But…the last one is this: I wanted us to bring good news to the ears of these men and women we met with. I wanted them to hear good news. Not even The Good News. Just any good news. Now….that’s the controversial part. Why would we just give “some good news” when we could give them THE Good News? Good question. Glad you asked….

The Good News has, at times, and for some, become a formula or a speech we give. It is the story of God, the Bible, Jesus and humanity all nicely wrapped up in a 10-20 minute talk. Is that REALLY what the good news is? Is it good? Does it make any sense to the hearer so that it might be good news? Can a Muslim, who has never heard some of this before, hear it? I mean, really hear? And is that why Jesus often prefaced his talks with “to him who has ears to hear let him hear.” Maybe Jesus knew that not everyone could hear this good news either?

So here’s what I believe about sharing The Good News or any good news. Let’s share as much as they can hear. If someone can only hear the words God is for you, then let’s just share that. If they can hear that God is for them and loves them so much he sent Jesus, then let’s share that. But how about thinking of ALL of the life of Christ as good news? He gives tired people rest – that’s good news. He seems to prefer sinners, the poor and kids – good news for those groups at least. He seems to treat us all with the respect and dignity that we deserve and need – good news unless you think you deserve more. He heals sick people – good news. He takes care of widows and orphans – good news for them. See….it could go on and on. It’s ALL good news. Maybe not the ultimate and final Good News, but still not bad at all…

So we went to serve these people, who are at times and in various ways, our enemies – some good news. Brighten their day a bit. Give them a taste, just a sampler, of what will hopefully one day be revealed to them more profoundly as The Best News of all time….that Jesus…..

Now, here’s what’s interesting about this – quite a few people, I’ve discovered, don’t want good news from people they thought were only bad. They don’t want us to put a human face on those who are assumed terrorists. They don’t want to know that the Hamas leader has a cute little girl that he kept hugging and tickling during our interview. That ruins their stereotype and they are quite fond of their stereotype!

I am constantly in communication with people here in the states who are Middle East “experts.” How do I know they’re experts? They tell me! Radio and TV interviews. During and after speaking engagements. And just out on the streets. Whenever I tell people what I do, they have an opinion – and a strong one – about the Middle East and how things are and how they should be. It’s a lot of fun. So I wanted to help paint another picture for these people. Not just the “right one”, as if there’s only one version of the facts, but simply another one.

And the book has done just that. It has created a huge discussion in a bunch of different circles about the issues we deal with in the book. Terrorism. Islam.  Middle East peace. How Christians relate and should relate to Muslims. Shared humanity. Simple things like that!

And the last one – tomorrow is possibly the most fundamental reason, but also the most controversial. Come back…

But what about loving enemies of the state? The Bin Laden variety? Are we called to love those types? The Hamas? Al Qaeda? Most would say “no.” I say, “Why not?” As far as I can tell, Jesus didn’t qualify who the enemy was.

So…we went to some actual enemies of America. And by simply showing up, we gave them respect. Honor. Love. We found a handful of enemies, and we loved them. Did it “work?” Who knows. It went well. We made some friends. We shared some of the good news with them. We probably broke down some barriers and opened a few minds (ours and theirs). But the “working” part is in God’s hands anyway.

But we did follow Jesus a bit more closely as we tried our best to live out a command that he gave us. And in that, we found life!

It changes everything when you place yourself in a posture of learning rather than teaching. What if these “bad guys” we were meeting weren’t just simple thugs? What if they had some good points? Or not…? Or….well, who knows. But we won’t know if we don’t want to learn.

One of Jesus’ common intros into a new thought was “To him who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus never assumed people really wanted to hear. They often don’t. But for the ones with ears to hear something new, fresh, life-giving – then they can hear. But he won’t force us to hear. We have to want it…  And I’d say that was one of the richest things of the trip – we heard the people. Really heard them. All sides.  And through them, we often heard God!

