The state
of the church around the world might seem hopeless when you watch the world
news. The Isis destruction of Christian houses of worship and treasured Christian
artifacts, the oppression and killing of Christians in Africa and the Middle
East, all are very disturbing current events. It seems barbaric to see these tragedies
happening as they did in the past during the crusades. When I was in Turkey I
saw many Muslim and Greek temple artifacts that had been damaged by Christian
crusaders. History
seems doomed to repeat itself unfortunately. George Bernard Shaw once said, “If
history repeats itself, how incapable must man be of learning from experience.”
Wikipedia reminds us about the massacres that occurred during the first crusades that remain in historical records. “The First Crusade was part of the Papal response to the Muslim conquests, and was followed by the Second to the Ninth Crusades. The Roman Christian crusade was political more than religious-based and the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city, and captured it in July 1099, massacring many of the city's Muslim, Christian, and Jewish inhabitants.” (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade)
Isis causes us to reflect on this history as they proclaim an aim to conquer Rome. Yet the people joining Isis are not all Muslim. They are those who feel hopeless about their own lives so they look for ways to get power, fame, and fortune. James Reese, CNN Global Affairs Analyst, stated that ISIS members are using Islam as a shield but most are not true Muslims. He said as they analyze those joining Isis, they discover that some purchased the book: “Islam for Dummies” to learn what they are supposed to say to impersonate having the Muslim faith. Nevertheless, Isis is using desperate means to get attention.
Evil does exist in this world. Yet it should not make us feel hopeless about the survival of Christianity, but rather inspire us to be more prayerful, ecumenical, and trusting in God.When I am feeling scared by the news and hopeless about the state of our earth that God planned to be a kingdom of peace “on earth as it is in heaven,” I turn to reassuring scriptures such as these:
· For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
· But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory,
and the One who lifts my head. (Psalm 3:3)
· And this is the confidence that we have toward him,
that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that
he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have
asked of him. (1 John
5:14-15)
· The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I
fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm
27:1)
· Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the
Lord God Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)
· Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them!
The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake
you. (Deut. 31:6)
May
your faith never fail and may you always trust in these words knowing that our
almighty God is more powerful than any evil on earth. The good news we can trust
in the face of terror is that God’s love
will win in the end. So be optimistic about the state of the church and let
God’s love flow out from you to each person you meet proving that God’s love is
powerfully real in the world today.
