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Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2005 | ||
Pope John Paul reached out to all
By JOHN HATCHER This is one evangelical Protestant who deeply admired Pope John Paul II. He was a bridge builder. He went where no Pope has ever been: to Jewish Jerusalem and to a Muslim mosque. He reached out to the estranged Russian Orthodox Church. He would meet with anyone who would meet with him for the sake of peace, human understanding, and freedom of the individual spirit. The Greek word that easily transliterates into English is skandalon. From it we get our word scandal. The New Testament talks about the scandal of the cross, the scandal of the Gospel. The Greek definition of the word basically is a trap. The cross was a trap not of mans doing, but Gods doing. If given enough rope, God knew man would string up the Son of God, but in so doing God would offer eternal life to the whole world. John Paul was a scandal. Was it not a scandal for the top official representative of the Holy Roman Catholic Church to walk inside a synagogue? Was it not a scandal for the Pope to pray inside a Mosque? Yet, these were scandals which John Paul used for Gods own glory and for the expansion of Gods ideas into the universe. John Paul operated from his deeply held theology that all men and women were created by God and in his image and as such were worthy of love, care, and communication. He would meet with Polands General Wojciech Jaruzelski, an ardent communist, as well as Fidel Castro of Cuba. He would treat these men as fellow human beings of worth and dignity without once sacrificing his central, Biblical views knowing full well that these same men believed and operated from the conviction of the primacy of the state. Where else to preach the dignity of man and the imperative of freedom but in the middle of a communist ruled land? Where else to teach Gods expectation and demand for purity but in a national youth congress? Scandalous! Just as with Jesus. Where else to forgive us of all our sins but from a cross to which we had nailed him? John Paul seized the moment. The scandal of the cross also opens for us opportunities to break the traditions of man in order to build bridges of peace, understanding, and freedom. Several years ago my heart was broken as we sought to organize a March for Jesus in Fayetteville. Of course, everyone was invited to march in the parade. Of course, as the organization committee, we invited the Catholic Church in Fayetteville to participate. Additionally, we invited the church pastor to pray at the marchs rally. However, one local Christian church, upon learning Catholics would participate, withdrew its participation. A pity for them and for a church docrine so narrow and empty. The march went on and we had a victorious day for all Christians, including Baptists, Assemblies of God, Methodists, Catholics, and several others. It was scandalous. Who had ever heard of such? In reaching out to the Jew and the Muslim, never once did John Paul deny a single tenet of his faith and doctrine. But, in reaching out and taking the hand of both Jew and Muslim, he upheld one of the greatest tenets of his Christian faith and that is that we are all Gods children. Was not John Paul simply following the footsteps of his Lord and master, Jesus Christ? Did not Jesus reach out to those forbidden by his tradition? He should have never talked to a Samaritan, much less a Samaritan woman. He should have never gone into the home of a pagan such as Zacchaeus. It was scandalous. They even whispered in Jericho that day, He has gone to the home of a sinner. So, what about you and me? Are you not tired of the so-so life, living in the rut of tradition? Dont you want to break down some barriers and see what God will do when people of different color or different decent or different faiths come together, believing we are all Gods children? Fayetteville is blessed in that we have both a synagogue and a Muslim center. Have the urge to pop in one Friday or Saturday and just give them some love. Do it! John Paul, but more importantly, Jesus, would be well pleased.
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