So….I’ll give you one reason each of the next 5 days. Don’t know if they’re “good” reasons or not, but they’re mine (trying to get Ted to do the same).

Reason #1. To hang out with my buddy Ted. He and I had been dreaming and scheming for years for ways to spend time together, in some sort of adventurous fashion. We’d ridden dirt bikes together. Skied together. Vacationed and traveled together. But we wanted more.

Friendship is one of my highest values. So we did this trip as friends. To hang out. Have fun. And do something significant while we’re at it.

And when my wife Chris was able to join us for part of the trip – well that was a huge bonus. Since she’s my best friend!

Reason #2 tomorrow…

I was talking with a fairly well known Christian leader this week about this topic. His point was that there is NO WAY that the god of the Qur’an and the God of the Bible are the same. Muslims do not pray to or worship the same god.

Here’s the actually conversation:

Carl: So do you agree that all Arab Christians, for as long as we’ve known, have used the word “Allah” when speaking Arabic for the name of God?

Christian Leader: Yes.

Carl: And you agree that all Muslims also use the word “Allah” when they refer to god, but he’s a different god, correct?

Christian Leader: Yes

Carl: When an Arab Muslim comes to Christ – in a real and fully biblical sense of that – and he still uses the word “Allah” when he prays in Arabic….then it’s the real god? Is that right?

Christian Leader: Hmmm, yes. But only because he’s now seen the real God correctly because of Jesus.

Carl: Fair enough. So let’s say this Muslim who came to know Jesus, and thus now prays to the “correct God”, was praying the day before he got saved. Was he praying to the right god then? What about one minute before he came to Christ and he was calling out to Allah (the incorrect god) and then something happened? A dream or vision or a person sharing their faith with him…  Something happened and then god heard and the REAL God answered. Could that be?

Christian Leader: Never thought of it like that.

Here’s the point – all of us, before we have a real relationship with the real God, have some form of a “fake god” in our heads. But because the real God hears the sincere prayers of sinners (thankfully), He hears us when we call out to him.

So here’s what I say – it’s a moot point to claim that Muslims believe in the wrong god. Since whenever they call out to god (whatever and whoever that is in their minds) with a sincere heart – the real God hears. Just like he did with us!

There is really no good reason for us to insist that Muslims believe in a different God! There’s only One. And when we call out to Him, he comes running!

The problem with answering difficult questions is that the answers don’t fit on a bumper sticker. So, we have to fully engage our minds and hearts in answering a question like this.

It’s like so many other questions I get – like: Do you think if the Palestinians had their own sovereign state that there would be peace in Israel? Or…Does the Qur’an encourage violence?

You would only think these are all simply yes or no answers if you haven’t thought deeply about the questions. So here I go – giving you my best answer to the question “Is Allah God?”

Three points:

The Sociological Argument
All of you reading this know me in one way or another. You know my name. You know I have interesting thoughts about Jesus, about the Middle East, about how to interact with culture, etc. How would you answer someone who asked you, “Do you know Carl Medearis who lives in Denver and used to live in Beirut?” You would probably simply say “yes.” But do you really know me? Even my Chris and my three kids find out new things about me fairly often. (Once in a while, those things are even good!)

So at one level, we’re asking this question of Muslims: Do they REALLY know God? And I would ask: Do we? Of all the percentage of God there is to know (presumably 100%), how much do you know of Him? Think about it. Maybe 1%? I think I’m probably up to .000001% of knowing all there is to know about God. We’ve just decided that we know the right .01%. The bit that is “good enough” and the .000001% that Muslims know about God isn’t good enough. (Which may be true, by the way. I’m not arguing against the point of “knowing enough” as it’s a good point.)

So to begin the discussion, we need to jump off our high horse and humble ourselves so we’re not thinking we have one less zero in front of the decimal…We all see through a glass darkly. Is the glass darker for our Muslim friends when they “see” God? Probably.

What clears the glass a bit? Jesus. We see God as clearly as we see Jesus.

