Maybe some Muslim communities have a strong clan mentality. Maybe some people think they can dominate because they stick together while the rest of us stand divided.
But let’s say that’s true. Then I have a question.
When did Christian men and women in the West forget that we belong to each other, too?
That we are brothers and sisters. That we share a faith. That our hearts belong to the same God. And that this should mean something beyond what we say we believe.
I started by calling it a clan. A tribe. Because I’m trying to get at something deep in us. That feeling of knowing who your people are. Knowing that someone will stand beside you when things get ugly.
But Christianity took that responsibility beyond the tribe.
The stranger became your neighbor. Someone you were called to care about, even if you had never met them. Even if they lived in the next village or came from another country. Even if they didn’t believe what you believed.
You didn’t have to share someone’s blood to care what happened to them.
Think about how powerful that idea is. What it makes possible between people who would otherwise have no reason to trust each other.
A faith that began with a small group of Jewish followers became something that reached across the world. Across languages, borders, and generations.
And yes, terrible things were done in its name. We should be honest about those, too. People have used Christianity to justify actions that betrayed its own teachings.
But “love your neighbor as yourself” still asks something extraordinary of us. It asks us to care beyond what is convenient, familiar, or useful to us.
And it certainly doesn’t give me ownership of your life.
I don’t get to threaten you into believing what I believe. I don’t get to decide how your wife should live because that’s how I think women should live. We need laws that protect both of us and apply equally to everyone. We have to be able to disagree without someone getting threatened or beaten for it.
That is why I reject the control you see in Islamist environments, where leaving the faith, choosing your own partner, or refusing your family’s demands can come at a terrible price.
But somewhere along the way, we Christians in the West seem to have confused being free with being on our own.
When did we lose that instinct to stand up for each other?
The instinct that says: Threaten my brother, and I will stand between you. Attack my sister, and she will not face you alone. You can be damn sure the rest of us will show up to protect her.
My brother doesn’t have to share my blood. My sister doesn’t have to carry my last name.
We are together in Christ.
We say those words. But do we understand what they ask of us?
Because if we have the same Father, how can what happens to you be none of my business? How can I watch you being threatened and decide that keeping my own life comfortable matters more?
So when did we start forgetting that?
Want me to tell you where I think we went wrong?
When we started taking everything we had for granted. When faith became something we could keep tucked away in private, with very little expected of us outside our own homes.
When we became so concerned with our right to live however we wanted that we stopped asking what we owed each other.
And when staying quiet became easier than standing beside someone who might make us unpopular.
We still talk about love. But love has to mean something when someone needs your help.
Sometimes it means taking someone into your home. Sometimes it means speaking up when everyone else looks away. And sometimes it means standing firmly in someone’s way and saying: You do not get to threaten this person. You do not get to take their freedom.
That responsibility extends beyond our own faith. The stranger is still our neighbor. We cannot forget that part just because it asks more of us.
But neither should we be afraid to say that we Christians belong together. That our faith comes with a responsibility to our brothers and sisters. That they should be able to count on us.
I want to see a Christian community with a backbone. People who take their faith seriously enough to act on it. Who will welcome someone who needs help and stand their ground when someone tries to intimidate them.
I want us to remember what it means to look at another person and know: You are my brother. You are my sister. What happens to you matters to me.
So when it really counts, you know you are not alone.
That deep sense of belonging. A clan. A tribe.
Billions of brothers and sisters, united in Christ. Standing together, shoulder to shoulder, defending the values that helped shape Western civilization.
Values we must ALWAYS stand united in defending. Always.
Amen❤️🔥✝️