessions with Christian and Muslim representatives that were also quite interesting and fruitful. We are constantly impressed with the relationships that ABTS has been able to build. We won’t say much more about the conference, but just know that it was a full, full week and at the end we found ourselves quite exhausted, but pleasantly so.

Alethia was asked to help MC the finale banquet (she was so good everyone thought she worked in broadcasting :) ).

Some of Alethia's Lebanese friends. Martin affectionately calls them "the ABTS angels." (From left to right: Marcel, Alexi, Alethia, Gladys, and Rosette)

Some of Ryan's friends. (From left to right: Micah (Sudan), Daoud (Sudan/Syria), Ryan, Samir (Syria), Gentleman (Egypt), and Ayad (Egypt).)

Some more of Ryan's football friends (From left to right: Barhaf (Iraq: he has a wife and two small children who cannot go back to Baghdad this summer because of the US occupation), Ryan, Samir, Ashuraf (Jordan)).

As for our weekend activities, we spent a Saturday rock climbing with Martin and some friends up north, and this past weekend were out on another “excursion” to some other cities we would rather not name just now. But this country is beautiful and diverse which makes the current tensions all the more painful. It’s better to dream about what Lebanon might become—for the good.

Alethia pulling a pretty sweet stemming move half-way up the rock face.

Ryan on the wall with another friend.

The "Sea Castle" in the background with a minaret in the foreground.

Some ancient Roman ruins with a minaret in the background.

The grandstands and stables of the hippodrome (a chariot race track like the one in Ben-Hur). (From left to right: Ryan, Alethia, Alia, Martin, and Rich).

This coming week we are going to be studying Arabic again, only in Beirut this time around, which is helping us to get to know the city a bit. We spend our whole afternoon in class and the evenings in study, but during the morning and early afternoons we will be meeting up with some students from AUB (American University of Beirut) to chat about some of Alethia’s pressing questions regarding life, religion, and conflict—and hope? And next week we will be partnering with an important and impressive ministry here in the area (inshallah, if all goes well). We went to this office today actually for a visit and to get to know the site and the people there. We are quite impressed with all that this particular “office” is carrying out. Sorry for the vagueness, but we’ll fill you in upon our return. Because of the tensions here it’s often better not to say exactly where, what, who etc ☺ Just know we are under good and capable guidance.

So we are very much looking forward to these next two weeks and we shall see where we go from there. Also because of the current situation, we are basically making decisions about our time for just a two-week period and reassess constantly. So far, so good, we are very much enjoying our time even if getting back into Arabic is a bit of a challenge! For sure many of you are keeping an eye on the news here, but keep in mind that for all the horridness and unrest you may read about, there are plenty of warm and visionary people and projects going on parallel to this other darkness. We meet people who are discouraged, but we hope to do something to encourage those we meet during our time here. We are encouraged ourselves at some of the projects that offer hope in an otherwise (almost) broken land.

The sun setting into the Mediterranean Sea over Beirut.

Life in Beirut

Beirut from the roof of ABTS


Well, we have finished our first full week of Arabic classes. We have had 3 hours of Arabic class each day with about 2 hours of homework, so it has been quite full. Our professor Martin Accad also arrived back to Beirut this week (he had been in the States and was stranded in New York City for a day during some bad weather). So we have also had 2 hours of class with Martin the last three days. These sessions have focused more on an introduction to Arabic culture and thought.


Alethia studying in Arabic class with our teacher Abla.

In the evenings as a break from the Arabic homework, Ryan has been able to play football (soccer) with some of the guys from the seminary. The second night we were here we had been walking by the area where they play and one of the guys asked if I wanted to play. After changing clothes, I came back and played for about an hour. This proved to be extremely valuable for opening up conversation and establishing relationships with the guys. The very next morning they were much warmer to us at breakfast, and by the fourth day they were pulling tables together to eat with us. It is amazing how sports are a universal way of communicating and enjoying one another. I have had the opportunity to play with students from Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

On Wednesday evening around 5:30p here in Beirut, there was a large car bomb down near the sea (Beirut is on the shore of the Mediterranean and, when not being bombed, it’s beautiful) which assassinated a member of Parliament who happened to be anti- Syrian. A number of other innocent people were in the wrong place at the wrong time and also lost their lives. It is quite a frightening time for the people of Beirut in particular, as expressed by Abla, our Arabic teacher the next morning. She was very sad and a bit depressed and says that everyone wonders if there will be a bomb midday and then what? It’s quite disturbing to think about. Here in Mansourieh, it’s easy to feel safe and peaceful, but as we drive around Beirut, we wonder…what if? In this way, we are getting a sense of what people here feel all the time—it’s wearing, it bears down on your soul.

Beirut in particular demonstrates the contradictions of Lebanon…there are bullet marks in building walls all over the city, left over from the 1975-1990 civil war—yet people want to forget about the civil war even with all these reminders. Depending on where you are in the city, people either dress in very European, liberal style, or in traditional Islamic dress. Some places in Beirut are extremely modern and wealthy and just next door are the Palestinian camps or poorer, largely Shiite areas. There is an air of progress and desire for a bright and hopeful future, but at the same time a dark feeling that something will tear this future apart, perhaps even imminently. Inshallah (God willing), we hope not. I could go on…at the seminary we hear that so many Lebanese want to leave because of “the situation” (a euphemism for these ugly times we are living in and the fear that is constant), but if Christians leave, where is the hope for the future? In other words, people here feel called to stay in the dark places, not to run away in the face of extreme difficulties. There is hope in this decision to stay…

Next week, we will be participating in a inter-faith dialogue conference here at the seminary, learning from Christians and Muslims. We anticipate learning a lot about ourselves and having a chance to witness our past studies being acted out in real life! We also will likely be forced to practice our Arabic ;) Quite a few participants have cancelled because of the situation here, but there should still be a good number for next week. We ask for your prayers as we all gather in a spirit of neutrality and hopefulness in the midst of the polarization and fear of “the other” that elsewhere pervades the society.

