الجروح والنجوم

عندما تفكر بالله، هل تتصور أنه كائن عالٍ وسامٍ وقدير بعيد كل البعد عنك ومنفصل؟ أو كأب معزي ومريح ودائماً قريب؟ هل سبق لك أن فكرت بأنه كلاهما؟ 

عندما ننظر إلى ما يقوله الله لنا عن نفسه في الكتاب المقدس، نرى أن كلا الوصفين صحيحان. وللتعبير عن هذين الجانبين من طبيعة الله، نقول إنه متسامٍ وقريب في الوقت ذاته. أي أنه في آنٍ واحد، متعالٍ عن خليقته، وقريبٌ منها قرباً شديداً.

أحد المقاطع التي اعتقد بأنها تكشف بشكل جميل هذا التعقيد في العلاقة الثنائية هي في مزمور 147: 3-4 

يَشفي المُنكَسِري القُلوبِ، 

ويَجبُرُ كسرَهُمْ.

يُحصي عَدَدَ الكَواكِبِ. 

يَدعو كُلَّها بأسماءٍ.

 للوهلة الأولى يبدو أن الآية 3 تعبّر عن قرب الله، بينما تشير الآية الرابعة إلى سموّه. تجلب صورة الراحة والعناية إحساساً بقرب الله بينما الحديث عن النجوم يجلب إحساساً بالعظمة والتعالي. كأننا نبدأ الآيتين ونحن مغطون بلحافٍ دافئ، في حالة من الراحة بعد ألم، ثم فجأة نُقذف إلى الفضاء الخارجي، إلى اتساع الكون. رؤيتنا تتسع من المجهر إلى المجرات والفضاء في لحظات قصيرة.

لكن عند التأمل في الآيتين معاً، نرى أنهما تكشفان لنا صفتين من صفات الله: القرب والسمو. ومع ذلك، فإن كل آية بمفردها تحمل في طيّاتها هذين الجانبين أيضاً. لنرى كيف: 

"يَشْفِي الْمُنْكَسِرِي الْقُلُوبِ، وَيَجْبُرُ كَسْرَهُمْ" (مزمور 147: 3).

نعم، هذه الآية تُظهر لنا قُرب الله. فهو يقترب منّا، يدخل في فوضى جراحنا، ويُمسك بنا وسط أوجاعنا، يُنظف الدم، ويضمد الجراح. ولكنه لا يتوقف عند هذا الحد. إنه لا يكتفي بالمواساة؛ بل يشفي. يأخذنا من مرحلة الجراح المفتوحة، إلى الندوب، ثم إلى الشفاء التام. وهنا يظهر سموّه.

يمكن للبشر الآخرين من حولنا مساعدتنا في التغلب على الألم إلى حد ما. يمكنهم تقديم التشجيع والدعم ومساعدتنا على الوقوف بقوة. لكن الله وحده هو القادر على الشفاء. هو وحده القوي والحكيم ليشفي بالكامل الجسد والنفس والروح.

يُحصي عَدَدَ الكَواكِبِ. يَدعو كُلَّها بأسماءٍ. (مزمور 147: 4)

نعم، هذه الآية تُظهر سمو الله. فهو يتجاوز إدراكنا لدرجة أنه يُحدد عدد النجوم في الكون. هذا يعني أنه يخلقها ويحفظها ويُحصيها أيضاً. ولكن لا يتوقف الأمر عند التنظيم والإحصاء، بل يُعطي كل نجم اسم. وهنا يظهر قُربه.

الأسماء أمر شخصي: فهي تتعلق بالهوية، وتشير إلى العلاقة. عندما ترغب في التعرّف على أحد، تبدأ بسؤاله عن اسمه. مناداة شخص باسمه يُظهر أنك تراه وتقدّره، ولكن منح الاسم لشخصٍ ما هو فعل أعمق بكثير من مجرد التعرّف عليه. لذا، عندما يُسمّي الله النجوم، فإنه يُظهر أنه منغمس في وجودها، ليس فقط خالقها، بل أيضًا الذي يحدد هويتها ويستمر في حفظها.

تذكرنا هذه الآيات أن الله هو سامٍ بشكل كامل وقريب بشكل حميم. هو قدوس وقوي ولكنه أيضا حنون ورحيم. ربما لهذا السبب بدأ كاتب المزمور بهذه الكلمات: 

سبِّحوا الرَّبَّ،

لأنَّ التَّرَنُّمَ لإلهِنا صالِحٌ.

