Extending a Holy Welcome with Rachel Pieh Jones | Episode 08
Today we’re chatting Rachel Pieh Jones (who has previously joined us here on the podcast). For those of you who don’t already know Rachel, she writes about life at the crossroads of faith and culture.
Rachel just released her latest book, Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus. She shares stories that recount the personal encounters and growing friendships which gradually dismantled her unspoken fears and prejudices and deepened her respect for Islam. Along the way she also gains a far richer understanding of her own Christian faith. She divided her stories around the five pillars of Islam — creed, prayer, fasting, giving, and pilgrimage — and shows how her Muslim friends’ devotion to these pillars led her to rediscover ancient Christian practices her own religious tradition has lost or neglected.
We hope this interview encourages you to extend a holy welcome to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers, and to reach your hand across the chasm with empathy and respect toward fellow Image Bearers of God.
“I believed, and still believe, that there are good reasons for crossing cultural and religious boundaries. It matters to reach across, to try to understand, to forge bridges of trust and relationship that can bear the weight of differing worldviews, different religious convictions, and our shared humanity. I didn’t want to live in a world where I looked, behaved, and believed exactly like everyone around me.”
— Rachel Pieh Jones, Pillars
Connect with Rachel!
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Denise
Melissa
Alicia
Questions discussed in this episode:
For those of us who live in Muslim majority countries, the question, “are you scared?” often gets asked. Why do you think this is such a common question?
How does your latest book, Pillars, address the root of this fear?
Explain why you chose to divide up your book based off the five pillars of Islam.
In this day and age, more and more Christians have friends who are devoted to other religions. Do you think some people are hesitant to ask questions or seek to learn about other religions because they think it will somehow lessen their devotion to their own religion? How can people learn more about another’s faith without thinking they’re compromising their own faith?
What is interfaith dialogue and what does it look like?
How does someone begin having these dialogues with their coworkers, neighbors, and peers?
You mentioned meeting a Somali woman living in America and how her experience as a foreigner gave her the empathy and courage to include you, “the other.” You write, “stranger to stranger, she reached across the chasm of politics and religion, fear and suspicion…” How can we go and do likewise? How can we encourage others, who don’t have that experience of being “the other,” to also reach across the chasm which often divides us?
Sometimes this question is raised: “why are some people called expatriates and others are called immigrants?” How do you distinguish the two? Then tell us how you came to realize you were a spiritual expatriate and what it means to be one.
Since we’ve established why we aren’t fearful for the same reasons people assume we might be fearful, let’s briefly circle back to the question of “are you scared?” Of course, there are other reasons one might feel fear while living out of your comfort zone. How have you learned to overcome fear when it inevitably creeps into your heart and mind?
You acknowledge at the beginning of your book that some readers may be uncomfortable with or disagree with conclusions you’ve reached. What is a prayer/hope you have for those who get their hands on a copy of Pillars and read it from beginning to end?
Mentioned in this episode:
Listen to Rachel’s other guest appearance on It’s Tea Time Somewhere: Speaking Honestly About Living Overseas Long-Term
Buy a copy of Pillars: hardcopy | Kindle | audiobook
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Related articles and podcasts:
Podcast episode: Cultivating Christian-Muslim Friendships with Marilyn Gardner
Podcast episode: Taking the Extra Few Steps with Jana Kelley
Show credits:
Hosted by Denise James, Alicia Boyce, and Melissa Faraday // produced and edited by Melissa Faraday // content managed by Kim Johnson.
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