"A DAY TO REMEMBER"
This past Monday our nation as a whole paused to remember the events of September the 11th, five years ago, reflections by different ones about where they were when it happened and how they felt and so on. Many innocent people died on that day in the terrorist attacks. They were not soldiers engaged in war, they were just Americans or those living in this country. That was their only crime. America is often tried in our own media because of prejudice and unfair treatment of individuals within our borders. Yet on 9-11, people were murdered because they were Americans or lived here in this country.
A message of tolerance is offered to the American public through public media and other means. The message is for us to realize that not all Muslims are of the violent kind. Following Christ requires us to never judge an entire people or religion on the basis of what some in that group may do. Thus to assume that all Moslems wish our death would not be consistent with following Christ. Neither is it wise to assume that no Muslim wishes our death. The events of September the 11th brought that message home to us very clearly.
Why are there some Muslims who wish our death? Likewise, why are there Muslims who wish to live in peace with us? Both groups find their motivation from the Koran, their holy book. It therefore becomes an issue of interpretation. The call to jihad (the holy war) means to some that you kill all your enemies while to others it is a different interpretation. Does not the Bible offer the same problem in terms of interpretation? It certainly does not. This seems to be a fact that many are trying to overlook in order to not face the truth about the Koran.
The excuse is made about the Crusades; all the Muslims that were killed as the "Christians" tried to take back the city of Jerusalem. Jesus taught that if one was His disciple, it was a result of continuing in His Word or teaching (John 8:31). One who will not follow the teachings of Jesus could not be His disciple. Where, then, in Scripture would those who ordered the Crusades (the Pope of the Catholic Church), go to find authority for such actions? The Scriptures teach that the Lord would smite the earth (Isaiah 11:4). Upon looking at the verse closely, it shows the Lord would smite the earth with the rod of His Mouth. He would smite the earth by the Words that He gave the earth.
Jesus never took up the sword. He did not organize His apostles into a band that would go out and steal and kill. He never built up personal wealth by taking from others. In fact He stated animals have places that they built (holes and nests) but He had no place to lay His head (that is He did not own property) (Matthew 8:20). Even in His death, He was concerned for His enemies. None of this could be said of Mohammed. Mohammed raided caravans and forced people at the point of the sword to join or die. No follower then of Jesus, would have engaged in the Crusades, no matter who ordered it.
By looking at the life of Jesus as revealed in Scripture, I find a way to live my daily life. Such an investigation of Scripture teaches me to love my enemy (Matthew 5:44). It is manifested when those who revile us, persecute us, and say all manner of evil against us, we rejoice because we join that company of others who suffered for righteousness (Matthew 5:11,12). My prayers then must ascend for all those who wish me harm or even my death. Following Christ also requires me to pray for those in authority in order that we might lead peaceable lives (I Timothy 2:2). Those who are in authority are placed there by God in order to protect us from the evil doer (Romans 13:1-4). The evildoer may be in our borders but he also may be an enemy from the outside.
We do not raise a voice of hatred toward those in the Muslim world. We remember the Hitler and the Stalin of by gone days and remind ourselves that evil cannot be ignored or TOLERATED. Let us, through the teaching of the doctrine of Jesus the Christ, bring all men to the Prince of Peace. If they do come, they will beat their swords into plowshares (Isaiah 2:4).