لأنَّهُ مُلِذٌّ. التَّسبيحُ لائقٌ

مزمور 147: 1 

التسبيح لائق حقاً، لأنه عالي جداً بما يكفي ليرى ويعرف كل شيء وقريب منا بما يكفي ليحملنا، يشفينا، ويسد احتياجاتنا العميقة.

مجداً للرب!  لا مثيل له! 

كتب من قبل أوليفيا باشا. ترجم من قبل ميار مسلّم. تعديل حنا باشا وحنين باشا.

هذا المنشور تم نشره أولا في 2017. لرؤية النسخة الإنجليزية الأصلية إضغط هنا.

This post was first published in 2017. To see the original English version, click here.

الفرح المؤلم : عملية التقديس

هل سبق و ذكرك حدوث أمر ما بكونه استجابة لصلاة نسيت انك قد صليتها في السابق؟ كانت هذه احدى تجاربي في الأسبوع الماضي و ليست أول مرة اجتاحني بها هذا التفكير. لكن الشيء المختلف في هذه المرة هو شعوري بنوع من الإحباط في مسيرتي برفقة الرب يسوع والصلاة التي صليتها قبل أسابيع لم تكن صادرة من القلب. فعندما استجاب الرب بوضوح لصلاتي و بلطف ذكرني بطلبتي، كان هذا بمثابة تشجيع لي بأنه يعرف كل شيء و بكون صلاتي دائما أمامه وأنه حاضر في حياتي.

فبينما كنت اتعجب من جوهر الله فكرت بما كان يسبب لي الاحباط مؤخرا. لقد ازداد وضوح خطيتي و ضعفي بالنسبة لي و في حين فسر العديد من علماء اللاهوت لهذا على أنه ما يميز المؤمن الحقيقي -و هو ازدياد الوعي باحتياجنا للنعمة-

 إذا فيجب أن يكون بمثابه تشجيع لي، إلا أن كثيرا ما يبدو بأنه خلال عملية التقديس (وهي تشبهنا اكثر بالرب يسوع ) نتراجع إلى الوراء بعد إحراز تقدم معين. فكيف يمكن للرب أن يتحلى معي بالصبر؟

فبالاضافة الى ذلك ، كنت اتصارع مع الاشياء التي نحن مدعوون لفعلها كاتباع الرب،ليس مع الاشياء نفسها بل بكيفية فعلها. فعلى سبيل المثال، لنتحدث عن مشاركة الإنجيل. التحدث عن الإنجيل يتطلب مني الكثير من الجهد، فأستطيع الكتابة عنه طيلة اليوم لكن التحدث عنه هو قصة مختلفة. فلن أشارك الإنجيل شفويا ان لم أبذل جهدا لفعل ذلك و هذا الجهد الذي يتطلبه تعمد الحديث عن الرب يسوع على الملأ يشعرني بأنني احاول فعل ذلك لوحدي و كفرض على كونه نابع من قوة الروح القدس و من تدفق قلب متغير و مفعم بالحماس.

نعرف كمسيحيين بان كوننا اشخاص صالحين لا يخلصنا بل أننا بعد الخلاص نصبح صالحين (مقدسين)

و مع كون هذه القداسة لا تتوقف على أفعالنا بل على من نحن ( تغيير قلوبنا من قبل الله) ، لكن نحن مطالبين بوضوح كمسيحيين لفعل أشياء تتطلب مجهودا من طرفنا.

 فما هو الخط الفاصل بين بذل المجهود المطلوب (كشيء جيد) و بين محاولة عيش حياة مقدسة بقوتنا الخاصة ( كشيء ليس جيد تماما)؟ انني بعد ابحث عن اجابة لهذا السؤال ، لكن ما شجعني خلال مصارعتي مع سؤال نفسي باستمرار      " لماذا و كيف تفعلين هذا و ذاك؟" هو أن التقديس عملية و أن الله صبور.

استمعت لفيديو في يوم ما قبل عدة شهور من متكلم يتحدث عن التقديس (لو عرفت هويته كنت بالتأكيد قد ذكرته).و تناول الواقع الذي اشرت له سابقا وهو مساعدة الله لنا لنتغلب على نمط خطيئة معينة في حياتنا ليكشف لنا لاحقا عن نمط آخر .

