Last evening I found myself watching an incredible documentary piece on CNN called "God's Muslim Warriors." The show was part two of a three part series called "God's Warriors" where Christiane Amanpour took an in depth look at the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. All three parts were originally aired August 21-23, but I caught the replay last night. I presume they wanted to show the piece because it was 9/11 yesterday.
I could talk about the piece for a while, but I wanted to share one part that particularly grabbed my attention. It was an interview Amanpour did with a woman named Rehan Seyam, a Muslim living in New Jersey. She is a young, attractive woman who has decided to wear the distinctive traditional Muslim head covering called the hijab. For Rehan, this decision is simply obedience to God and she is committed to modesty. Her decision to cover her hair was intense. She said, "I was making a decision I knew was permanent. You put on hijab, you don't take it off."
She had grown up in Long Island, New York, and consistently prayed with he Muslim parents, but she says she was only going through the motions. When in college, she decided to wear the hijab, which was her commitment to the Muslim faith. Sounds a lot like some of the stories of my friends...
What really got me was when she began discussing the saturation of her faith. She said that some people go to church and get their religion on Sundays, but for her it's "every single day, every single minute of the day." I thought to myself, "That's what I want!"
I want my faith to be less about the event of Sunday and more about the "every single day, every single minute of the day." I want my relationship with God to influence my thinking, my doing and who I am becoming. I want transformation, not just information.
I've since been wondering what my "hijab" is. What is the mark on my life that I have taken so seriously that it cannot be taken away from me? What have I committed my life to? As a Christ-follower, Jesus is my "hijab." Colossians 2:6 encourages us to "continue to live our lives in [Christ]." I am in Him and He is in me, the hope of glory! My marks are not outward adornments but an inner relationship that moves my life from the inside out. My desire is that others may know me and see I am different, not necessarily see me and wonder if I'm really different.
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2 comments:
So how will they know you are different? What is the evidence of the inner transformation? How does that play out? What will I see that I want?
Very good questions. Just the questions themselves are an indication that Christians have not been as successful as we wish at distinguishing themselves in their communities. The maturity marks of a Christ-follower answer questions like these: Am I thinking more like Jesus? Am I doing the things that Jesus would be doing? Am I becoming more like Jesus?
When I say I believe that all people are loved by God and need Jesus as their Savior, does that impact the way I treat people who look and act differently than me? Am I practicing the spiritual disciplines of Christianity the way Jesus instructed - not to draw attention to my act (see Matthew 6)? Am I becoming more virtuous - a more loving person, a more patient person, a more kind person, etc.?
These are the marks of maturity for the follower of Christ. T-shirts aren't bad and bumper stickers aren't evil, but if they aren't sustained by a life that looks more like Jesus, it's just a waste. My desire is to see less Christians wearing their faith, and more Christ-followers living their faith. Thanks for the questions...I'd love to hear more of your thoughts, Anonymous...
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