While in Birmingham England I picked up a local newspaper
and read an article entitled, “Britain’s Most influential Muslim–and It was All
Down to a Peach.” The article is about a guy named Timothy Winter who is
considered one of the most influential people in Islam. He is a white European
and a convert to Islam.

 The interesting thing about this particular article is what
brought him to the point of conversion. Let me give you just a short excerpt
from the article that describes the pathway of conversion to Islam: “In my
teens I was sent off by my parents to cottage in Corsica on exchange with a
very vigorous French Jewish family with four daughters,“ Winters recalls. “They
turned out to be enthusiastic nudists. I remember being on the beach and a
scene conjured up before my adolescent eyes every 15-year-old boy’s most
fervent fantasy. There was a moment when I saw peach juice running off the chin
of one of these bathing beauties and I had a moment of realization: the world
is not just a consequence of material forces. Beauty is not something that can
be explained away just as an aspect of brain function." Okay, here’s where
it becomes interesting to me. He goes on to say, “In a Christian context,
sexuality is seen as a consequence of the fall, but for Muslims, it is
anticipation of paradise. So I can say that I was converted to Islam by a
teenage French Jewish nudist.”

I really don’t want to talk about Islam in this blog as much
as a misinformed Christianity.  His
view saddens me for several reasons. The first is that he has an exceptionally
misinformed idea of sexuality as it relates to Christianity. His idea of
sexuality from Christianity’s perspective is that sexuality emerged as a result
of “the fall.” Perhaps some Christians might believe this, but this could not
be further from the truth. The beauty of sexuality emerged at creation and was
distorted at the Fall.  That is why
we see such abuse related to it. It has become self-centered, consumptive,
exploitative and even violent for many people. Sex is a lovely thing for those
who truly understand Christianity. I could write much more on this topic to
fill the point out, but suffice it to say, Mr. Winters (along with many others
in the West) simply doesn’t “get it.” The second thing that disturbs me, though,
is the effect of Christendom on Western culture. Because the Church dominated prevailing
culture and had a view of sexuality that was distorted and mired, he moved his
thoughts away from what is a free and attractive understanding of Christianity.
The is the missional side of this issue. The question I have is, how many
people are there like this man who are operating based upon a caricature of
Christianity…a distorted view that has grown out of the Christendom model.  He rejected Christianity based upon
false understanding.

For years I have battled this myself. I’ve had to
deconstruct the church-dictated version of Christianity that has been foisted
on many of us, failing to understand that it came neither from clear, true
theology nor from the Bible.