وأقر بان مواجهتنا المستمرة للمزيد و المزيد من النواحي في حياتنا التي لا تتوافق مع مشيئة الله هو أمر محبط و مخيب للأمل. ثم وضح أن الطبيعة التدريجية للتقديس هي دليل على رحمة الله. فقال إن تعرضنا لحقيقة فسادنا كاملة ذات مرة سوف تنسحق قلوبنا حتى الموت و لن نستطيع تحملها. و الله يعرف هذا و برحمة اختار بعطفه و لطفه أن يكشف لنا تدريجيا عن الطرق التي لا يحصى لها التي لا نرتقي بها إلى المستوى المطلوب.

 فبدلاً من أن نصبح مثقلين بإحساس كبير من الفشل في كل مرة نواجه فيها ناحية غير مقدسة أخرى في حياتنا، يمكن أن نتشجع بأن الله بنفسه يعمل فينا حسب توقيته المناسب لننمو ونتشكل بشكل تدريجي بصبر وثبات. وبإدراك هذا، نستطيع تحمل عملية التهذيب المؤلمة التي تصاحب التقديس، ونعبرها بفرح داخلي عميق ودائم. 

كتب من قبل أوليفيا. ترجم من قبل سديم. تعديل من قبل حنين باشا. 

هذا المنشور تم نشره أولا في 2016. لرؤية النسخة الإنجليزية الأصلية إضغط هنا.

This post was first published in 2016. To see the original English version, click here.

Known by Name

Aside from Psalm 23, probably the most well-known passage that discusses the Lord being our Shepherd is found in John 10. It is here that in a lengthy metaphor Jesus distinguishes Himself from false shepherds (vv. 1, 8, 10), identifies the purpose of His coming (v. 10), reveals that His flock includes more than just the original group of sheep (v. 16), and foretells the sacrifice He will make on the sheep’s behalf (v. 15, 17-18). Each of these statements is powerful and meaningful in its own way, but today we’re going to focus on another small phrase that is nestled among these wonderful words of Jesus.

In verses 2-3, Jesus says, “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (ESV). Did you notice it? Jesus calls his sheep by name. To Americans reading this passage, that idea is easy to skim over without a second thought. We live in an individualized society where we are used to being primarily identified/understood by our unique name (rather than our family’s name). We’re so conditioned to revel in our uniqueness that we give our children middle names to distinguish them from others who might share the same first and last name. So in a society where we pride ourselves on being distinct as an individual and tend to think the world revolves around us, the statement that Jesus calls us by name isn’t that striking. But take a step back and think about it for a minute.

In Middle Eastern culture, both ancient and contemporary, collectivism rather than individualism formed the basis of identity. We see examples of this in the Bible where people were referred to as the “son of” someone else (e.g., “Simon, son of John” in John 21:15 and the “sons of Zebedee” in Matthew 26:37, ESV) and today in Arab cultures where people are called “Abu (or Em) so-and-so” (i.e., Father or Mother of so-and-so) rather than by their own names. Similarly, instead of receiving unique middle names, like those given in individualist cultures, Arab children are given their father’s first name and grandfather’s first name between their first and last names, highlighting the importance of their heritage and their place in the larger family group.

Reputation, also, was/is tied to one’s family. The goodness (or scandal) of a family name played a huge role in how an individual was perceived. Although this is lessening to an extent in some areas of the Middle East today, it is still common that people are judged by whether or not they come from an honorable family. Someone’s first name carries a lot less weight than his last name does, because it is the last name that reveals to what group he belongs, and his identity is viewed primarily through the lens of that group rather than his own personal merit or lack thereof.

So when Jesus says that He calls his sheep by name, it is actually somewhat revolutionary. He doesn’t view us as who we are in relation to anyone else besides Himself. In other words, when it comes to our relationship with God, it doesn’t matter whose earthly child we are, who our extended family is, who we work for, who our friends are, or who our pastor is. What matters is whether we are one of His sheep or we aren’t.

