A Christain Mindset

We have been privileged to be called to proclaim the gospel of salvation to those held captive in the prison of Islam.  This doesn’t mean just Muslims, but also their Coptic neighbors who get Islam shoved down their throats in one form or another.  You shouldn’t be surprised if you talk to a nominal Christian in Egypt, hear his vernacular and get astounded as to how much he sounds like a Muslim.  They have their churches and Christian symbols that often get treated like pagan fetishes instead of turning over their hearts completely to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

Even here in America we have to distinguish what is cultural from what is Biblical.  We need to make sure that the culture is filtered through the mind of Christ.  Someone growing up in a supposedly Christian family in Egypt is inundated with the Islamic mindset.  We have to preach that a Muslim deals with his god on the basis of works, tit for tat, as rights earned from Allah instead of grace freely given and joyfully received.  Just as a Muslim perceives his god, so is that reflected in how he sees his fellow humans and even his own wife.  Imagine a Christian in Egypt resolving marriage issues through the mentality of Islam.  This mentality is one of power and control and tit for tat.  Forgiveness is a foreign term that might imply weakness!  Yes, both Muslims and Christians in Egypt are saturated by such horrific mindsets.  

As Christian believers and as children of God we don’t operate on the basis of tit for tat, measure for measure.  We give all.  We give ourselves before we give money or material things because we have the model of the Father Himself.  He has not only given us everything, but has actually given us Himself as Christ stretched out His arms on the cross and laid down His life for us.  God’s full redeeming love was poured out in the universe so that we captive sinners can obtain freedom and liberation and radiate God wherever we go.

Christmas is an amazing time to remember the God who came down to our level and met us face to face in the person of Christ so that we may enjoy union with God as citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.

May this Christmas be a Christmas of abundance, of joy and full peace and grace to you.  

A very merry Christmas to you all.
 
In Christ, the Lord of Christmas,

Timothy Abraham