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The world was a simpler place when the earth was flat and still the center of the universe, what with the sun rotating around it and all. Good was good and evil was clearly identifiable. Looking back, the problems of those days seem less complex and less confusing, though I wonder if they really were…
It was a time when people were not burdened with the task of having to think for themselves. The church took care of the thinking for everyone. Who had time to think? All labor was manual labor. Hard work was required just to stay alive.
There is something to be said for letting someone else tell us what to think. Thinking critically about the many moral issues requires effort. Often we want to get to the conclusion before we have the whole story.
This week I encountered a term, Maronite, that was unfamiliar to me. I did some research. In the early 5th Century, a hermit named Maron attracted a group of followers. In the late 7th Century, with the arrival of Islam to Syria, the Maronites fled to the mountains of Lebanon. Over the following centuries many more Christians joined them.
Today, Maronite Christians make up about 25 per cent of Lebanon’s population. Interestingly, the Lebanese constitution dictates that the president of the country shall be a Maronite Christian. The Maronites, together with Christians of other traditions, make up 35 per cent of Lebanon’s population.
Some of these other Christians are Baptists. Lebanese Baptists have ministered to their neighbors in recent days by providing shelter in the facilities of the Beirut Baptist School and the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary. Amazingly, the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary plans to start the fall semester on September 25.
Obviously, there are other religious groups in Lebanon. Thirty-five per cent of the country’s population is Shiite Muslim, 25 per cent Sunni Muslim and 5 per cent Druse. Hezbollah draws most of its support from the Shiite Muslims. There are many people in Lebanon who are not happy with Hezbollah’s actions.
There are Baptists in Lebanon who are returning to their homes and churches in the southern Lebanon villages of Deir Mimas and Marjeyoun. These two villages are near the Israeli border and have been hit hard. Some of them will rebuild and stay. Others will move to a safer place.
One Lebanese Baptist youth worker, Joseph Azzi, was leading a Bible study for a group of refugees. He read from Matthew’s Gospel, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven.”
Can you imagine what it is like to read that text in plain view of bombed out buildings, destroyed homes and grieving families? I wonder what it must be like to offer the truth of the Gospel in the midst of such devastation?
Pray for Joseph and others like him who seek to be light in the midst of darkness.
Joy and peace,
Ed
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