Six thousand miles east of Fayette County, Georgia, in the town of Madaba, Jordan, resides one of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
This group of believers, comprised mainly of Catholic and Greek Orthodox traditions (but also a few Protestant denominations), traces its ancestry back to Yemeni Christians who fled their homeland nearly 1,400 years ago.
Having once enjoyed a majority population in Madaba, these Arab Christians today make up less than 25 percent of the city and now are squeezed between two mutually antagonistic Muslim tribes known as Beni Hamaida and Al-Azaida.
I know, because my wife and I lived among them for 7 years as Protestant Christian missionaries.
During our mission, occasionally tensions between the two Muslim tribes would boil over, subsequently shutting down the city’s streets and thus allowing problems between the two non-Christian groups to be resolved the old fashioned way.
During the unrest, the Arab Christians would typically enjoy an unexpected holiday from work and turn on the TV at home or catch up on rest. Some would even set up lawn chairs atop their roof balconies and pop popcorn to enjoy some local entertainment in the streets below.
The Christians had long since learned that their survival depended largely upon living a quiet life and displaying outward unity as much as possible. Indeed, unlike their neighbors, whenever the Arab Christians of Madaba disagreed among themselves they would retreat to their small enclave in the center of town and resolve their differences quietly and out of public viewing.
This code of conduct was similar to the policy of “No Daylight” which America and Israel shared prior to the Obama administration — a policy that required both sides to resolve disagreements behind closed doors. The reason was simple: any public disagreement could be used by the enemy to undermine the American/Israeli special relationship and so threaten their security.
As Christians remember the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation this year, prudence dictates that we learn from our Middle Eastern brethren.
It’s time to move the discussion of medieval grievances and nuanced differences between Catholics and Protestants out of the media and into a quieter room and, instead, turn our gaze towards the battle being waged down in the streets of America, which threatens our larger Christian community.
Let’s consider this painful battle from within the framework of the American creed that no person shall be deprived of “life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
Nearly 45 years after Roe v. Wade, “abortion on demand” continues to blaspheme due process and our innocent children’s right to life. Almost 50 years after California enacted the first “divorce on demand” laws, due process remains a dead letter as our wives and husbands who, through no fault of their own, are stripped of their property even when resisting divorce.
And now, our religious liberty is threatened by the new regime of “marriage on demand.” These injustices, not medieval differences, are the pressing concerns of Catholics and Protestants on the anniversary of the Reformation. Overcoming them will take well-publicized displays of Catholic/Protestant unity, even as we privately seek reconciliation and restoration of full communion and consolidation of political harmony.
We need to honor the profound impact of the Catholic Church upon English culture, from the days of Alfred “The Great,” who infused the Ten Commandments and the “Golden Rule” into Anglo-Saxon tribal customs, to today’s common law legal system and courts, some of which justifiably display the Mosaic Law (most notably at the Supreme Court).
We need to celebrate the role of Protestants in shaping the Christian identity of the most powerful democracy on earth from the days of Plymouth Rock to the two Great Awakenings to the Billy Graham Crusades and today’s popular Christian music. From universities like Harvard and Georgetown to classic films with powerful Biblical allusions like “Superman: The Movie” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Catholics and Protestants share equally in the achievements we cherish most as a nation.
For the sake of the Gospel, let’s recall the Reformation by making a communal effort as Catholics and Protestants to unify in Christ’s love by maintaining public silence on our differences and focusing on being the coordinated hands and feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the world.
Chris Barham
Fayette County, Ga.
