Refelections on Turkey

Turkey was truly amazing. Our team of twelve was tested in so many ways to live outside the "comfort place" of regular day living. We saw a different world than the Western world--a world with Muslim symbols at every corner--a reminder of who to worship every few hours with the call to pray bellowing out from all the mosques. It was intersting to try to do Christian ministry in the shadow of a different empire than the pseudo-Christian empire that we live in from day to day in Canada. What was most interesting though, and out of all the potential reflections I could offer I offer this, was the similarities between the cultures.

In the Western world we think we are Christian but we are not. The Eastern world thinks we are Christian as well. I talked to a man who spoke of the Western world as all being Christians when I was there. I couldn't help but think of all the people I know who would have been offended. But what is propogated to us day after day is the "myth of a Christian nation" as Gregory Boyd has recently coined it. My question, echoing Brian Mclaren's question, for the US and Canada would be: "when were we a Christian nation? When we were killing, culturally imprisoning, and stealing the lands of millions of native peoples in a New World version of the Holocaust? When we were importing and exploiting millions of slaves? I believe the Christian nation myth is untrue, more than that, it is pernicious for what it does to us" (Brian Mclaren, The Church on the Other Side, 33).

The myth is pervasive though and needs to be questioned and challenged at every moment. Remember the facts of history stated above are not just blips on the map of our culture--they are our cultures founding story and thus the authoratative metanarrative of our lives--tha is if our identity begins and ends with citizenship of a country--but that is another story for another day. The fact that this is our founding story then shapes so much of who we are and what we do--even how we live out our religious committments. One thinks on the question of how a faith built on a person who taught enemy-love became the most violent in history--and we see the answer lies in fusing religion and nationalism together. It is important to remember that this is our founding story--and that we don't whitewash it--thus though we should read history books written by the victors, but one must also read alternative histories of nations, written not from the perspective of the wars and the politicians, but from the people: the slaves, farmers and housemaids. Which is why Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is so staggering for people to read because it looks at history from a different perspective--the perspecitve of the farmers and the slaves and the powerless--

But back to Turkey--to my surprise Turkey was more secular than I expected and not extremely Muslim in its commitments. In fact, thoug it is 99% Muslim on paper, I wonder if most of the people I met even know much about the Koran, Islamic history or why they even go to Mosque or pray 5 or six times a day. In the same way that I wonder about many in our so-called Christian west--whether they understand what praying the Lord's Prayer is really about. If people understand what the gospel really is--beyond going to heaven when we die--and what the Bible actually says about things like Hell, Salvation, God, Sexuality and a whole host of other things. They, like us, hear things by people talking and assume its true even when its not. In regards to Islam, the point about the Koran is that it is a miracle in its original language--Arabic, but none of them can read Arabic so they trust their Imam (Muslim teacher) to teach them about it. Many of them don't handle it themselves and see what it says. In the same way, many Christians trust their pastors/teachers to tell them about the Bible which is dangerous because I am not sure the Pastors are actually handling the text themselves anymore!

I asked one fellow why he didn't go to Mosque one Friday and he said that he had had too much sex to be accepted there. "I go once in awhile to say hello, once a year or so" he said--he had no sense of forgiveness or grace. I wondered about how similiar this is with us. Prostitutes, those who get pregnant before getting married, liars, homosexuals--they all feel uncomfortable in the presence of Christians because they feel judged, they feel as if church is the last place they should be, but, of course, church should be the first place they should be because we serve a God of grace and forgiveness and reconciliation. He has as a top priority restoring broken people. "Who needs a doctor" Jesus asked "people who are well or sick? Sinners or righteous? Sick people need a doctor and that is who I came to save and restore" Sick people (sinners) are Jesus' people; the people he loves and the people he spent time with--not the 'already righteous' because the perception of their reighteousness is the first sign that they are in fact sinners--they just don't perceive it as such.

Oh how the gospel could be a welcome word in the Muslim world if only it could be heard through the religious and national pride. Which leads me to me second and last point. Even more than religious dynamics, I think the nationalism is what holds Turkey back from hearing and responding to the gospel. More people are committed to the myth of Turkey and Ataturk (the founder of Turkey) than to Islam. It is interesting that even in the story of Paul in Ephesus (in Turkey) in Acts 17 the problem the gospel causes revolves around nationalism. Before we left I preached at DSF (night service) about this fact of Nationlism holding us back from the gospel from the aformentioned story of Paul in Ephesus (see DSF Podcasts/Sermons Online at the top of this blogpage)--it was amazing to see how true what I was saying that night really was and conintues to be there and here. So, for the gospel to go forth in Turkey the nationalism must also be challenged alongside the religious elements of the nation...

It's good to be back and many more things should be said, but for now I offer these humble thoughts from a cultural tourist...