Lebanon and the Palestinians

If you have seen news reports during the last month, you have probably read or heard about the conflict at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp where the Lebanese army has besieged Islamist militant fighters who robbed a bank and attacked an army outpost a month ago. One of the concerns for our travel was that this incident might spread to other groups within Lebanon and alter the fragile balance that currently exists. Fortunately, this has not happened yet to the point of a larger Lebanese conflict, but there have been sporadic bombings around Lebanon (many in Beirut) that have created an atmosphere of anxiety and worry, wondering where the next bomb will attack and what might happen that could plunge this country into another civil war.

As we said in our last post, Lebanon is a microcosm of the greater Middle East, so we thought we might take an opportunity to explain a little about why there are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Back in 1948, following WWII, the State of Israel was formed, carved out from the land of Palestine by the British. Jewish settlers had lived and co-existed with native Palestinians until this time, but there had been greater tension building as the Zionist movement tried to claim a “homeland for the Jews.” The slogan prior to this time was “A land without a people, for a people without a land.” The problem with this was that it completely ignored the fact that there had been Palestinians (or those who are now called Palestinians) living in the land. This was not “a land without a people.” These people trace their heritage back at least to the time of the Crusades (the movie Kingdom of Heaven documents this) and many prior, back to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD.

So, with the formation of the State of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes, some tried to remain in Palestine, but many were forced out of their country, becoming refugees fleeing from their homes. Refugee camps were established in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon, but currently Lebanon holds the majority of Palestinian refugees in 12 refugee camps (394,532, or an estimated 10 per cent of the population of Lebanon).1 That is a lot of people for a country already densely populated, 4 million in a country the size of Connecticut.

Many people agree that peace in the Middle East will only come once there is a solution for the “Palestinian problem.” (This was affirmed in by the Iraq Study Group chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton last year, as an integral part of the solution in Iraq).2 This is a difficult proposal, but currently peace will only come once Israel (backed by America) agrees to peacefully co-exist with their Arab neighbors, which includes a legitimate and equal (self-governed) Palestinian state. Right now Israel is the strongest power in this region (supplied by 1/3 of the total American foreign aid budget, and more military aid that supplied to all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean put together).3

This past quarter, as a part of the Peace and Justice Concerns Committee at Fuller, we created a mural that is taken from the “Separation Barrier” outside of Bethlehem.



Our protest against the "Separation Barriar" and all the other walls in the world (the US-Mexico wall, the wall in Iraq built by the US military, the DMZ in Korea) using the same line from Ronald Regan to President Gorbachev about the Berlin Wall in 1988.

Many people are not aware, but Israel is currently building a wall to separate itself from the rest of the Middle East, but in the process they are taking even more Palestinian land. The justification of this wall is for self-defense from terrorist acts and suicide bombers, but it was deemed illegal by the International Justice Court in 2002. We believe, and hope for, the peaceful co-existence of Israelis and their Arab neighbors (Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians, Egyptian, and Lebanese), but believe this will only come once the Zionist movement (most largely supported by America, including some Evangelical groups) is replaced by a movement that has respect for all humanity and considers each person equally created in the image of God.

If you are still reading, we appreciate bearing with us. If you are interested in more resources on this subject read Jimmy Carter’s book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, or visit www.stopthewall.org We fully know this is a difficult and controversial subject, but also feel a strong burden to share about this and bring it into public debate within the United States. Blessings to everyone as we seek to be peacemakers in this broken world.

1) UNRWA at http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/lebanon.html
2) Able to be viewed at www.bakerinstitute.org/Pubs/iraqstudygroup_findings.pdf for those interested.
3) Washington Report on the Middle East December 2002

Our First Day in Lebanon

"Jesus the King" statue with outstreached arms blessing the Mediterranean

After a good 10 hours of sleep, we caught up from a long day and night of traveling from L.A. to Beirut…we think we are perhaps already on the correct time zone! This morning was spent at an International Anglican Church in Beirut with a family who is connected to the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary. They hosted us for their traditional Sunday afternoon lunch—chicken and strawberries ☺ --and then invited us to spend the afternoon at the beach…not a bad way to unwind from the plane. Driving through Beirut helped somewhat to orient us to our new surroundings—although there are still signs of the civil war (1975-1990) left on the buildings and some tension in the air given the newest conflict, people are still out and about, enjoying their day off (or the beach).

Those that we have met here readily talk about the bombings and anxiety and tension that pervades the community, but at the same time, things are relatively calm in Beirut. Except for these expressions of anxiety, it’s hard to believe we are in the same country that is making the news these days. We are continually hoping and praying for peace to be restored and appreciate your prayers for the people of Lebanon and the Middle East.

There is a strong international feel here with people from many different countries—east really does meet west here. Many say Lebanon is a microcosm of the entire Middle East because of the nature of the conflicts fought within its borders. Despite this it is an open and welcoming culture with a unique blend of Christians and Muslims.

For those of you who have been in this part of the world, I am reminded of both Cairo and Palestine here…obviously we are not wandering about the super touristy areas! It’s very beautiful, rolling hills, terraced landscape, green, sun, ah…the Mediterranean at its best. And a lot of crazy traffic (not many signs, you go when you can or maybe even when you shouldn’t!).

We are meeting a lot of welcoming people here at ABTS and are looking forward to starting Arabic classes tomorrow. Eventually we will be involved with a local organization as part of my practicum requirement for my degree at Fuller Seminary, but so far we are easing into things. It’s lovely to be back in the Middle East…