Worship with Jews and Muslims

by Marcel Schwantes

A pastor who used word "glocal" to describe his church's approach to missions has led his Texas congregation to visit new territories: the synagogue and mosque down the street. By worshiping in three services, leaders of each congregation got to know one another, become friends, and to highlight the differences and similarities among their religions.

The basis of coming together, said megachurch pastor Bob Roberts, is not to minimize Christian beliefs but to hold onto and make clear our beliefs. Also, he adds, it's to say that the best of our beliefs calls us to get along with one another.


Interfaith or inter-religious relations initiated by Christians is certainly not new. Faith House Manhattan, for example, with an Adventist-pastor leading the cause, has mingled and mixed a community of Jews, Muslims, Christians, and even atheists for a few years to "deepen our personal and communal journeys, share ritual life and devotional space, and foster a commitment to social justice and healing the world." On a much smaller scale in and around your own neighborhoods, all you need is an open spirit and a willingness to visit the local mosque or synagogue to take in a worship service, to learn, to connect. Then make friends, have lunches and enter into open and respectful dialogue so you can answer questions about each others' faiths. Don't fear what you don't know.

Pastor Roberts states that the old conversation of "interfaith" basically said that if we all agree on everything, then we can get along. In other words, to minimize our differences and only talk about what we agree on. But there's a problem with that, he says. If you're going to be a committed Muslim, you can't pick and choose which parts of the Quran you believe. Or a Jew, for the Torah. Because truth is truth, it's not relative.

Roberts makes a distinction by expanding on the concept of multifaith. He says that multifaith states that "we have differences." It says "I don't want to try to be politically-correct; I want to be honest about what I believe; I want to hold true to my faith." This is a different approach than just "getting along" to later "get what you want" from the dialogue. Perhaps that's the precedent that gets so much interfaith/inter-religious relations in trouble before it starts. It has ulterior motives.

It's this relational aspect between people of different faiths that Roberts believes is sorely missing and is at the heart of most of the world's conflicts. And the foundation for this multifaith boils down to this: I want to build relationship with my Muslim and Jewish brothers on honesty.

The critics, of course, don't agree with this approach. They say Roberts is watering down Christian doctrines and diminishing the inherent divisiveness that is at the core of the gospel message. So I ask you, dear reader: Are you willing to let down the guards of your Christendom and open up the walls of your Adventist fundamentalism to see how God works in the lives of your Jewish or Muslim brothers and sisters?

Excerpted from a story from Ministry Today magazine.

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Marcel Schwantes is a professional certified Life Coach, Trainer and Speaker. He coaches and trains individuals, groups and organizations across the country in the areas of leadership development, performance improvement, communications and relationships. He can be reached at www.marcelcoaching.com