The Etymological Argument (Study of Words)
“Allah” is simply the word for “god” in Arabic. Kind of like Dios is his name in Spanish. We would never say that “Dios” is the Catholic or Spanish God. We would say that that is his name in Spanish – big difference. All Arab Christians have used “Allah” in Arabic for God.

Remember when Jesus cried out at the crucifixion “My God my God….” The word in Aramaic (an early version of Arabic) was “illahi.” To say “my God” in Arabic today, you would say “Allahi.” When an Arab simply says “God” he uses the word “illah.” Same root. Same word.

Some have heard that “Allah” was the Moon God in the Arabian desert. Other than the fact that there is no evidence of this, if you were to ask any Muslim from any time in history if they worship the “Moon God”, they would be highly offended. Do we worship a pagan deity called “God?” Of course not. But our English word comes from the Germanic pagan deity of water called “Guut.” Or did Paul encourage us to worship the Roman God Zeus when he Hellenized that word and turned it into Theos? Of course not.

So on the most basic level of how we use words, the only word for “God” in Arabic is “Allah.”

The Theological Argument
Perhaps the deepest of all the issues when we discuss whether the God of the Muslims, called “Allah” in Arabic, is the same as “our God” is this: When they think of “God”, are they thinking of or praying to the “right” God? This, in my opinion, is the real issue. (And my guess is, it’s your real issue as well). Here are several thoughts on that:

A. There is only one God. There aren’t several. In one sense, unless you’d say that Muslims are worshipping an idol or the devil, then there is only one possibility anyway. It’s simply whether or not they are seeing him correctly or not. But it’s not the question of whether he is God or not. This is a huge deal. It’s one thing to say that Muslims don’t see God clearly; it’s quite another to say that it’s not the real God.

B. The 99 names of God that they use would all agree with our definitions of God.

C. Here’s the “God” that Muslims believe in: He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He created and loves us. He is the All-powerful (omnipotent), the all-knowing (omniscient), and the all-present (omnipresent). He is the eternal judge. He is fully holy and righteous. And he is the God who saves, heals, comforts, offers compassion and mercy – and the God who’s wrath needs atonement (Although Muslims do not believe that is provided through Christ). So is it the same God? Of course it is. Do Muslims have full revelation of who he is and who Jesus is? No. Do they need that understanding? Yes. See, those two questions are easy to answer with one word.

The Missiological Argument
My final point, and the most practical, is this: to reach the heart of our Muslim friends with the good news, we need to meet them where they are. They also see through a glass darkly. They are trying to find access to the One True God. All the Muslims I know who take their faith seriously, want to know God and follow Him. Why would we not give that to them? Maybe it’s because we’re mad at Muslims and we don’t want them to “share” our God (as if he’s “ours” anyway).

When a Muslims says they believe in God or in Jesus (which they would all say), why not start out with a simple “Great, and so do I. So how about we walk together and get to know Him more.” That opens every door!

Here’s the deal – words matter. Sometimes I hear that “it’s all a bunch of semantics.” Well, yes. Language is vital. And Communication 101 is this: it’s not only what I say that matters, but what you hear.

I could tell you that today I feel gay. And insist that this word means “I’m happy.” I could do that, but my guess is, I wouldn’t really be communicating effectively. So why use words that don’t communicate what we intend. Maybe you could say that it almost lacks integrity to call yourself a Christian, since every time I do that with someone who doesn’t know Jesus, they think of about 5 things that don’t define me. When you tell someone who doesn’t know Christ that you’re a  “Christian”, do you think that the first things that come to mind are “Oh how nice. Carl loves God and people. He serves unselfishly and always puts others before himself. It’s so great that Carl the Christian has had his heart changed and warmed by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to see nations and peoples live an abundant life?” I doubt anyone would be thinking that.

So why use a word that doesn’t mean what we want it to mean?

