Am I the only one who has been heavy hearted in the midst of so much wrong doing around us? When the terror attacks occurred in Paris I felt the same sinking in the pit of my stomach, a feeling similar to that I experienced well over a decade ago when evil personified itself in the form of planes crashing into American buildings, killing innocent lives so quickly, like snuffing out a beautiful flame. And though the attacks of 9/11 were more personal to me, the terrorist attacks in Paris still stunk of the same cruel and heartless action of a true coward. A part of me wanted to bury my head and cry, while another wished to scream passionately from my own personal podium.
Yet I did neither. I simply listened and watched.
I was disappointed by what I saw, although not really surprised.
It always seems, sadly, that when we as a people have an opportunity to join together in solidarity for a common cause of good, we instead stumble upon a reason to segregate.
Suddenly an issue arose to the surface concerning the admittance of Syrian refugees into our borders, and while I’ll honestly admit that it is a valid concern, the development of opposing camps caused me to wince.
Indeed, I began to see not only worthy discussions of legitimate worries, but also strong, opinionated, and vehement arguments. In fact I saw lengthy, stuttering Facebook posts filled with poorly disguised hate. Seriously.
On one hand were individuals quoting Biblical scriptures of why we absolutely must admit these weary travelers, and on the other were just as many stating why that would be the absolute worst idea ever. I found myself seeing good points of each argument, and silently refused to offer my own opinion in my confusion. And the thing is that’s exactly what it was and is. Confusion.
Now don’t misunderstand me; I certainly believe we must approach this debate with calculated, intelligent consideration. We do have homeless veterans of our own to attend to. And we do have a responsibility to keep our homeland safe and free from terrorist intrusion. We also do have a responsibility as Christians, proclaimed followers of Christ, to aid and assist all of God’s people, not just those within our own country. I believe all these things, but I also believe we are often times a weak people who are easily distracted into focusing on what can divide us rather than how we may compromise and overcome.
You see, while terrorists, whatever their nationality may be, are a serious threat, I think we forget a very simple truth. This truth is that the basis of all acts of terror is evil, and the leader of evil is Satan. His desire is to not only kill and destroy us, but also to deceive us. One of the ways he achieves this is by dividing God’s people, and sadly we seem to always fall for that scheme.
Again, I don’t won’t to lesson the seriousness of actual and required, thoughtful debate to protect our country, but I do want to bring attention and shed some light onto how we achieve this. When we post angry, heated arguments on social media platforms are we actually working towards a solution, or laboring pointlessly towards proving our point? In all these hate-filled, carelessly worded rants do we not serve the purposes of the true Terrorist?
You do realize who the real Terrorist is, don’t you? It’s Satan. And when we fall for distraction, division, and emotional upset, doesn’t he win?
You can have an opinion. Opinions are actually needed to resolve conflict intelligently! But when we resort to petty arguments a lot of good people become silent. They hide out in the basement to avoid debate, and the devil uses that too. It’s called inaction, and it’s just as bad as fruitless fighting on Facebook. Neither one helps resolve conflict in the end.
So I guess my point is we must approach this with a mind of Christ. We must proceed prayerfully, but not recklessly. We have to be servants not zealots. We have to be mindful not militant. And we certainly can’t make the mistake I did of sitting back silently, burying my head in the sand to avoid any conflict whatsoever.
Before you speak, pray. Before you rant, reflect on what Jesus would do in this situation. React with wisdom, not simply emotion. Our emotions will fail us, but the knowledge given by the Lord will stand firm against the powers and principalities of darkness. As you recall, that is the real battle we face. It’s not a battle of whether we let the refugees in or not.
In the end we are the victors. The battle is ours. But until then we must transverse this battlefield according to the orders of our General. And we certainly can’t let the Terrorist win.
Emily says
Love it!
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thank you.
cleangene says
The present conflict is a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West. ( Read Bernard Lewis). Islam see itself threatened by globalization and Western values. Our values are different and in conflict with their values – Sharia law, women’s rights, separation of politics and religions, just to name a few. Christianity has always been suppressed by Islam. Let’s be kindly but not dumb.