“Christianity and Islam worship the same God and are fundamentally the same. »
I encounter this statement regularly in my church planting efforts in Dearborn, Michigan. (Dearborn has the distinction of having the highest concentration of Arabs in North America.) Most often, I hear this phrase, or one similar to it, come out of the mouths of young Muslim men and women. Their intentions are wonderful. They attempt to bridge the gap between our cultures and religions. Indeed, there is a great need for mutual understanding and respect between our religions.
However, this statement comes from a misunderstanding of the founding principles of Christianity.
“I’m curious,” I often say. “What is the “core” that Christianity and Islam share? What makes our religions so similar?
“Well, at the end of the day,” is usually the answer, “we’re all trying to live the best life we can to please God and go to heaven.”
“What if I told you,” I replied, “that Christianity is far too pessimistic to believe that? In fact, I think Christianity is the most pessimistic religion in the world.
Pessimism at the heart of Christianity
This answer often piques curiosity. They sincerely want to know why I think Christians are so pessimistic. The conversation usually goes like this:
Them: “What do you mean, Christians are pessimists?
Me: “Well, you said we are all trying to please God. Christians don’t think this is possible. Because of sin, we are completely incapable of pleasing God.
Them: “So how do Christians think people end up in heaven?”
If you’re not careful, you might mistake a question like that for an evangelistic opportunity.
Just kidding, but it should be noted: this is not simply a difference between Christianity and Islam. Our deep-seated pessimism about human nature distinguishes Christianity from almost all other worldviews. Most non-Christian beliefs and philosophies offer various strategies for striving toward perfection (or at least adequacy). Only Christianity insists that we must throw up our hands in utter failure in the face of any attempt at self-justification.
Our deep-seated pessimism about human nature distinguishes Christianity from almost all other worldviews.
Bad news makes good news meaningful
Once this basic distinction is established, many differences between Christianity and Islam can be explained. Here are two examples.
First, Muslims argue that Jesus was not the Son of God but simply another prophet (in a long line) whom God sent to instruct his people. Based on the Muslim view of human nature, this makes perfect sense. If we are able to please God on our own, all we need is for a messenger to come and tell us what God requires so that we can fulfill it. This would be extremely exaggerated for God come down and give this instruction.
Second, Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross. After all, Jesus was a great prophet – God certainly would not allow him to be dishonored in this way. Someone else must have died in his place, or perhaps he just seemed to die and then come back to life.
Again, this is a perfectly rational view if people can please God on their own. Christ’s death on the cross has absolutely no meaning outside of Christianity’s pessimistic view of human nature.
Can you imagine a person sacrificing their life to save someone who is not in danger? It wouldn’t be heroic; that would be absurd. For Muslims who do not share the Christian view that humans cannot please God on their own, Christ’s death on the cross seems absurd.
Exposing this difference can open the door to fantastic conversations.
Lightbulb moment
“Wait a minute,” my friend Hassan interrupted me during one of these conversations. Hassan is a Lebanese student I met on a campus in Dearborn. “Are you saying that Christians do good things not so they can go to heaven, but because they are so grateful that God already lets them into heaven because of Jesus?
Christ’s death on the cross has absolutely no meaning outside of Christianity’s pessimistic view of human nature.
This was an entirely new idea for Hassan. He had assumed that Christianity and Islam were fundamentally the same: paths to pleasing God and entering heaven. The differences were simply in the details of how to follow this path.
I told him his assessment of Christianity was correct. He paused before blurting, “That’s much better!” He continued, “I mean, if I do good works to get to heaven, my motivation is selfish. But in Christianity, people can do good works without thinking about themselves. »
Hassan did not become a Christian that day, but he eventually understood what Christianity – and more importantly, what Christ – offered him. For the first time, he saw the Gospel as desirable, even beautiful.
Growing relevance
This discussion is relevant beyond the confines of Dearborn. The view that Christianity and Islam are more similar than different is mainstream within the Muslim community. And although many Americans live in areas where the Muslim population is relatively small, it is likely to change in the years to come. It is important to be willing to engage in meaningful conversations with our Muslim neighbors about our faith. A helpful first step in such a conversation is to explain how pessimistic Christians are about human nature.
Who knows, maybe God will give you the opportunity to show someone why bad news can make the good news of the Gospel meaningful.
