To outsiders, Iraqis might appear as a united people.
But internally, it’s a different story. There are Sunni Arabs, Sunni Kurds, Yezidi Kurds, Shia Kurds, Shia Arabs, Marsh Arabs, Chaldean Christian Arabs, Assyrian Christian Arabs, Turkoman Turks, and Sabeans. And those are just the largest factions.
A closer look reveals hundreds of tribal loyalties. Whose tribe you belong to is your identity. “If you are not my kind, you are an outsider.” The result is a deeply fractured nation, polarized in hundreds of directions.
These deep fractures were suppressed under the leadership of Saddam, former dictator of Iraq. But when Saddam’s hold on the country was broken, tribal divisions surfaced and began playing themselves out in public spheres. Today there is no putting the country back together again under a single government. In the book The End of Iraq, author Peter Galbraith predicted this kind of inevitable breakup.
In times of suffering, Iraqi Christians have experienced an outpouring of love from American Christians wanting to rescue them from evil.
But remember, God said to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Not just the Christian families.
It is natural to want to respond in solidarity when a member of one’s own suffers. This is why my Kurdish friends want to save the Kurds—why Shia Arabs want to save the Shia Arabs.
At the end of C. S. Lewis’ final Narnia book, The Last Battle, the dwarves say, “The dwarves are for the dwarves.” This makes for a funny moment in a children’s book. But when considered in the context of today—and in the context of modern Christendom—it makes for an even more powerful illustration.
Christ Jesus is not just for Christians; He is for all peoples. And He calls His followers to the greatest commission of all: to go and love the least of these. Refugees—a significant majority of whom are Muslims—are indeed among the least of these. The need for the Gospel of righteousness, peace, and joy is possibly the greatest in the Muslim world, where recent violence in the world seems to be concentrating.
One Sunday in church, we sang, “I’m gonna live where God can use me—anywhere, anytime.” My heart broke for the people of Iraq as I sang those words.
“No, not anywhere,” I thought to myself, “but there, in Iraq. Let’s serve God in Iraq. Let’s foster a heart for people who are not like us.”
Let us go to the ends of the earth—to the lost peoples who are not like us—bringing them the Good News of the Kingdom.
What happens when a young mother steps out of her suburb to meet a Muslim woman on the other side of town? Click the button below to find out.
Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/to-the-ends-of-the-earth
