Munther Isaac is a member of a Christian group that we American evangelical Christians have sometimes ignored. He’s a Palestinian Christian. I’ve recently read his book The Other Side of the Wall, A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope.

When I was a teenager, I was enamored, as were many of my Christian friends, with the movie Exodus. Stars included Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, and Sal Mineo. Included in the plot is the story of the founding of the modern state of Israel, which included many survivors of the Nazi Holocaust attempt to destroy the Jewish race.

That a nation with many Christians allowed the Nazi regime to come to power should warn us of how insidious is sin—including the power of sin to tempt us to categorize any group as “bad” or “good,” instead of taking care to see individuals and avoid the trap of labeling.

I think I came away from that movie, and my later reading of the novel, however, with no nuance about the actual inhabitants of Israel. I didn’t realize that Palestine includes Christian descendants of churches going back to the early days of Christianity, as well as practicing Muslims.

Some Arab extremist groups have committed atrocities against their Jewish neighbors but we commit a further sin if we label all Arabs as members of these groups. Arabs have suffered from Jewish extremists as well. And Arab Christian churches have a long history of perseverance and endurance over many centuries.

The Jewish prophet Jonah had to learn a bitter lesson before he understand that God cared for Nineveh just as much as he cared for Israel.

I invite you to read The Other Side of the Wall, by Munther Isaac. He has also made appearances on various interview shows.