But there’s another sense in which Jesus’ calling us by name is remarkable. Despite our conviction that we are supremely unique, it’s also true that each of us is just one person among billions of other people who have lived and will live throughout the history of the world. Each of those people, as an image bearer of God, is of equal value. None of us is more special than another. And yet, Jesus not only knows each of our names, He calls us by them. He knows what makes us unique because He has designed and created us. He calls us personally by name because He desires a personal relationship with each of us individually. He does not call people by family group or by ethnicity or by nation; He calls us one-by-one by our names. And while He loves all of His sheep equally, He loves us each individually too.

So the next time you get discouraged, feel invisible, or feel trapped in an identity constructed by the groups or systems of which you are a part, remember that Jesus, the Good Shepherd knows you intimately and calls you by name. Listen to His voice and let it drown out all the others, because He is the One who knows you best and loves you most.

PC: Yandle Multimedia Photography. Used with permission.

Our Wish for the Wicked

From an early age, we humans become well accustomed to the enduring theme of good versus evil. From the fairy tales and shows of our childhood to the books and movies we consume as adults, we learn to root for the good guy, to rejoice when good triumphs over evil, and to feel satisfied when the bad guy meets his demise or gets his just punishment.

We could spend much time diving into how this good-versus-evil dichotomy is a reflection of the deeper reality that pervades every part of the universe, how God, who is Goodness Himself, has defeated in an already-but-not-yet capacity the most profane Rebel of all time, known among many other things as the Evil one. But today, I’d like us to consider how the many fictional portrayals of the war between good and evil, from the cosmic scale to the inner-personal, might have trained us to think of evil people in the real world in a way that is not fully reflective of the mentality we are called to have as followers of Jesus.

In most, if not all, superhero tales, there is a clear and definite evil enemy. Sometimes this creature is in the form of a non-human; other times it’s a human who has achieved super-human abilities. These “bad guys” are clearly sensationalized, just as the superheroes are, meant to represent an idea—the existence of evil—and it’s not hard to exult in the destruction of a clearly fictionalized monster that represents evil itself. But in other tales, the “bad guy” is clearly an ordinary human—whether it’s someone who commits horrendous crimes or one who bullies, abuses, oppresses, or neglects others—and the way many of these tales are told is designed to make us similarly wish for the downfall of such wicked people and to celebrate when that downfall occurs.

Certainly, there is a biblical case to be made that we should be against wickedness in all its forms. Paul describes love (which is to be the hallmark of a Christian) as that which “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6, ESV). The Psalms are filled with pleading for and rejoicing over the defeat of enemies. As we saw in an earlier post, the certainty of God’s perfect justice is something we can be thankful for, and the demise of our greatest Enemy is certainly something we can celebrate. But does it follow that we should cheer when wicked people meet their end? We can celebrate the carrying out of justice and the punishment of evil deeds, but is it godly to be giddy when wicked people die?

Follow the thought process with me for a moment… God tells us in His Word that “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12, ESV). In other words, left to ourselves, we are all wicked people. The only way to become good is to be given a new heart and a new spirit, to take on the righteousness of Jesus that He freely offers to those who accept His sacrifice and gift on their behalf. The villains of this world are those whose wickedness is simply on display more obviously than others, and it becomes easy for the rest of us to want these villains to pay, to be angry and vengeful in our attitude toward them, and to be happy when they meet their end, even though we know that dying apart from Jesus means an eternal prolongation of the separation from God that they experienced on earth.

But what does God say about the death of the wicked? He tells us in Ezekiel 18:23 and 32: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? […] For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live” (ESV). So while on the one hand, we know that vengeance belongs to God (see Romans 12:19) and that in His perfect justice He will certainly condemn the guilty, we see that because He is also Love, He has no pleasure in doing so. He is not vengeful without empathy. He is not wrathful without compassion. Time and time and time again, He calls us wicked people to take the way out, to turn from our wicked ways, put on the righteousness of Jesus, and live.

When we do this (become followers of Jesus and good instead of evil) we are called into a higher way of living—a way that seems counterintuitive to the world because it goes against the culture. Instead of hating our enemies, we are called to love them; instead of cheering for their ruin, we are commanded to pray for them (see Matthew 5:43-44). We are called to see that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV). In other words, evil humans are not actually the true villains, however heinous their crimes may be. Our fellow humans, even the most outrageously evil among them, are evil because they, just like we were, are enslaved by sin and the Evil one (see Romans 6; John 8:44; 1 John 3). Satan is the ultimate villain, not they. They are merely pawns in his futile game. 

