Christian Traditions and Values

Recently the Conservative shadow justice secretary and two prominent Reform leaders, among others, expressed concern about the open Iftar held on Trafalgar Square on March 16.

In such conversations it’s common for people to refer to Christian traditions and values, especially if they wish to portray those as under threat. But it’s less common to articulate what those traditions and values are. So I thought I might note ten.

• Love your neighbour as you love yourself. (Mt 22:39)
• Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Mt 7:12)
• I was hungry and you gave me food. (Mt 25:35)
• Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Heb 13:2)
• Jesus asked, ‘Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ The lawyer said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ (Lk 10: 36-37)
• What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
• You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deut 10:19)
• The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal 5: 22-23)
• Jesus said to Simon the Pharisee, ‘I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.’ (Lk 7:44)
• Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you … and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer 29:7)

Looking at this list, it would seem that right now, the Muslims who welcomed people of all faiths to Trafalgar Square on March 16 – fed them, offered them hospitality and showed them kindness – are embodying these traditions and values better than those claiming to defend those traditions and values are. Christians, rather than spread fear and express hostility, might be advised to thank our Muslim friends for setting us such a gracious example.

Revd Dr Sam Wells