The Mission

This morning I attended Easter Worship services at Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC) here in Toledo. At this point, I should point out that I am not a member of this church, but I have attended it many times before, mostly for convenience--the service is at 11 A.M., and I hate getting up early on the weekend. One of the things I happened to notice in the worship bulletin is the 5 parts of the Church's mission statement:

1) Belief and Hospitality: Believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and graciously invite and welcome others into our community of faith.

2) Regular Worship: Attend worship every Sunday that you are in town.

3) Concern for others: Participate in at least 5 hours of service each year with a focus on caring for the poor, sick, and/or disadvantaged.

4) Faith Development: Participate in one small group or Bible study each year.

5) Generous giving: Give generously in the mission and ministry of CPC. Recommend giving at least 5% of household income, and work towards giving 10%

Fairly simple and straightforward. All derived from the various teachings of Jesus.

It got me thinking back to when I studied Islam back in school. One of the things I remembered was the 5 pillars of Islam. So I looked them up, and I would like to list them here. I have re-ordered them slightly from their traditionally listed order.

1) Shahadah: (Roughly translated) "[I profess that] There is no other God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger." "Allah" means "God" in Arabic.

2) Salāt: The requirement that Muslims must pray five times per day.

3) Sawm (also known as Siyam): Ritual fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

4) Hajj: The requirement of making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime.

5) Zakāt: The requirement of giving alms to the poor. The standard rate is 2.5% of household income.

Now compare the two.

Really not all that different, are they?