'Cause That's Who Allah Is

Eating Indo-Pak with Frank last Saturday, a couple came in with their kid.

She was wearing a burka. A real, live, burka-lady in Houston, Texas. I was fascinated, horrified, and saddened.

This of course prompted some interesting conversation with my friend. We observed that the burka highlights the radical difference between consistent Islam and the Biblical faith. For the Mohammedan, the only possible relationship with their monad god is one of raw, authoritarian power. Allah dominates his people, and his favor is the affection of a tyrant. This plays out in how they treat their women. Complete subjugation. The Muslim way is to build a wall around the bride, not to protect her but to keep her beauty hidden. She is made plain, indistinct, unitarian.

But Jesus Christ loves His Bride. He labors to beautify Her. He rises in the gates and calls Her blessed. He washes Her in the water of His Word, making Her ever more beautiful. He puts a golden ring in Her nose and adorns Her with precious jewels. The yoke He places upon Her is easy and light.

And the Christian man labors to bestow beauty and glory on his woman. He proclaims to the world, "Many daughters have done well, but you exceed them all." And then he shows her off.