Marching Orders From Jesus For The War With Islamic Terrorism

There are a number of things to like about Liberty University (Go to the end of this post for specifics.) but I HAVE BEEN MORTIFIED to follow the statements and follow up by their President Jerry Falwell, Jr recently:  “If more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in.”

I’m glad that he has clarified that by “those Muslims” he was referring to the two killers in the San Bernardino tragedy.  Sort of.

But he went on to say: “I just wanted to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to get your permit.  We offer a free course.  Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here.”

Encouragement and a free course to fill a dormitory of 19 year old males with concealed weapons?   I can’t picture the Marine Corps doing that, even with all their weapons training!  But I digress.

I went to the LU website to see what else they offered beside the free concealed-carry course.  I did see GLST 535 – Introduction to Islam.  And the course listed two Measurable Learning Outcomes:
•    Explain the Christian message in a relevant manner in a Muslim context.
•    Compare various approaches in evangelism, church planting, and ministry among Muslims.
Unfortunately, this course is an elective, even for degrees focused on evangelism.  AND this course costs money.

With all the additional rhetoric on the website about “2nd amendment rights” and “self-defense,” I can’t help but feel that LU President Falwell should reconnect with and start emphasizing the marching orders that Jesus gave to His followers for situations just like this.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  - Matthew 28:19–20

There is a time and place for self-defense, but for believers in Jesus, I think that place is further back in line than the Great Commission.  There are centuries of history of Great Commission Christ-followers evangelizing people who were out to kill them.

People familiar with the New Testament should know that much of it was written by a murderous Jewish terrorist who was converted to the faith that he once persecuted.  That would be the Apostle Paul.

I grew up on the story of Jim Eliot and his missionary friends who died at the hand of the Hauorani people they were seeking to reach with the Gospel.  It is movingly recorded by his wife Elisabeth Elliot in Through Gates of Splendor.

Where are the calls – based on the words of Jesus – for evangelistic missions to Muslim people?

I am thankful that the movement that I and Christ Covenant are connected with – the Evangelical Presbyterian Church – have been committed to evangelistic missions among unreached Muslims since our inception in 1980.

One church I served sent a “son of the congregation” to teach in a university in the former Soviet Union.  When that USSR collapsed, he and his family were placed with a job, visas and relationships to translate Scripture, evangelize and plant churches among their neighbors in the primarily Muslim republic where they lived.

Our Presbytery sent missionaries to Afghanistan even as the Soviets were pulling out.  Today, we support a family with a thriving, evangelistic sports ministry in Pakistan.  Many of our EPC missionaries cannot be mentioned by name or location of service on our denominational website.  When we commission new missionaries, they take a vow of faithfulness “even to martyrdom.”

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m thankful for our first-responders domestically, our forward deployed military seeking to protect the US and establish justice and freedom in the face of terrorist activity, and to the variety of people seeking to identify and root out terrorists where ever they are.  That is a legitimate duty of civil government.

But when Christian leaders seem more taken by the 2nd Amendment than the Great Commission, I see a church that has turned from its primary calling.  “Salt that has lost its flavor,” as Jesus put it.  Believing churches should be recruiting, training and sending missionaries with the same energy that our armed services are sending troops.

I hear reliable reports that worldwide, more Muslims have converted to biblical Christianity in the past ten years than in the previous ten centuries.  Are you part of that?  Is your church?

Are we loving and engaging our Muslim neighbors with the Gospel of God’s grace?  After all, we worship two different gods. One sends his people to kill others, the other came Himself to give His own life for all people.  You bet there is a difference.  Click Here if you would like to learn more from TheGospelCoalition.org website about A Crash Course on the Muslim Worldview and Islamic Theology.

Imagine inviting a Muslim family to your home for dinner, and even to church as you got to know them.  Doesn’t that sound more like Jesus than trying to use zoning laws to keep their mosque out of our neighborhood?  Could a church in Redlands have reached out to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik?  Could we be reaching out to our Muslim neighbors?

Sadly, most churches have forgotten the Gospel and been unaffected by it themselves.  For these people, there is no good news for their life or to share with others – only a 2nd Amendment to fall back on.

A few things I applaud LU for:

• LU Law Professor Boz Tchividjian is doing great work with GRACE - Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment - This organization is cutting edge in helping churches and Christ-centered institutions prevent and face sexual abuse of children.  Click Here to learn more. 

• Welcoming Bernie Sanders to their campus and listening respectfully.  With micro-aggressions and trigger warnings, free speech is a rare commodity on American universities these days.  LU received Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders with a respect that no non-progressive could receive at any Ivy League school.  The NYTimes seemed confused by it all!  Click Here

• Loving students, even when there is disagreement.  This article from 2013 in the Atlantic is a moving account of a former LU student – Brandon Ambrosino – when he “came out of the closet” while a student, only to discover that the LU community continued to engage and love him, even while disagreeing.  He challenges the LGBTQ community to consider their own “homophobia phobia.”  Click Here 

• Any school where Reggie White played football gets a gold star from me!