The problem with fictionalized good-vs-evil sagas is that they make us forget this truth. They lead us to equate in our minds the concept of evil or Evil himself (Satan) with evil people (those in bondage to him) and to therefore wish for human perpetrators of evil to be destroyed when instead we should be praying for them to repent. We should bear the fruit of God’s Spirit, which includes His kindness—a kindness that we are told is meant to lead people to repentance (see Galatians 5:22 and Romans 2:4). While we can certainly rejoice when good triumphs over evil, we should be careful to separate in our minds evil itself from those who are enslaved to it.

Retraining our brains to hope and pray for the good of those who are “the worst” among us (i.e., for them to come to faith in Jesus) rather than to hope and pray for their present and eternal destruction can be a hard pill to swallow. But as we are called to become more like Jesus (i.e., God), we must face the fact that just as God’s greatest desire for those enslaved to evil is that they take the way He has provided to break out of that bondage, becoming free to be good, so our greatest desire for them should be the same.

May God give us the strength to look at the perpetrators of evil and injustice in this world not through eyes of hatred, anger, and vengeance, but with hearts of love, empathy, and compassion, recognizing that, but for the grace of God, we would still be in bondage just as they. And may we be able to say, as Paul said about the unbelieving Israelites, that “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1, ESV).

PC: Hannah Vazquez. Used with permission.

أهمية العقل في حياة المسيحي

قبل عدة أشهر، استمعت الى تعليم جين ويلكن في مؤتمر للسيدات "Revive ’15" واقنعني تفسيرها عن أهمية استخدام عقولنا في مسيرتنا مع المسيح وليس فقط قلوبنا. ضمن عرض قضيتها تطرقت إلى مرقس 12: 30 والذي يتحدث عن محبة الله بعقولنا كما وتطرقت الى رسالة رومية 12: 2 التي توضح أن العقل هو المكان الذي يبدأ فيه التحول.

لن اعيد كل ما قالته الآن (يمكنكم مشاهدة رسالتها هنا).

ولكن هذه بعض من العبارات التي علقت في ذهني: 

"الطريق لتجديد مشاعرنا هو من خلال تفكيرنا. التفكير الصحيح يجب أن يقود الى الشعور الصحيح. لا يمكننا ببساطة أن نغير مشاعرنا فقط بالمشاعر، بل يجب أن نفكر حتى نشعر بشكل مختلف."

"القلب لا يستطيع أن يحب ما لا يعرفه العقل."

منذ سماع جين تتحدث أصبحت متيقظة لحالات أخرى في الكتاب المقدس التي تشير إلى العقل. إحداها في كورنثوس الأولى 14. حيث يتحدث السياق عن المواهب الروحية وبالتحديد عن موهبتي التنبؤ والتكلم بألسنة. وعند الحديث عن هذا الموضوع يؤكد بولس على أهمية العقل:

لذلكَ مَنْ يتَكلَّمُ بلِسانٍ فليُصَلِّ لكَيْ يُتَرجِمَ. أنَّهُ إنْ كُنتُ أُصَلّي بلِسانٍ، فروحي تُصَلّي، وأمّا ذِهني فهو بلا ثَمَرٍ فما هو إذًا؟ أُصَلّي بالرّوحِ، وأُصَلّي بالذِّهنِ أيضًا. أُرَتِّلُ بالرّوحِ، وأُرَتِّلُ بالذِّهنِ أيضًا (الآيات 13-15)

ثم يشرح "إذا كنت تشكر بروحك" (دون استخدام العقل) فلا يمكنك "بناء" الآخرين (الآيات 16-17) . وبالتالي فإن استخدام عقولنا ليس فقط أمر مهم وحاسم لنمونا الروحي ولكنه أيضا مهم لبناء ونمو اخوتنا واخواتنا المؤمنين.

ويكمل بولس: "أيُّها الإخوَةُ، لا تكونوا أولادًا في أذهانِكُمْ، بل كونوا أولادًا في الشَّرِّ، وأمّا في الأذهانِ فكونوا كامِلينَ" (آية 20) 

من الواضح أن عقولنا مهمة. ومع ذلك كم من مرة أهملناها في حياتنا اليومية؟ كم مرة سمحنا للكسل بالسيطرة، مفضلين التسلية والدلال بدلاً من السعي للتفاعل مع الكتاب المقدس بشكل شخصي والتصارع مع أنفسنا بالأسئلة الصعبة؟

المشاعر بنفسها وبذاتها سوف تتغير بكل تأكيد. لذلك من المهم جدا أن نبني مشاعرنا على أساس قوي من الحقيقة أو ما تسميه جين ويلكين "التفكير الصحيح ". إحدى الطرق التي يمكننا من خلالها بناء هذا الأساس هو التفاعل بشكل مدروس مع الكتاب المقدس من خلال قراءته ودراسته.

