Christ's Response to Terrorism: Love Your Enemies! Bless Those Who Curse You!
Helena Lehman
March 08, 2008
About a year ago, I started the Pillar of Enoch Bible Study News group at Yahoo Groups to discuss my Language of God Series Books, and world news and history as it relates to them.
Though this group is not meant to be a forum discussing Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism or jihad, I allowed a few Anti-Islamic posts by a new group member to be posted. In light of the role that radical Islam has had, and will continue to have in troublesome world events as the Great Tribulation draws near, I felt they were valid at the time. However, God's Spirit has convicted me that these posts do not reflect God's love, and allowing them to be posted is an affront to Yahweh.
To put God's perspective on Muslims and Islam into terms that hopefully everyone can relate to, God has led me to share the following personal story that reflects it.
In college, I had a brief and bittersweet relationship with a Palestinian Arab named Jalal. He had immigrated to the USA from Nablus, which I did not know much about at the time. However, I now know that Nablus is the headquarters for the PLO in Israel, so it is no doubt a hotbed of radical Islamic hatred toward the USA and Israel as well.
Though Jalal and I had a special bond that went beyond race or religion, our intimate relationship did not develop into anything serious because I could not accept the debased and archaic Muslim view of, and attitude toward women. For some strange reason, however, this Arab man and I had an unexplainable psychic connection, and so we remained oddly connected as friends over the years.
One day after I had become a born-again Christian, Jalal found a way to contact me, and he called me - even though we had not been in touch for many years, and I had moved thousands of miles away from Chicago to Canada! At the time, Jalal did not know he was ill, was happily married, had four or five young children by his Palestinian wife, and was working in his own computer repair shop in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois.
During our conversation, though Jalal was just as funny and charming as he had been when we dated, I made it clear that I had changed drastically on a spiritual level since we had last talked. At first, Jalal did not take the news that I was a devout Christian well. Frankly, he thought I was crazy for believing that there were three gods, and not One God, and no amount of explaining seemed to convince Jalal that I also believed in One God, but in One God who manifests Himself in Three Persons!
Needless to say, our conversation ended on a tense note, and we did not talk for a few months. But then Jalal called me again. At first, we talked about many inconsequential things. But then, as I planned to do shortly after I talked to Jalal months before, I changed the subject, and asked Jalal if he had read the Injil, which is the Arabic name for the New Testament. He said no, but that he would love to read it - if he only knew where to get one!
I was ecstatic to hear this, and told Jalal that I would send him one for his birthday. True to my word, I went to the local International Bible Society, bought an Injil in Arabic, and mailed it to Jalal. After that, I did not hear from Jalal for a long time, but I prayed for his salvation whenever I thought about him.
About a year later, Jalal called me out of the blue again, and we talked for awhile before he told me that he had an inoperable bran tumor. I was very saddened, and prayed for Jalal over the phone, asking that God would heal him if it was His will. Jalal thanked me for the prayer, and then, when I inquired if Jalal had received the Injil, he thanked me profusely for sending it!
Jalal went on to say that he loved the character of Jesus, and read Jesus' words often. That so touched my heart! But even though Jalal had read the Injil many times, it soon became apparent during our conversation that Jalal still did not accept Jesus' divinity, and did not have the Holy Spirit to guide him. I therefore knew I had to keep praying for him.
Sadly, Jalal died before I could talk to him again, and so I do not know if Jalal ever became a believer in Christ or not. Nonetheless, the thought that Jalal might perish forever grieved me so deeply that I continued to pray for his salvation even after his death. Despite the fact that he was a Palestinian, and a devout Muslim, I loved Jalal as a friend, and even though our religions were set against each other in a deadly struggle that I did not know much about at the time, I had hope that Jalal would one day come to know, and love Christ as I did then, and still do.
The reason I am writing this is to let everyone know that I absolutely do not hate Muslims or Palestinians. Instead, I want to love them as Christ told us to:
Matt 5:43-47 (NKJ): "You have heard that it was said, ´You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.´ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?"
Let's face it, folks. Radical Muslims who believe in Jihad, and many Palestinians tend to be enemies to anyone who professes to believe in Yahweh and His Son. They often not only hate the Judeo-Christian religion, they hate anyone who enjoys living in the once Christianized West enough to ruthlessly terrify and kill them.