So when I say that Jesus didn’t “start Christianity” and that “he wasn’t a Christian”, I simply mean two things:

1. Jesus was Jewish by culture and religious affiliation. But even that wasn’t his point. He wasn’t selling “Jewishness.” He was offering Himself to the world. Jesus is above religion. Greater than religion.
2. Jesus did not come to institute a new religious system, as if the old one was no good, so we need a better one. He came to provide life. A way. He doesn’t know the way. He is the way. He doesn’t point to the truth. He is the truth. And he doesn’t tell us that this new religion to be named after him will be the new life. He is the life.

This is quite the opposite of watering down our faith. It’s actually turning up the heat on all of us who might identify ourselves as “Christian” and saying something like “That’s great. But are you/we following Jesus?”

From day one, Jesus asked men and women to follow him. He invited both the crowds and the disciples to follow. Not simply to believe, but to believe and follow. That’s a disciple. Someone who loves Jesus so much that they believe in what he said, and they do it (follow).

You might say “Yes, Carl. And that person is called a Christian.” You can say that if you want, but it doesn’t communicate the heart of the matter. And that word no longer holds any power to it. The 3 times it was used in the New Testament are all in regard to what others (unbelievers) were calling the followers of Jesus. It was never mandated or encouraged by the Apostles.

But hey, listen carefully – ANY word or set of words we use, can and will be misused and misunderstood. So the words are not magic. The reality of how we live our lives and love others in the way of Jesus will win the day!

Now….does that help the discussion or confuse us some more? This discussion is the exact point where I live my life every day. And I can use all the help I can get! So let’s work on this together!

First of all, Jesus’ last name is not “Christ.” He was Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary. His title may have been “the Christ” or the “anointed one”, but that was not his name. His name was/is Jesus.  (Joshua or Yeshua).

He was a Jew by religion/culture.

But he was for sure not a “Christian.” There were no “Christians” then. And he wasn’t the first, as he did not come to start a new religion. He came as truth and grace. He came to show us the Father. He came to explain the way. He came to give life. But he surely did not come to start a new religion – as if the world needed one more religion!

So why does this matter? Is it simply semantics? What difference does it make? Let me suggest three reasons why it makes a ton of difference that Jesus wasn’t a Christian and wasn’t the founder of Christianity:

1. It sets us free to not have to defend all of the 2000 years of misdeeds done in the name of Christianity. We can simply apologize and move on. We don’t need to own it.
2. It sets us free to not take sides in the current “culture wars.” We can step out of the “Christians versus _________” debate. There is no debate. We can simply figure out what Jesus did in similar circumstances and what we think he would want us to do today.
3. We don’t have to feel the pressure to convert people to Christianity – which is a lot of work and doesn’t seem to be very effective. We can simply love them in the name of Jesus and pray that GOD would convert them to himself.

This actually changes everything. The way we live. The way we talk to others and the way we interact in the systems of the world. Think about it. Push back a little. Thoughts?

It was at this moment when it hit me what we were doing. We were meeting with an enemy of my country. Probably illegal – I think I had forgotten to check that little detail. (I’m not much for details.) We were surrounded by men with AK-47 machine guns, in an unfamiliar city, in an unknown building, meeting a man I’d never seen, who didn’t know why I was there. Other than that – all was good.

But as soon as our host walked in, I remembered why I was there. He broke into a huge smile as he clasped my hand with both of his and said, “Ahlan WaSahlan (Welcome).”

“I’ve heard so much about you,” he continued. Hmmmm? “Heard what, exactly?” I wondered.

It never became clear why he agreed to meet me. Curiosity? To let the West know that the Hezbollah aren’t such bad guys after all? To win me to his point of view – either to Islam or his politics? Not sure. But I decided then and there that I didn’t care and really couldn’t care – otherwise I wouldn’t have come. I knew why I was there: to visibly share the love of Christ with an enemy.

