Last Sunday evening, many of our listeners viewed the movie Obsession, then joined a discussion about the film (and the topic of radical Islam’s war on the West) with veteran author and talk show host Michael Medved. As the screening took place in a church, a number of those in the audience wondered just what the Christian’s response should be to the 10 or 15% of Muslims worldwide who seek to hijack Islam as a means to achieve their own bloody ends.
Indeed, what can and should a Christian do about this jihad? Well, we should pray…then pray, and pray again…that God’s will would be done, and that Christians would be faithful and useful in that (ultimately peaceful) purpose. Christians should, indeed, view movies like Obsession, and read books that help us understand what’s going on in the world. Certainly, Christians would then be prepared to vote for candidates that are willing to defend religious liberty and freedom. But it doesn’t stop there.
I’m reminded how the government once trained Secret Service agents, whose primary duty was not always the protection of the president. The Service was created in 1865 to suppress counterfeit currency. Agents back then weren’t necessarily taught the endless varieties of fake dollar bills they might encounter. Instead, these “G-men” (and don’t ever call them that!) were taught how to identify GENUINE currency, so that a flawed or counterfeit bill will immediately stand out. Such perspective helps us understand why Christians should remain informed about religion, politics, and current events. If we can recognize a forgery, it’ll help us better discern the truth. Sometimes light is sharply defined by the shadows.
Finally—and most obviously—Christians need to acquire a working understanding about Islam, Mormonism, atheism, and other belief systems that—as Scripture says—we may “always be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within.” “Yet,” that verse continues, “do so with gentleness and respect.”*
Perhaps that’s the most important part of the answer to our question. Christians need to react to radical Islam…and, the peaceful Muslim next door, and the unbeliever…not with anger, judgment, or isolation, but with unmitigated love. I’ve been told the one thing that breaks through a Muslim’s years spent subject to Islam, is the outrageous notion that God might actually love him. Instead of demanding submission and obedience, the Christian God offers a free gift of salvation, and the promise of an eternal, personal relationship made possible through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we Christians get to be that love, wrapped in skin, for all the world to see, should He choose to tarry. What a privilege!
It’s been His nature for eternity past, and it will be so forever: God’s love conquers all.
*1 Peter 3:15-16
