terrorist

drinking glasses

The shooting in Orlando, Florida in the early morning hours on Sunday was a horrible tragedy. It was a horrific mass shooting that was both a terrorist shooting by someone who identified himself with Isis, and an act of domestic terrorism by someone born here who bought an assault rifle and decided to use it in an act of hate and violence. It was the act of a coward.

How do we view this act of violence?

A few have unfortunately already begun to drink from the cup of condemnation. They view it as “divine retribution for sins.” They have forgotten their First Love and have become like the Pharisees; grasping at law, yet compassionless for their brothers and sisters in the human race God created.

AR-15 style assault rifle fires 800 rounds per minute

Some have latched onto and drink from the cup of politics. Instead of focusing on sympathy for the grieving families, and allowing time to mourn, they jump immediately on the bandwagon of gun control. While I may entirely agree with your position, now is not the time; now is the time for lamentation.

Others may choose to drink from the cup of hatred: all Muslims are alike. If Omar Mateen’s family had been banned from coming into this country, this never would have happened. We forget the Pilgrims came to this country to have religious freedom.

I prefer to drink from the cup of unity and compassion; I thirst right now for unity and compassion in our country and with my Christian brothers and sisters.

As President Obama said yesterday,

“This was an act of terror and an act of hate; this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American — regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.

“Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history.

“In the coming hours and days, we’ll learn about the victims of this tragedy. Their names. Their faces. Who they were. The joy that they brought to families and to friends, and the difference that they made in this world. Say a prayer for them and say a prayer for their families—that God give them the strength to bear the unbearable. And that He give us all the strength to be there for them, and the strength and courage to change.

“In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other. Instead, we will stand united, as Americans, to protect our people, and defend our nation, and to take action against those who threaten us.”

It should not matter this terrorist took out his hate upon people in a gay bar. It should matter that he took out his hate upon 103 human beings, 50 of whom died on American soil.

I pray with all my heart God plants a thirst in us for unity, grace and love. I pray as a nation we unite in compassion, we reach for dignity for all people He has created. I pray for those of us who are Christians, God please help us lay down our need to accuse and condemn, and pick up Jesus’ yoke of love and grace.

I pray with all my strength we see this as a horrible act of hatred, of terror, of one person’s twisted mind taking out his twisted logic on 103 people, 50 of whom are dead. Let us pray in grace, and be united in love.

Have we become a society of judgment and rejection? Do we enjoy seeing others on the chopping block of elimination or exclusion? Do we thrill at the prospect of someone being delivered the harsh reality of an extinguished torch?

Are we now translating that recreational tour de force into real world execution through wholesale rejection of anyone who wants to cross our borders because “they” might be terrorists?

“Do not say, ‘Conspiracy,’ every time these people say the word. Don’t be afraid of what scares them; don’t be terrified. You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. He is the one you must respect; He is the one you must fear.” Isaiah 8:12-13

When will we learn from our own history?

During WWII, we rejected Jewish emigrants escaping the Nazi holocaust while placing our own citizens of Japanese descent in “internment” camps, incarcerating them for up to four years and destroying their lives in the process.

World War II prompted the largest displacement of human beings the world has ever seen—although today’s refugee crisis is starting to approach its unprecedented scale. But even with millions of European Jews displaced from their homes, the United States had a poor track record offering asylum. Most notoriously, in June 1939, the German ocean liner St. Louis and its 937 passengers, almost all Jewish, were turned away from the port of Miami, forcing the ship to return to Europe; more than a quarter died in the Holocaust…Government officials argued that refugees posed a serious threat to national security. Yet today, historians believe the concern about refugee spies was blown far out of proportion. Daniel A. Gross, Smithsonian.com, November 18, 2015 (emphasis mine).

As Christians, we can use all the excuses and rationalizations we want: There simply is no justification for refusing emigrants fleeing for their lives. None. Yet we continue to repeat our mistakes and shake our fist at God, insisting we know better.

Leviticus 19:33-34 “Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land.Treat them like native-born, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 24:22 “The same rule applies to every one of you. It makes no difference whether you are a foreigner or a native. I am the Lord your God.”

Malachi 3:5 “I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who … exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not respect me,” says the Lord who rules over all.”

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

John 3:16-17 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

If Jesus did not come to condemn us, why is it we take liberties to condemn one another? Why do we suppose we are greater than Him, and usurp God’s power and authority to judge, exclude and condemn?

When we automatically label an entire group of people potential terrorists, we place a wall in front of them. Just as females are not given an opportunity for an education in a country run by a Taliban regime, immigrants who Westerners reject out of hand as “possible terrorists” are not given an opportunity for survival, education or an inroad to the heart of our God.

We must rethink our approach to this before our own history repeats itself. We must take a stand. We must either follow Caesar, follow the Pharisees, or follow Jesus.

Who will you follow?