tagged: Church Planting, Culture, Evangelism, From the Middle East, Islam, Muslim, Theology

Answering Questions – Part 2

Posted by From the Middle East in Church & Missions

The first “common question from Muslims” we considered was, “Why would God allow one of the most honored prophets (Jesus) to be defeated (on the cross) by unbelievers?” Today, we will consider the question:

If God is truly just, how can one person suffer for anotherʼs sin?

Let’s be honest. This concept is offensive. It sounds like nonsense. Why? Because it does not seem just or right. The just for the unjust? How can it be? Doesn’t Ezekiel even tell us that “the soul who sins shall die?” That sons will not be punished for the sins of their fathers nor fathers for the sins of their sons? Yes. And this is true justice, that each suffer for his own misdeeds. So, in one sense, this aspect of Jesus’ work would seem to appear as if it is strange or weird or just plain unacceptable.

But on the other hand, those who say such things have not typically considered who Jesus is. The assumption is that he is just like us, a regular guy. If that is the case I do have quite an issue with the concept of the Creator of the Heavens and Earth meting out my due penalty upon this other guy that did not earn it. So, is he just some regular guy that supposedly suffered for someone’s sin? I would argue that his characteristics demonstrate that he is so much more! Sinless, pure, miraculous in every way, totally obedient to God, full of true self-sacrificial love for humanity. Wow! Maybe it was not just some person suffering for another’s sin…

Cultural Issues:
While the concept of one being taking on another’s burden is not easy to swallow and is certainly foolishness to those who are perishing, I firmly believe that the self-sacrificial nature of this concept is compelling to many. But how do we effectively communicate this concept to Muslims? As always, when communicating with folks from other cultures, one of the issues we must deal with is that of worldview. All worldviews have a major emphasis with regards to how they “feel” or “perceive” the effects of sin. For us, here in the West, it is primarily that we “feel” guilty. And we should, because we are. This is the basis for our strong sense of justice and strong cultural conviction that no one is “above the law.” It can be argued that this sense of guilt is due to the western worldview’s strong ties to the Roman Empire. Regardless, we certainly have a strong sense of guilt and greatly desire our punishment to be declared “paid in full.”

Easterns, on the other hand, primarily feel the effects of sin as “shame” rather than guilt and greatly desire this shame to be removed from them and their honor to be restored. While there is not space in this venue to go into depth on this topic, Roland Muller’s “Honor and Shame” is an excellent, short read on the topic.

The difficulty we, as westerners, have in communicating with easterners is in articulating how honor is restored rather than guilt removed. Since we do not typically communicate in this category, I will use an example here that most here will be familiar with via recent news stories.

Honor Killings:
Honor killings, while completely un-Islamic, do occur primarily in the East. Typically they occur because of a perceived loss of family honor due to a shameful act by one of the family members. I cannot emphasize enough that justice (deserved penalty for an offense) is not what drives honor killings. It is honor. Easterners have a very strong sense of personal and family honor. When it is offended or challenged, they are deeply disturbed not only for their own personal honor, but also for their family honor. Something must be done in order to either retain or regain their honor. The first option is often to cover up the cause? However if this shameful deed was done in public and it is not possible to cover it up, something must be done to remove the shame and restore honor!

How is honor restored? By shedding blood. There is a very common Arabic proverb that states, “There is no cleansing of shame except by blood” (compare with Hebrews 9:22). This cleansing of shame and restoration of honor is typically accomplished by shedding the blood of the one who brought the shame. Further, it is typically carried out by the eldest male (other than the father).

Now, what corresponds to this in our worldview? We believe that guilt must be punished and that the Messiah suffered the punishment for our sin on our behalf. We often illustrate this by a story of an offender being judged as guilty and then the judge (or another messiah figure) steps in to pay the penalty thereby vindicating the offender. This is “substitutionary atonement.” But how do we communicate this concept in the realm of honor and shame?

One path to effective communication I have found helpful when visiting about this concept within the honor and shame paradigm is to present the cross as a substitutionary honor killing rather than a substitutionary atonement. In other words, someone must die to cleanse our shame and restore our honor. And while it should be the one who brought the shame, God loves us enough to send One, greater than us, who has no shame whatsoever to die in our place.

Again, this concept does not necessarily connect with a strictly Islamic worldview (though it can with the introduction of more complex concepts from the Generous Qur’an). However, there is no one who is solely influenced by a particular religious system. A worldview is influenced by multiple factors and this aspect of Jesus’ work on the cross does connect with those coming from an eastern perspective.

So, Jesus not only suffered to take away humanity’s guilt, but also to restore honor to humanity. And while we come from a primarily guilt-driven culture, many from the West still have a deep sense of shame due to past experiences and choices they have made. Do you feel a deep sense of shame in your life because of things you have done in the past? I would like to encourage you to embrace what the Messiah has done for you and ask God to release you from this shame. You are promised that Jesus has taken your shame upon himself (Philippians 2:6-8 & Hebrews 12:2) and that if you look to him you will be “radiant” and your face will never be “covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5).

Let the discussion begin…