In early February, a myriad of leaders from around the world met at one of the most controversial gatherings in Washington, DC: the annual National Prayer Breakfast events. These events bring people together to vaguely celebrate the various connections of our lives and work to the belief in the guidance of Jesus. Yes, specifically Jesus.
Great, right? I, as a Muslim, got to celebrate and reflect on the life of Jesus with thousands of other people, mostly Christian, who could also finally recognize that “Jesus is my homeboy,” too. Speakers mentioned that Jesus is a role model and that his guidance is timeless. Cool with me. But then the more time they spent on the topic of the universality of Jesus (with the occasional impassioned mention that he is God’s son and Savior), the more I didn’t really know what everyone truly means. To be honest, when some of the guest speakers occasionally name-dropped Jesus in such a random, awkward way, it indicated to me that they probably didn’t understand what they meant either.
Is the National Prayer Breakfast about Jesus? Power? Friendship? Privilege? In all the background learning the fellows and I had undertaken regarding the National Prayer Breakfast and hearing from long-time attendees, it was clear that truly no one really knows what the event is all about. To a certain extent, this question will justifiably remain unresolved for the skeptics surrounding the event who criticize its mystery. But really, it’s just people getting together to commemorate their relationship with Jesus.
However, what Jesus really means to people—and how we feel about others’ varying degrees of devotion to him—this is where I wish the conversation would lie. It seems to me that the ambiguity surrounding this topic leads to an odd atmosphere in that Hilton ballroom. Should I give my due of fist-pumps and roof-raises to Tony Campolo when he makes the crowd go wild talking about his love for Jesus? Are most Christians comfortable with the idea of allowing the identity of their savior Jesus to transform into one of a universal moral teacher, even for the non-religious, even for one morning?
I think discussing this question could help flesh out a point of contention between Christian and non-Christian communities. There is no wrong answer, in my opinion. Either it’s not cool to call Jesus a non-divine, great spiritual teacher, and their co-religionists respect Christian’s unique reverence for him, or Christians are OK with it, and the door is opened for many more instances of group prayer connected to the teachings of Jesus. The only wrong approach, I think, is not to talk about it.
Tags: Jesus in Islam, National Prayer Breakfast, Tony Campolo
very interesting observation. so are you suggesting that people start discussing what ‘jesus means to me’ in terms of spirituality and not so much in terms of doctrine and religion?