Today,
I’d like to take a break from our devotional series to speak to an issue that
has been on my mind for the last few days.
The question of “How should we, as Christians, respond to those who want
to destroy us?” It’s an age-old
question. It’s been around since the
beginning. The problem is that the American
church has lived in relative peace and comfort for so long that we have lost
sight of the fact that our freedoms, rights and privileges, granted to us by
the Constitution and so richly enjoyed for the past two and a half centuries,
are not the norm in Christian history or even in the world as a whole today. As a result, we often echo the sentiments of
the American mainstream in response to tragedies such as the Boston Marathon bombings
rather than reflect the heart of those redeemed by Christ’s blood and filled
with His Spirit.
Let
me give you an example. On the night of
the second suspect’s capture, Fox News commentator, Bill O’Reilly commented, “Hell
likely has a new resident…” His comments elicited a long string of Facebook
posts and Tweets rejoicing in the death of the first bomber and looking forward
to retribution against the second bomber.
Many would call these reactions “righteous indignation,” but I was
troubled by the tone of the public outcry.
As
I listened to the news coverage of the life of the 19-year-old, Dzhokar
Tsarnaev, I tried to think of how Christ would have seen him. As I thought about it, one image kept
flashing through my mind. An image of
another murderous terrorist, convicted in the court of public opinion and
awaiting the execution of his death sentence.
His name was Barabbas. He was no
less guilty. He had shown no remorse for
his crimes. He stood as a symbol of
racial and religious radicalism gone bad.
Not much difference in my mind between these two.
My
point is not that we should resist the process of justice that almost assuredly
will end with the rightful execution of this young man. My point is, as Christians, our reaction to
him, to his crimes, and to his future and to his eternal destiny, should
reflect the compassionate heart of Christ and not the cold, vengeful hatred of
the flesh.
The
most powerful characteristic of the testimony of the early church was their loving,
compassionate response to those who persecuted them, those who, out of
religious zeal sought to exterminate them from the earth. I would hope that we, as the 21st
Century embodiment of Christ, could show that spirit in the face of today’s
world events.