Nonetheless, in a twisted sort of way, many radical Muslims believe that killing Christians and Jews is not an act of hate (though it really is), but an act of love not only for Allah, but toward those they kill! This is because the radical Muslim's goal is to convert those who survive terrorist attacks to Islam, and thus save them from the Muslim version of damnation.
What then, should the Christian response to this evil, backward form of love be? Do we spend our days pointing our finger at how wicked our Muslim neighbors are, or do we do something that shares the love of Christ with them, and for them? I say we do something to show these Muslims the true love of God, and the God of Love whom they know nothing about!
There are so many ways this could be done in a loving way. For example, I don't know how many times I have seen Muslim women at the grocery store wearing their head scarves, and had wished that I could approach them and give them an Injil, and tell them that I love them through Christ! But I never had the courage to do it, nor did I have an Arabic or Urdu version of the Injil handy. But maybe it's time to change that now, and get a few copies of the Injil in foreign languages to distribute to anyone who wants one.
Think about it! If we all showed Christ's love to everyone we met, including our Muslim neighbors, don't you think the idea of loving others like Christ did might become contagious, and start a chain reaction? I do! Loving acts toward Muslims or anyone else that are done in the Spirit of Christ will have everlastingly good consequences, even if we don't see the fruit of our actions now:
Hebrews 11:1(NKJ): "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
2 Cor. 4:18 (NKJ): "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
1 Peter 1:7-9 (NIV): "These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Yes, joy is the gift of those who cast off fear, and embrace the love of God for all people. Remember that any love given outside of Christ's selfless witness is worthless!
So, the next time you consider doing a loving act of any kind, remember the Divine Source of true "agape" love, and the lessons Christ tried to teach us all through His sacrificial life, and gruesome death for our salvation. Christ died for everyone, including radical Muslims! It's time Christians stopped living in fear of them, got over their terror of death and suffering, and showed their enemies the pure and perfect love that Christ has, and will always have for everyone!
I truly hope to see Jalal in the resurrection to everlasting life. As a matter of fact, I would like nothing better than to see his entire extended family that I got to know, and all of his unknown Palestinian friends and relatives saved - and in service to the King of kings! But that is not going to happen quickly unless Christians are willing to tell their Muslim neighbors who their Savior really is!
Sadly, however - to their eternal loss - some Christians are allowing their fear to control their actions. This is why these same Christians show a greater desire to hate and kill Muslims today than to love them into the Kingdom of God, and only Christ's Second Coming is likely to change this situation.
Though this group is not meant to be a forum discussing Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism or jihad, I allowed a few Anti-Islamic posts by a new group member to be posted. In light of the role that radical Islam has had, and will continue to have in troublesome world events as the Great Tribulation draws near, I felt they were valid at the time. However, God's Spirit has convicted me that these posts do not reflect God's love, and allowing them to be posted is an affront to Yahweh.
To put God's perspective on Muslims and Islam into terms that hopefully everyone can relate to, God has led me to share the following personal story that reflects it.
In college, I had a brief and bittersweet relationship with a Palestinian Arab named Jalal. He had immigrated to the USA from Nablus, which I did not know much about at the time. However, I now know that Nablus is the headquarters for the PLO in Israel, so it is no doubt a hotbed of radical Islamic hatred toward the USA and Israel as well.
Though Jalal and I had a special bond that went beyond race or religion, our intimate relationship did not develop into anything serious because I could not accept the debased and archaic Muslim view of, and attitude toward women. For some strange reason, however, this Arab man and I had an unexplainable psychic connection, and so we remained oddly connected as friends over the years.
One day after I had become a born-again Christian, Jalal found a way to contact me, and he called me - even though we had not been in touch for many years, and I had moved thousands of miles away from Chicago to Canada! At the time, Jalal did not know he was ill, was happily married, had four or five young children by his Palestinian wife, and was working in his own computer repair shop in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois.
During our conversation, though Jalal was just as funny and charming as he had been when we dated, I made it clear that I had changed drastically on a spiritual level since we had last talked. At first, Jalal did not take the news that I was a devout Christian well. Frankly, he thought I was crazy for believing that there were three gods, and not One God, and no amount of explaining seemed to convince Jalal that I also believed in One God, but in One God who manifests Himself in Three Persons!
Needless to say, our conversation ended on a tense note, and we did not talk for a few months. But then Jalal called me again. At first, we talked about many inconsequential things. But then, as I planned to do shortly after I talked to Jalal months before, I changed the subject, and asked Jalal if he had read the Injil, which is the Arabic name for the New Testament. He said no, but that he would love to read it - if he only knew where to get one!
