…the Ethiopian martyrs killed in Lybia this past weekend.
On a Sunday morning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July, 2004, I attended a worship service in the Meserach Church of the Meserete Kristos denomination, the biggest partner denomination in Mennonite World Conference. At one point in the service, six people knelt, head first, on the dais, while a pastor and the congregation prayed. I asked my host, “What is happening?”
He replied, “We are commissioning these six people to go out as missionaries, probably on their own dime.”
“That’s amazing,” I said.
He answered, “Oh, we do that once every month.”
Wherever they go in the world, there is nothing anyone can do to scare them, after all that they faced and overcame during their years of persecution by the Derg.
I am spilling no secrets when I say that it may just be that one of those six missionaries, or some missionary commissioned at another time, was one of the Ethiopian Christians who were killed by Islamic State for not having converted to Islam.
So I called up the friend who hosted me in Addis Ababa, as he now lives with his family in the United States. He shared that we don’t know if any Meserete Kristos members or workers were among the martyrs. But that is immaterial, in light of the fact that they were simply fellow Christians and fellow human beings. That is how Christians and many Muslim leaders in Ethiopia are taking it as well. There is in the Islamic world a memory of Ethiopia, when it was first a Christian Kingdom, giving refuge to the family and friends of Muhammad when the first Muslims were persecuted by pagan Arabs. This tragedy may bring many Christians and Muslims of good will closer together.
We also spoke about how such tragedies awaken us from our denial, and our false faith in the moral and spiritual progress and perfectibility of people and their societies in our fallen state. If anything, it is a reminder that, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also (John 15:20),” as Jesus said.
Maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree whenever we get too worked up about protecting our own “religious liberty.” We should be more concerned about projecting Christ’s majesty, regardless of the cost.
Meanwhile, I will stay in friendly contact with my Muslim friends, refusing to let someone else’s behavior, in the name of their religion, come between myself and them. I would wager my life on the probability that they are as sick over this event as am I. Let’s not forget that most of the victims of violence perpetrated by Islamic State and their allies are fellow Muslims.
Let’s forget neither that identifying with Christ, as his disciples, is going to be costly in one way or another. If it costs us nothing, then how well do we identify with him in conduct, character, word and deed?