What Christians in America Must Never Forget

*Sorry for the couple of weeks of silence. I've been particularly distracted lately with some stuff going on in my life. I hope to bring you more posts on a regular basis again.

It's hard to believe that nine years have passed since that one Tuesday morning. I was wearing blue jeans and a light gray USA T-shirt, and I was walking from my Biblical interpretation class to my math class when a friend said, "Hey, you gotta go check out the TV." It was about 9:20 when I got into the student center and saw the WTC in flames.

The responses that followed were understandable. Fear. Anger. Sadness. The whole experience seemed so surreal at the time I wondered if I was watching the news or some new Hollywood blockbuster.

Nine years later that day is still permanently etched in American minds, as it should be. It was a day to not forget. Many lives were cut short. A lot of senseless destruction happened. But for Christians, it was the start of an opportunity. An opportunity I feel we may have mostly missed.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Look at the picture below and honestly answer what you see.
So what do you see? A murderer? A coward? A terrorist? A Muslim? An enemy of America? An enemy of freedom? The image of God?

Wait...what? The "image of God" in this man who killed thousands? Preposterous isn't it? But he is not a terrorist first. He is first a human being, and human beings were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). And even though we have now sinned, that image still remains (James 3:9). Osama bin Laden is still God's image bearer, along with all terrorists, all Muslims, and all people on the face of the earth.

"But just look at what he did to us!" you might object. "He's senselessly hurt and murdered people! He's a poor representation of God! He's an enemy of our country!"

OK, that's true. He's declared himself an enemy of our country and misrepresented the one true God. So, my question to you, Christian, is how are we to be the image of God before our enemies? Let's look at the words of Jesus, our example of what it means to bear God's image:

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is 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 do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48)

We, as Christians, cannot demonize Osama bin Laden, his followers, nor any Muslim person that God has created. Instead, we MUST love them and show them what it truly means to follow the one true God! They will never consider our Christ if all we do is vehemently oppose what they do or burn their holy books. The true Christian responds to his or her enemies with Christ-like love, regardless of the wrong done to them.

So How Shall We Love Muslims?
What does this look like in our lives? How do we show love to Muslims, especially to those who have attacked our country? I'd like to offer the following suggestions:

• Remember God's goodness to you.

The best way to learn to love our enemies is to see how God loves his. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Before we met Christ, we were "hostile to God" and completely unable to please him (Romans 8:7-8). Because of our sin, we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10). We were under the just wrath of a holy God (Romans 1:18; John 3:36). If God treated us as his enemies, as we all rightly are before Christ, we would all, at this very moment, be suffering under his wrath in Hell (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

But God did not leave us so. He sent Christ to die our death (Romans 3:21-26) so that we could be called righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). He saved us by grace so that we could live the way that he wants us to live - in doing good for others (Ephesians 2:8-10). So the first step in loving others - especially our enemies - is to see God's love and care for his enemies, and then to seek, by his help, to emulate that before others.

• Remember your true citizenship.

A lot of the resentment that we as Americans feel towards our attackers is based on our national identity. So to overcome that, we must remember that our citizenship is not to America primarily. When writing to the patriotic Philippians (who prided themselves in their allegiance to and representation of Rome), Paul reminds them that their "citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). Earlier in the letter, he tells them that they must live as responsible citizens of their real kingdom and the gospel that it represents (1:27).

In light of these verses, I have stopped referring to myself as an American Christian. I am first and foremost a Christian, with all the benefits and responsibilities that come with it. So I have adopted the phrase "Christian who lives in America."

• Forgive those who have attacked us.

Unforgiveness and bitterness are paralyzing. We will never move forward in Christ-likeness while holding people's mistakes and wrongs over their heads. One thing I don't think I have heard in churches since 9/11 is that we must forgive those who attacked us. If we are not the kind of people who forgive others - even the worst offenders - then we cannot begin to think of ourselves as forgiven (see Matthew 6:14-15). God's kindness towards us must produce our kindness towards others, or else it has had no effect at all.

• Pray for Muslims.

A lot of talk among Christians in America seems to refer to Muslims collectively as the enemy. Personally, I don't agree with this, but even if they are the enemy, how are we to respond? Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us. We need to be praying for Muslims everywhere. We need to ask God to send workers to them so that the harvest of saved souls will be brought in (Matthew 9:36-38). We need to pray that God would open their eyes to the light of the gospel so that they will turn to Jesus and be saved (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). We have to be on our knees and pray for Muslims constantly. We have to seek God's heart for them and pray for him to make it our own.

• Remember your calling.

Jesus' final charge to his disciples was to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20). How do we do this? By going to where the people are. I don't believe that we will get very far in making disciples unless we are intentional about it. This doesn't mean that you have to go into another country or far off land (though that is necessary!), but rather that you, as Christ did, seek out the lost (see Luke 19:10). Our calling is to be active disciple makers. And so we must set our minds into action mode - a mode where we seek to take every opportunity to reach out with the love of Christ. This brings us to my last point.

• Befriend Muslims.

One of the saddest things I've seen with Christians in America is that their view of Islam comes from either Fox News or CNN or the likes. All that they know about Islam is what they've heard from some other source. So let me ask you: Do you have Muslim friends? If not, why not?

We need to actively seek to get to know Muslim people. To listen to them. To understand them. To ask them questions about their faith. To have them over for dinner (but, please, don't serve pork!). We need to seek to be in their lives and to be there for them when they are hurting, broken, or confused. We have to actively engage in their lives, all the while prayerfully seeking for God to grant us the opportunity to share his life-giving message with them.

If you have read this far, thank you for sticking with this post! Don't forget amidst all the prayers offered today to lift up Osama bin Laden and Al-Quaeda. Pray that God would carry the gospel to them too!
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What has God most spoken to you about from this post? What are you going to do about it?