I was ecstatic to hear this, and told Jalal that I would send him one for his birthday. True to my word, I went to the local International Bible Society, bought an Injil in Arabic, and mailed it to Jalal. After that, I did not hear from Jalal for a long time, but I prayed for his salvation whenever I thought about him.
About a year later, Jalal called me out of the blue again, and we talked for awhile before he told me that he had an inoperable bran tumor. I was very saddened, and prayed for Jalal over the phone, asking that God would heal him if it was His will. Jalal thanked me for the prayer, and then, when I inquired if Jalal had received the Injil, he thanked me profusely for sending it!
Jalal went on to say that he loved the character of Jesus, and read Jesus' words often. That so touched my heart! But even though Jalal had read the Injil many times, it soon became apparent during our conversation that Jalal still did not accept Jesus' divinity, and did not have the Holy Spirit to guide him. I therefore knew I had to keep praying for him.
Sadly, Jalal died before I could talk to him again, and so I do not know if Jalal ever became a believer in Christ or not. Nonetheless, the thought that Jalal might perish forever grieved me so deeply that I continued to pray for his salvation even after his death. Despite the fact that he was a Palestinian, and a devout Muslim, I loved Jalal as a friend, and even though our religions were set against each other in a deadly struggle that I did not know much about at the time, I had hope that Jalal would one day come to know, and love Christ as I did then, and still do.
The reason I am writing this is to let everyone know that I absolutely do not hate Muslims or Palestinians. Instead, I want to love them as Christ told us to:
Matt 5:43-47 (NKJ): "You have heard that it was said, ´You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.´ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?"
Let's face it, folks. Radical Muslims who believe in Jihad, and many Palestinians tend to be enemies to anyone who professes to believe in Yahweh and His Son. They often not only hate the Judeo-Christian religion, they hate anyone who enjoys living in the once Christianized West enough to ruthlessly terrify and kill them.
Nonetheless, in a twisted sort of way, many radical Muslims believe that killing Christians and Jews is not an act of hate (though it really is), but an act of love not only for Allah, but toward those they kill! This is because the radical Muslim's goal is to convert those who survive terrorist attacks to Islam, and thus save them from the Muslim version of damnation.
What then, should the Christian response to this evil, backward form of love be? Do we spend our days pointing our finger at how wicked our Muslim neighbors are, or do we do something that shares the love of Christ with them, and for them? I say we do something to show these Muslims the true love of God, and the God of Love whom they know nothing about!
There are so many ways this could be done in a loving way. For example, I don't know how many times I have seen Muslim women at the grocery store wearing their head scarves, and had wished that I could approach them and give them an Injil, and tell them that I love them through Christ! But I never had the courage to do it, nor did I have an Arabic or Urdu version of the Injil handy. But maybe it's time to change that now, and get a few copies of the Injil in foreign languages to distribute to anyone who wants one.
Think about it! If we all showed Christ's love to everyone we met, including our Muslim neighbors, don't you think the idea of loving others like Christ did might become contagious, and start a chain reaction? I do! Loving acts toward Muslims or anyone else that are done in the Spirit of Christ will have everlastingly good consequences, even if we don't see the fruit of our actions now:
Hebrews 11:1(NKJ): "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
2 Cor. 4:18 (NKJ): "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
1 Peter 1:7-9 (NIV): "These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Yes, joy is the gift of those who cast off fear, and embrace the love of God for all people. Remember that any love given outside of Christ's selfless witness is worthless!
So, the next time you consider doing a loving act of any kind, remember the Divine Source of true "agape" love, and the lessons Christ tried to teach us all through His sacrificial life, and gruesome death for our salvation. Christ died for everyone, including radical Muslims! It's time Christians stopped living in fear of them, got over their terror of death and suffering, and showed their enemies the pure and perfect love that Christ has, and will always have for everyone!
I truly hope to see Jalal in the resurrection to everlasting life. As a matter of fact, I would like nothing better than to see his entire extended family that I got to know, and all of his unknown Palestinian friends and relatives saved - and in service to the King of kings! But that is not going to happen quickly unless Christians are willing to tell their Muslim neighbors who their Savior really is!
Sadly, however - to their eternal loss - some Christians are allowing their fear to control their actions. This is why these same Christians show a greater desire to hate and kill Muslims today than to love them into the Kingdom of God, and only Christ's Second Coming is likely to change this situation.
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