They Love God by Covering Their Heads

I just recently read "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren, one of the key leaders of the emerging church movement, and found that I absolutely loved the book. It was interesting listening to some of the comments my classmates made about it, and it seemed like most of those who spoke did not have a very high regard for McLaren or his views, they felt like he was fairly uneducated (it's true, he hasn't been to seminary, but I wouldn't say that makes someone uneducated), and that he had weak church history and systematic theology knoweldge (ok he pretty much has no regard for systematic theology). I probably would offer the same critiques if I thought I was reading this book to gain a solid grasp of church history or systematics--this isn't the point of his book though! What I loved about McLaren's perspective is how gracious and honoring he is of so many different denominations and traditions. We live in a world where mud-slinging between various faiths, and even between various Christian churches is almost the norm, not the exception, and this has always frustrated me to no end. I am tired of hearing friends talk about how there is no value in liturgy, the Catholic church, and mainline Protestant denominations are dead, people who pray pre-written prayers have no authentic faith, traditions and celebrating the liturgical calendar is wrong...and on and on it goes.....what infuriates me the most is not these particular opinions--if someone wants to argue that liturgy isn't helpful in bringing someone into the presence of God, or if someone wants to claim that "spontaneous" prayers feel more authentic to them than a prayer written by someone a thousand years ago, I am ok with that. But what drives me nuts is that often these comments are made by individuals who have never taken the time to try and understand these ways of worship, they perhaps have memories of being bored during Christmas Eve mass at grandma's church and therefore have completely written off anything having to do with a liturgical form of worship without even trying to understand the beauty, depth, richness and history behind these things.

McLaren approaches this book with the idea that every tradition and denomination from the Roman Catholics to the Orthodox to the Methodists and the Calvinists have something to contribute to worship, to spirituality, and by ignoring all these other ways of doing things that may differ from our own, we are vastly limiting our view of God, the ways people connect with Him, and the ways He works in the world through worship. He argues (ok I'm putting this in my words, he doesn't really say this) but when we stop the mud-slinging and start listening to and learning from one another, and treating one another with honor, respect and dignity, we will be enriching our own lives and understanding of Who God is and who His people are. I'll stop "preaching" but I wanted to share with you my favorite story from his book, it's a story he tells towards the end about a friend of his and how she taught her daughter to respect the Muslims and their tradition of covering their heads. This story made me start to weep--which was slightly embarassing since I was in a crowded coffee shop at the time--but I realized these were tears of hope, I caught a glimpse of hope that if Christians really took this idea of loving and respecting our neighbors, this world would be a vastly different place. We could spend hours arguing over whether Allah is the same God as Yahweh, and at some point in the discussion this probably has a place, but when we start there, in a spirit of argumentation and determination to "convert" them to our "side", we miss the opportunity to extend the mercy of Christ to our brothers and sisters--to individuals that He created and loves just as much as He loves you and I. May this story bring you hope as well...hope that things can be different.



From A Generous Orthodoxy:


"My friend Diana Butler Bass tells this story in her book Broken We Kneel. Diana lives near the DC area—rich in cultural diversity, tense after the 9/11 attacks, and the context for this story:

One day [my daughter] Emma saw a woman walking towards us covered in a veil and asked the inevitable, “what’s that mommy?”

“Emma,” I answered, “that lady is a Muslim from a faraway place. And she dresses like that and covers her head with a veil because she loves God. That is how her people show they love God.”

My daughter considered these words. She stared at the woman who passed us. She pointed at the woman, then pointed at my hair, and further quizzed, “mommy, do you love God?”

“Yes honey.” I laughed. “I do. You and I are Christians. Christian ladies show love for God by going to church, eating the bread and wine, serving the poor, and giving to those in need. We don’t wear veils, but we do love God.”

After this, Emma took every opportunity to point to Muslim women during our shopping trips and tell me “mommy! Look! She loves God!” One day, we were getting out of our car at our driveway at the same time as our Pakistani neighbors. Emma saw the mother, beautifully veiled, and, pointing at her shouted “look mommy! She loves God!”

My neighbor was surprised. I told her what I had taught Emma about Muslim ladies loving God. While she held back tears, this near stranger hugged me saying, “I wish all Americans would teach their children so. The world would be better. The world would be better.”