A point of tension

Reflecting on my last entry about the Rally against terror, I was challenged by something David said in his sermon last night on Romans 10, about the need to seek genuinely to engage with those who don't share Christian faith, partly by embracing common ground. I see now the positive, inclusive dimension of the Muslims' call to people of all faiths and none to take a stand against terror. As a Christian, after all, I am called to go out of my way to reach out to others; when they reach out to me in a common cause, shouldn't I be eager to respond in friendship and solidarity? I believe there's a point from Friday's entry though that still stands. The 'us and them' mentality which the politicians' and media's line can encourage, holds the danger of making people complacent. There is still a striking contrast between this idea of the 'vast majority of decent people' and Jesus' challenge, 'broad is the road that leads to destruction, narrow is the way that leads to life'. Just because I don't commit a spectacular moral atrocity doesn't spare me from the challenge of finding and pursuing that narrow way of grace, intimacy with God, and holiness.