If Joseph and Mary were to venture into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve looking for a room at the inn, they’d need a fast donkey to dodge bullets.
Caught in the crossfire: That’s how Christians in the Middle East have felt as Jews and Arabs fight over a homeland. Now that hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peace have collapsed once again into street warfare, the Christians’ sense of living under siege has returned.
That’s true for members of the Palestinian Christian minority, who — despite the general support for Palestinian statehood — have been denounced by some militant Muslim leaders since the violence exploded.
It’s also true for American Christian workers in the wider Arab world, who must cope with the anger of their Muslim friends and neighbors toward what they see as unjust United States policy in the region.
“In our three years living in the Middle East, we have received many warnings from the U.S. Embassy regarding possible terrorist actions or other anti-American activity,” one American evangelical couple wrote to friends. “Yet we have never felt those past situations affected our relationships” with Muslims.
“This time it is completely different. Literally our whole country is talking about it. … There is strong anti-American feeling all around because of our government’s support of Israel.”
They pleaded for prayer: “Please pray that God would anoint our words when we are with our friends. (We’re) surprised to find even (our) most unpolitical friends very wrapped up in the situation. From their view, they see an oppressed people struggling for independence.
“Most Arabs see Christianity hand in hand with America and they reject it all the more now — and even us to some extent — because they see the USA and Christianity as so uncaring to their plight. Please pray that we do not take on a ‘siege mentality.’ We need to stay engaged that they might see our God in us as well as His compassion for (those suffering) injustice.”
Whether their Muslim friends’ perspective is entirely accurate or fair is irrelevant. Perception is reality on the Arab “street.”
“Infinitely more painful” the couple added, was the reaction of several young men who recently turned back to seeing Jesus as only a prophet after affirming him as Lord. “Please pray for these guys that God would continue the good work He has begun in them,” they asked.
Despite the grim realities, Christians see many reasons for hope as they strive to express the love of Jesus. For one thing, moist Arabs prize relationships above national identities.
“Arabs are relational people,” said a veteran Christian worker. “Though I’m an American, I do not relate to Arabs as an American but as a person. Arabs make a decision to invite you into their relationships, and in a sense you become an extended family member to them.
“I’ve had Arabs say, ‘We hate American foreign policy, but not you. You’re our friend.’ We just need to be bold enough to liv Christ and to strip ourselves of political and cultural baggage that we carry almost unconsciously.”
More important, Christians see people on both sides of the conflict seeking spiritual truth with new intensity — because of the conflict itself.
Among Arab Muslims, particularly as they seek God during Ramadan, the issue is “knowing that God sent His Son and that He lives victorious today after dying on a cross so that they can have eternal life,” said the worker.
The same opportunity exists among Jews in Israel, he added. Volunteers distributing the “Jesus” film in Israel recently saw “tremendous openness” on the part of Jews because of the dangerous situation.
“They were ready to receive the film. They asked questions,” he reported. “One lady openly said, ‘I have watched this film and I am going to follow this Christ.’”
In another case, the family of an Israeli soldier shot during a skirmish warmly welcomed believers into his hospital room when they learned that many American Christians who witnessed the shooting via CNN were praying for his recovery.
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