A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

A day never goes by without something interesting happening in evangelicalism. No I am not talking about a renewed desire to preach the gospel. Far be it -for the church has got other agendas. We have seen pastors serenading on reality television shows to entertain pagans. We have seen churches remove crosses so that visitors are comfortable. But that’s not all it seems:

Two Protestant churches are taking some heat from critics for opening their church buildings to Muslims needing places to worship because their own facilities were either too small, or under construction.

Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tenn., let members of the Memphis Islamic Center hold Ramadan prayers there last September. And Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Va., allows the Islamic Circle of North America to hold regular Friday prayers in their building while their new mosque is being built.

Diane Bechtol of Aldersgate says this is something Christians are called to do: Be neighborly and develop relationships – even those who don’t share your beliefs.

“I think it’s a tenet of our Christian faith, and that is that we extend hospitality to the stranger,” said Bechtol. “We are a congregation that wants to be helpful to people and if we are asked to help a neighbor in need, that’s what we do.”

But Dr. Alex McFarland, a Christian theologian and radio talk show host, charged these churches “have crossed the line from respect and tolerance, to … affirmation and endorsement.

“We as the church are called to show love, we’re called to help. But to let a building simultaneously be used for the activities of a mosque and also the activities of Jesus Christ, it’s just incompatible. And I think it’s one more example of political correctness and hyper-tolerance gone awry.”

Is the church going through an identity crisis? I am sure the poor bewildered Muslims will only be glad to use these large mega auditoriums as often as they can. Why not? They could actually hold joint meetings on Easter, Ramadhan and Christmas with these laissez faire land lords.

But they should remember that if the Free Masons, Kundalini Hindi, Buddhists and Atheists hear that they are getting perks from the church they will sure get a stiff competition.

Chrislam in Nigeria