لذا بدلاً من الاكتفاء بأن نكون أطفالا في تفكيرنا أو أن نعيش علاقتنا مع يسوع المسيح فقط في عالم القلب، فلنتذكر أن الله أعطانا عقلاً وأنه أعطانا إياه لسبب. دعونا نطرح الأسئلة ونصقل فضولنا وندرب عقولنا لنرى كيف أن معرفة الله المتزايدة من خلال كلمته ستغير حياتنا.

"ولا تُشاكِلوا هذا الدَّهرَ، بل تغَيَّروا عن شَكلِكُمْ بتجديدِ أذهانِكُمْ، لتَختَبِروا ما هي إرادَةُ اللهِ: الصّالِحَةُ المَرضيَّةُ الكامِلَةُ" (رسالة رومية 12: 2)

كتب من قبل أوليفيا باشا. ترجم من قبل ميار مسلّم. تعديل حنا باشا و حنين باشا.

هذا المنشور تم نشره أولا في 2016. لرؤية النسخة الإنجليزية الأصلية إضغط هنا.

This post was first published in 2016. To see the original English version, click here.

Love Overflowing

Much has been said and written about the connection between language and culture, and while this connection is something I was loosely aware of on a cognitive level, it wasn’t until I moved to the Middle East that I began to understand it more experientially.

Arabic and English are very different languages, from sentence structure to the way words are formed and even to the direction of reading and writing. In many ways, the two could not be more different. As I’ve mentioned in another post, these differences shape (or are shaped by, depending on your argument) the very way that people think. But they also are related to the way people express their thoughts. For example, as I pointed out in yet another post, the English language and English-speaking cultures tend to be very direct, while the Arabic language and the cultures that utilize it tend to be more circular in communication. But there is another major difference between these languages/cultures: one related to the expression of emotion.

Since living in the Middle East, I’ve learned that Americans are often thought of as “soft” (as we would say in English), i.e., that we have a low tolerance for suffering and hardship and that we tend to complain about minor things. (When you compare the average life experiences of an American to those of someone from the Middle East, you begin to understand why this opinion is formed.) In other words, Americans are thought to be much more emotive than Arabs, even melodramatic, when it comes to dealing with inconvenience, suffering, or pain.

But there is another way in which Americans are much less emotive than Arabs, and that is in expressing affection—and I’m not just talking about romantic affection. I’m talking about every level of affection that can be felt by a human being. By way of example, though, here’s a humorous take on what this looks like when it comes to romantic affection:

To an English speaker, the number of words, breadth of descriptive vocabulary, and intensity of the all-caps in this example convey an over-the-top expression of affection. But to an Arabic speaker, the verbosity, descriptiveness, and intensity are all perfectly normal—normal even to the point that such expression is only mildly modified when the affection is something less than romantic, e.g., between friends.

Not long ago, my husband and I were in a men’s clothing store in our city and were being helped by the owner. Shortly after we arrived, another customer came in who obviously knew him. I wish I had had the presence of mind to record or at least write down the conversation between the two men because they went back and forth multiple times exchanging expressions of greeting before ever getting to the point of why the customer came in the store in the first place. The length alone of that introductory exchange, while completely normal in Arab cultures, is still disorienting to my American, English-speaking self, but what made the exchange, and others like it, even more disorienting were the actual words and expressions used. It’s not just a “Hi, how are you?” “Oh, hi, I’m well, how are you?” repeated over and over. It’s more like:

Man 1: “Hello, My Dear! Welcome!” [Those familiar with Arabic even a little will recognize that “my Dear” is “Habibi.”]

Man 2: “Hello, My Age! What’s new?”

Man 1: “My Eyes, praise God, all is good, My Dear. All is well?”

Man 2: “My Dear.”

Man 1: “My Heart, welcome.”

Man 2: “My Precious One. How is the family?”

Man 1: “Well, well, My Life, thank God.”

