Being Converted To A New Kind of Faith

The best kept secret in Kansas City is not a secret any more.  A few months ago some friends at church told me about an organization in town that exists to host international visitors. The organization is connected to the State Department. Their mission is to "to create peace through diplomacy". The "secrect" is the International Visitors Council of Kansas City.

Tonight I participated in hosting a dinner for Algerian visitors with a group of friends.  For each of the visitors it was their first visit to the United States.  They didn't speak much English so we were so thankful for the willing translator who came along to help us communicate with each other.  Some of my best living abroad memories are those spent in another's home.   So it was a treat to be on the receiving end of welcoming foreign guests.   Our Algerian guests work as librarians for their National Library and have been visiting USA libraries for a couple of weeks.   

 

I learned so much from listening tonight.  Our 3 guests are Muslim. When their faith tradition first came up (it came up through almost everything they talked about!) I asked, "How could I tell if someone practiced Islam?"  They answered by talking about the importance of prayer, the doing of good works and of giving to the poor.  They spoke of Muhammed very much like I'd speak about Jesus--with such conviction and admiration.  I was fascinated by the urgency with which they spoke about their faith practice and commitment.  I sensed that they had a message for us as Americans.  

They wanted us to know that Islam is about loving people and not about terror.  Those who do acts of terror are not practicing "true" Islam.  I could say something similar about the "true" practice of Christianity.   Both in what our Algerian guests said and how they said it I felt from them a deep sorrow for the people who share "their faith" with terror.  I wondered if I would be so explicitely compassionate about my faith if I were sitting in their home in Algeria.

My picture of what it looks like to practice Islam has been reframed tonight by three gentle, gracious and loving Algerians.  Their kindness and their recieving of our space made me want to learn more about what it means to practice Islam.  Will I be converted? I think I could be. No, not to Islam. But this is my hunch: in learning more about Islam I could become more authentic in the way I practice Christianity and following Christ. I'm convinced that by learning something more about those who seem so different I can learn to love God and love the other better than I've done before.    Isn't this what we are called to as Christians?  Through hospitality--making room for our international guests--I entered into a space where reconciliation was possible--room was made for me to see myself and the other in a way that brought us together.  

 

As I sat there listening intently and sharing laughter I realized that hospitality and reconciliation are twins.  They are two sides to the same coin. Both are about making room and both offer the invitation of conversion. When possibilities for hospitality and reconciliation enter into our lives we are invited to change, we are encouraged to grow, we are enabled to love.   There are all kinds of "others" in our lives. It is a risky business to invite others into our space--our home space, our life space and especially our heart space. If we do invite others in we may be converted to a new kind of faith; one that takes us closer to the very God who transforms us by his hospitable and reconciling presence.