Ep. 14: Gaining a Deeper Understanding of God from Muslim Friends with Rachel Pieh Jones
Show Notes
Episode Summary
You’re either right or you’re wrong, there is no in between. At least, that’s what most versions of Christianity in the U.S. have taught for decades, saying that if a spiritual practice falls in the “fully wrong” category, we should have nothing to do with it. But what if there’s a lot to be learned from other religions and practices? What if they understand aspects of faith and God that we have lost? That’s something Rachel Pieh Jones had to confront when she moved from Minnesota to the horn of Africa and found herself the minority amongst Muslims. We talked with her about how her experience has changed how she sees others and their faith practices, as well as expanded her understanding of God.
Bio
Rachel Pieh Jones writes about life at the crossroads of faith and culture for The New York Times, Christianity Today, Runners World, and more. Her work is influenced by living in the Horn of Africa since 2003, raising Third Culture Kids, and adventurous exploration of the natural world. She is the author of Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus and the second place finisher in Somaliland's inaugural marathon.
Follow Rachel on Instagram and Twitter.
Quotables
“As an American Christian, it had never crossed my mind that people are satisfied with their spiritual practices or that Muslims are legitimately spiritually fed by Islam.” (tweet this)
“When American Christians talk about evangelism, we call other people ‘lost’ or ‘unbelievers’; we label them from our point of view. But we need to view them from their perspective.” (tweet this)
“Learning to see and respect the other person’s position has helped me to talk about Jesus in more authentic ways.” (tweet this)
“Here in the horn of Africa, I am the stranger, I am the neighbor who needs other people to love and welcome me.” (tweet this)
“Put yourself in a position where you have to be welcomed, maybe even by someone you’re afraid of, because it changes your perspective.” (tweet this)
“The Church is not stuck in America or in any kind of political allegiance because it is the global Church.” (tweet this)
“It’s really painful, but it’s good that we’re finally starting to unearth some of the junk that has been so broken in our Christian traditions.” (tweet this)
Timestamps and References
[02:17]—How Rachel’s interactions with Muslims taught her to learn to love Jesus more and what inspired her to write Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus
[04:40]—Why Rachel and her husband ended up moving to Somalia and what she experienced once she got there
[09:16]—How her Muslim friends’ devotion challenged her own Christian faith and opened her up to new ways of experiencing God
[11:40]—Spiritual questions that Rachel had to confront and wrestle with
[14:39]—Rachel’s thoughts on evangelism in light of her experiences
[17:40]—Where Rachel is in her faith today
[20:48]—Stereotypes and expanding empathy
[26:15]—How Rachel’s Muslim friends pointed her to Jesus
[33:17]—How Rachel’s children’s experience with faith was very different from that of growing up in a predominantly Christian place
[40:15]—What gives Rachel hope for the future of faith
[42:50]—Call Me American: A Memoir by Abdi Nor Iftin
[43:30]—Rapid Fire questions
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Credits
This episode was produced by The Sophia Society. Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.