Etc.

This effusive mode of expression is not just limited to greetings, however. The Arabic equivalent of “Happy Birthday” literally translates to “Every year and you are healthy,” which is a way of wishing prolonged good health upon someone. Instead of “Congratulations,” which translates “Mabrook,” it is more common to say “Alf mabrook,” i.e., “a thousand congratulations,” (or even “alf alf alf mabrook”). When you post a picture of your meal on social media, comments are less likely to be about how delicious the food looks (which is typical for American responses) and instead are more likely to be of the “bon Appetit” variety but that literally translate to, “Health and total wellness” or “Two health.” And when that Arab equivalent of “enjoy the food” is said to you, the appropriate response literally translates to “On your heart,” which is a way of heaping the blessing back on the one offering it. And of course, it is not uncommon for each of these to be followed—or surrounded—by one or more of the “my life, my heart, my eyes, my precious one,” type of phrases.

As an American, I am not used to this overflowing expressiveness, and my manner of communication reflects that. But as much as I am unaccustomed to offering such effusive expressions, I am even more unused to receiving them. I find myself completely at a loss as to how to respond to words that to my ears seem to convey a depth of feeling only reserved for those most romantically in love with each other. A simple, “Thanks” or “You too,” never seems sufficient in the face of such outpouring, and yet I never quite know what to say, so I usually end up resorting to a smile and nod and feeling the weight of my inadequacy to reciprocate such apparent depth of emotion.

Of course, in some ways, these expressions are merely part of the culture and have just become what people say without really thinking about it. But even still, the fact that these deep and flowery phrases are part of normal communication reflects an emotiveness inherent in Arabic-speaking cultures that English-speaking cultures lack.

To be honest, at times, this cultural difference can be incredibly frustrating. It can leave me feeling awkward or like a terrible person for not feeling rushing swells of emotion at every turn. It makes me think I come across as rude or insensitive or shallow for not being easily able to roll expressions of adoration off my tongue. But in another sense, I’ve come to see that this cultural difference, like so many others, is yet another opportunity to learn more about God.

Numerous times, the Bible speaks of God delighting in those who follow Him. And in one of the most beautiful verses, we read:

“The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV).

 

It wasn’t until I moved to the Middle East that I began to get a glimpse of what it really must be like for God to delight in us, to rejoice over us, to exult over us. His love is not just an “I love you” kind of love. It’s a “My adoration for you cannot be quantified nor expressed merely by the written word. The death of a thousand suns can’t match the energy of My love for you. I didn’t just face death, I met and defeated death to prove my commitment to you, o beloved one, my precious child” kind of love.

 

The Creator of the Universe, the All-Powerful God, is an emotive God who is overflowing with love (not to mention being Love itself) and who expresses that love by rejoicing over us with gladness and exulting over us with loud singing. He is effusive in His expression of affection toward us. And that’s something that I think our Arab brothers and sisters in Christ can understand on a deeper level than we Americans can.

 

As I continue to adjust to communicating in a different cultural dynamic, I pray that God uses my exposure to this more emotive manner of expression to enlarge my capacity for grasping and receiving His overflowing love for me. And for my American family of faith, I pray that you likewise “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19, ESV).

PC: Mais Salfiti. Used with permission.

Perfect Justice

The concept of justice is a hot topic in America these days. From debates over the existence of systemic injustice in the justice system and what the best solutions are to injustice experienced in our society to television dramas with plot lines depicting corrupt judges, tampered juries, and unreliable witnesses, we’re inundated with miscarriages of justice both in fiction and in reality.

When you stop to think about it, it’s a marvel that true justice is ever accomplished in this world. How do we know evidence hasn’t been tampered with or planted? How do we know witnesses aren’t lying or simply misremembering what they saw? Even with the purest of motives and best of intentions, witnesses, judges, and juries are subject to the realities of living in a fallen world. Things might not be as they appear—or they might be exactly as they appear. There are times when we simply have to take someone at their word—or decide not to. We might be certain we remember exactly what happened—until we start having doubts about what we actually saw or heard.

All this uncertainty and the limitations of human perception and understanding can leave us with a fairly pessimistic view of even the best justice systems around the world. But we can find great encouragement and reassurance in the fact that human justice systems are not all there is. There is a higher system of justice, presided over by a Judge who is perfect in wisdom, perfect in knowledge, who perceives all and understands all completely.