But was he actually my enemy? Did he personally want to harm me? I doubt it. Yet by most definitions, he was the enemy of my people, Americans. Maybe even the enemy of Christians. And for sure, the enemy of the Israelis. But how could I follow the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth to love my enemies if I never met any? So here I was, on a quest to follow Christ. It wasn’t about doing something with or to Muslims. It was about following Jesus.

That day a friendship began. It was a cautious friendship – on both sides. We were equally skeptical of the other’s agenda. But over the years, we have become friends. He’s still a Muslim, still the leader of the Hezbollah in all of south Lebanon, still at war with Israel. But he has now received prayer a thousand times, often by the laying on of hands by my Christian pastor friends I take to see him. He has now read the New Testament. We talk often and deeply about the gospel, about big international issues, about the small hidden things of our hearts. He is my friend!

Since the release of Tea with Hezbollah: Sitting at the Enemies’ Table, the most common question posed to me goes like this: “Yeah, I know that Jesus said to love our enemies, but… I mean, you’re not suggesting that…well, you know, we should, like, love Osama Bin Laden, are you?”

It’s one thing to ask Western Christians to follow Jesus and point out that one of the things he clearly said, and taught, was to love our enemies. It’s another thing altogether to make that teaching specific with an actual enemy. Like Bin Laden.

The question is a good one: what do we do with our actual, physical enemies (rather than our theoretical enemies), people who might want to kill us if they had the chance? We’re not talking about an ideology or a religion, but a real person, like Bin Laden. What do we do with Bin Laden?

There are three biblical ideas that can help us think clearly about how to treat an actual, literal enemy.

• Joshua 5:13-14 is the story of the angel who appears to Joshua right before he takes Jericho. Whose side is the angel on? Neither. He is the Commander of the Lord’s army. Understanding that God is on His own side is a great place to start when we think about our enemies. God is neither “for” or “against” America. He is hoping we are on His side, but He’s not on ours.

• In Luke 6:35, Jesus states, “Love your enemies and do good to them.” Pretty clear. The idea of “doing good” to our enemies is a powerful one. It really “works” to do good to our enemies – as a strategy for overcoming their agenda.

• In Romans 12:21, the apostle Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is a rarely-followed biblical truth – to overcome evil by doing good to the one who is evil. We more naturally think of running from evil – a good strategy at times – but not necessarily fighting evil with the frontal assault of goodness!

I believe that this topic is critical for our age. I doubt that we (“Christians”) have more enemies now than at other times in history; but because of the “flatness” of a globalized world, we simply know about our enemies more than ever before. We see them on the news every day. We are reminded of them several times a day through various sources. So if there was ever an opportunity to fear the enemy, it’s now.

Most Christians are left with only two choices, both political: the more “conservative” route of building a strong military case against our enemies, or the
more “liberal” route of favoring diplomacy. (Both are generalizations, of course). But isn’t there a third way that’s actually more powerful, more pragmatic, and therefore, more effective? How about the way of Jesus? It’s not passive, not wimpy, but instead, an incredibly compelling method that moves beyond mere dialogue to actual solutions.

But because politicians and believers of all stripes don’t think this way of Jesus is very useful, it’s simply ignored. One of the most interesting aspects of the trip that Ted Dekker and I took was our question to the leaders of the Hezbollah, to Hamas, and to the Bin Laden brothers – what was Jesus’ most famous teaching? Most of them said, “To love your enemies.” We’d then ask the “Dr. Phil” question, “So how’s that goin’ for ya?” To which they’d respond, “Not very well because it’s not
practical.” I assured them that, unfortunately, most of my American friends thought the same.

So basically, few of us really believe that “doing good to our enemies” is actually a strategy to “win.” But Jesus did.

Before I get into some specific suggestions for loving our enemies, let me share the three most common objections I get to this idea:

1) “It sounds like pacifism, and I believe in the Just War theory.” But I’m not speaking politically. So that argument simply becomes an excuse to not personally follow a direct command of Christ. What the government has to do in order to keep its citizens safe is a great discussion – just not this one.

