Over the weekend a radical Jihadists who call themselves the
Islamic State released a video in which they beheaded 21 Christians from Egypt
that they kidnapped in December and January.
They made threats against the rest of the world saying that
they were coming for Rome next (and presumably the rest of the world).
Okay, so think about it.
There is a reason they are called terrorists. They want us to be terrified that they are
coming for us next. The Islamic State is
using fear to get what they want, but it
isn’t working.
Consider this:
· 1. Muslims
in the region are not aligning themselves with IS. Egypt launched air strikes. Jordan is mobilizing militarily. Clerics and leaders in the Muslim world are
actually condemning the group and seeing it as a threat to Islam. We don’t hear those voices because it doesn’t
make our news cycle. IS is at war with Christians and certain Muslims.
· 2. More importantly, the killings show resolve. They are killing Christians
because Christians are holding to their convictions. They have all been given the opportunity to
change to Islam and they have not. Let their convictions that led them into
death for their faith be the basis for our conviction that we should not live
in fear. If anything else, we owe it
to them to live out our faith in fearlessness.
· 3. Ultimately the Islamic State will be defeated
with how we respond to their terrorist threats. Terrorists will always get more recruits
after an air strike but our resistance to fear is not anchored by our guns but
our grace. Christians have a long
tradition of sacrifice in the face of threat. This is because we know that the game is not
over at the end of this life. Terrorism has no hold over people who live
forever.
I know how this might all sound – all platitudes and
attitudes. But if there is anything we
can do in America as this group does more and more to inflict damage on our way
of life, we need to let our faith guide our response.
We cannot fear this group when Jesus Himself said, “Here on
earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have
overcome the world.” This is more than
‘keep a stiff upper lip.’ This is Christ
Himself telling us to refuse fear and the hate that comes with it as a way of
making us feel better. Don’t let news
broadcasts and conversations about ‘us versus them’ rob us of Christ’s mandate
to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Because what our enemies have most miscalculated is that they
can interrupt our lives here on earth . . . when the truth is that our lives
have not even yet begun.
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