The prophet Isaiah, living in an ancient society where injustice was pervasive, prophesied of One to come who would be altogether different in His capacities for judgment:

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

               the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

               the Spirit of counsel and might,

               the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

               or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

               and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

               and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

               and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (Isaiah 11:1-5, ESV).

 

In this description of Jesus Christ, notice how many qualities He has that make Him the perfect, infallible judge. He bears the Spirit of Yahweh (the relational, covenantal name for God), and this Spirit includes wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, and the fear of God (v. 2). Unlike human judges who can only go by what they observe with their limited senses, He does not judge based on sight or hearing but with perfect righteousness and equity because He knows all, even man’s very thoughts (v. 3). And not only is He characterized by righteousness, but He is faithful (v. 5). His perfect justice is not a conditional or flaky thing—it is constant and sure.

 

When compared with other parts of Scripture, there are clues in this passage that also speak to Jesus’ divinity because the same types of descriptions are used for God the Father:

 

“God is a righteous judge,

and a God who feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11, ESV).

 

“But the LORD sits enthroned forever;

               he has established his throne for justice,

and he judges the world with righteousness;

               he judges the peoples with uprightness” (Psalm 9:7-8, ESV).

 

“The heavens declare his righteousness,

               for God himself is judge!” (Psalm 50:6, ESV)

 

“Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you judge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth” (Psalm 67:4, ESV).

 

“‘At the set time that I appoint

               I [God] will judge with equity’” (Psalm 75:2, ESV).

 

“Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!

Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity. […]

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in his faithfulness” (Psalm 96:10, 13b, ESV).

 

“I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

               and will execute justice for the needy” (Psalm 140:12, ESV).

 

“But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause” (Jeremiah 11:20, ESV).

 

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,” (1 Peter 1:17, ESV).

 

“When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23, ESV).

 

That last verse is speaking of Jesus, God the Son, entrusting himself to God the Father. As I’ve discussed in another post, one of the most amazing things about Jesus’ behavior during His unjust trial and execution is that He had the self-control to endure all the injustice when He had the power to stop it. As Peter said, He did not retaliate or make threats; He knew that God was a just judge. He knew that God saw His complete innocence, and He also understood that in willingly taking on the sin of the whole world He would experience punishment at the hand of the Father but that the Father would ultimately give Him vindication in the Resurrection and Ascension and would punish those who were unjustly accusing and sentencing Him if they did not repent. He didn’t have to avenge Himself because He knew the Father was completely Just.

 

Just as Jesus “entrust[ed] himself to him who judges justly,” so too can we find peace and consolation when we experience injustice in this world because we know that the matter is ultimately in God’s hands. No one who wrongs us can escape His notice. Even if they seem to be getting away with it here on earth, they stand before a Perfect Judge, one who says, ““Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” (Romans 12:19, ESV). We don’t have to plot our own revenge. We don’t have to live thinking that evil deeds will never come to light. This can give us great comfort, especially when we feel helpless to bring about justice in this world. We can be sure that God always renders an accurate, just, perfect judgment, correctly identifying the evildoer and exonerating the innocent.

 

But of course, when it comes to standing before a holy God, none of us is truly innocent. We all fall short of His righteous standard (see Romans 3:23). And in this case, His perfect Judgment should make us tremble if we think that we in any way can pretend to be unguilty before Him. All our faults, our rebellions, our shortcomings are laid bare under His gaze, and our only hope for pardon is in Jesus. Because God is perfectly just, He cannot let the guilty go free without a consequence being paid. But because Jesus took the consequence for us, experiencing the full wrath of the Just God against our sin, which He took on Himself, all of us who turn from our rebellion and believe in what He did on our behalf can experience full pardon from God. The demands of justice have been met in full, and because of that, God in His perfect judgment can offer us the verdict of abundant life in His presence forevermore.

 

Praise God that He in all His fullness—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is impartial, faithful, righteous, equitable, perfect in wisdom and knowledge and understanding, always rendering perfect judgment. He cannot be bribed or mistaken or prejudiced. He sees and hears and knows all completely. What a beautiful, wonderful, marvelous God!

To read the Arabic translation of this post, click here.

.لقراءة الترجمة العربية لهذا المنشور إضغط هنا

PC: Eric Eanes. Used with permission.