2) “It doesn’t take into account that there is real evil in this world and that some Muslims are, in fact, engaging in a Jihad of terrorism against the West.” While I agree that some Muslims have and will engage in clear and horrific acts of terror, it doesn’t follow that we should therefore stop loving our enemies. In fact, this may be the best argument for loving them. Could it be that this is our best, and possibly only weapon against potential future terrorists? Could it be that if they personally experience the love of Jesus from one of His followers, they would not engage in such activity? Very possibly. I am not naive. Several times my family and I have been the focus of violent actions by those who bear the label “Muslim.” Evil is real, and it has a root – our one and only Enemy with whom we cannot reconcile – the Devil.

3) “‘Love’ doesn’t always work against such people.” If we’re using “love” as a strategy to “get them”, then it won’t work. But if we love our enemies because God does, and if our hearts are soft towards them because we see God weeping over them, the effect is direct and powerful. Love is by far the most powerful and forceful weapon we have at our disposal. It is not wimpy. It’s not naive. It led to the most violent, non-passive, act in history – the Cross. Love does not roll over and lay down. Love conquers all.

So, if you’re still with me, here are three steps for employing this strategy of Jesus:

1) Take time to think about who your actual enemies are. It could include an in-law, a physical neighbor, even an enemy of the State – the Bin Laden variety. Then engage that person emotionally and spiritually. In other words, force yourself to think about him or her. Imagine what his or her life is like. Why is he the way he is? Now pray for him. Allow God to begin to place compassion and insight into your heart for that person, and to give you perspective. This is critical if you are going to make it to step two. And by the way, this first step takes a ton of spiritual maturity on our part. Because if someone is your enemy, you don’t want to do this. But do it anyway!

2) Begin to ask God for a plan, for a specific strategy for meeting this person and talking to him or her. I didn’t show up at the Hezbollah leader’s office without first taking a lot of time to think, pray and plan how I would do that and what I would say once I was there. If you don’t plan for this, it won’t happen. So make it real. Make it practical. I am currently planning to meet some other high-profile enemies so that I can continue my quest of obeying Jesus in everything. And I pray that I will have the courage and the words to say what God gives me to say when the time comes.

3) Go. Across the street. Around the world. But you have to go. It’s not rocket science for a reader like you. I’m guessing you’ve traveled before. You’ve been in cross-cultural situations and gone out of your comfort zone. This is simply one step further. You’re now going to meet an actual enemy.

Think about it. What’s the worse thing that could happen to you? “I could be killed,” you say. But you’re going to die anyway, so seriously, what’s the worst thing? I think the worst thing is this – you fly halfway around the world to meet “Mr. Bad Guy,” you show up at his doorstep, and he isn’t there to meet you. In that case, you wander around a bit and come back the next day. If he never shows up, you’ve had a good time of prayer and maybe have made some new, unexpected friends. Not so bad, really!

Oh, and by the way, the last time I was having tea with the Hezbollah, here’s what I said: “Have you ever thought about employing the strategy of Jesus in relation to Israel? It’s simple, has immediate impact and can be done unilaterally. You can do it right now, all by yourself. You can forgive them. Love them. Start doing good things to them. Bless them. Pray for them. It will annoy and confuse them as much as anything else you’ve ever done. What do you think?”

The Hezbollah leader’s reply? “Carl, Carl, Carl. I know this is the way of Jesus, but it won’t work with them. They will simply abuse this kind of niceness, and then where will we be?”

Undeterred, I asked, “So how is your current strategy working? I mean, what do you have to lose?”

He looked down and said, “You know, I’m not sure I have the courage to do this. It might cost me everything.”

“Thank you for your honesty, sir,” I said. “It cost Jesus everything, too.”

Then we prayed. We gathered around him and prayed. We prayed for wisdom. For courage. For honor. For him to do the right thing, the thing Jesus would do. And, well, who knows? It just might work. Because in this case, the “it” is Jesus!