“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”[i]
Photo by Erickson Photograph / iStock
This is a departure from the nature of the previous and future posts here, but I have decided to weigh in on the issue of the Florida group’s recent plan to burn-the-Quran. The event was cancelled shortly after I started writing this, but I wanted to go ahead and publish my thoughts.
First of all, I’ll say right up front that book burning of any kind is a primitive and pointless response by anyone to anything. What does it accomplish? What has it ever accomplished?
Now that I think of it, two thousand years ago it did accomplish something, but not what the guys with matches thought it would (which is usually the case). Shortly after the time of Christ, the Romans, in an effort to suppress the young movement that would not recognize Caesar as god, went around burning Christian writings collected by those early believers. The result was that the first generations of Christians protected the texts they considered as special and sacred.
To put it another way, when the Romans showed up at the door saying, “Hand over your Christian writings, we are going to burn them because you are a bunch of infidels,” the frightened believers would grab something to appease their oppressors but hide the ones that were really special to them. This eventually played a major role in the canonization of Scriptures. (What we know as the New Testament is comprised of writings that they didn’t hand over to be burned.)
To illustrate, if this happened today and they showed up at your door, you might hand over your favorite book written by your favorite Christian author but not your Bible.
All of the ridiculously widespread controversy surrounding the plans to burn the Quran by a little fringe group in Florida, plus the hubbub over building a mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan, combined with the fact that the United States has a President that has religiously ambiguous sentiments—one-in-four Americans think he is a Muslim—brings up an interesting angle concerning the separation of Church and State.
This is what I mean: our actions as Americans are different from our actions as Christians.
Clearly, America is not a “Christian” nation, at least not in any official way. Nor, should it be. The Constitution prohibits the formation of a national religion. Nevertheless, the majority of religious Americans, at least for now, still consider themselves to be Christian, so in most cases anything that arouses Christian convictions will affect the feelings and opinions of many if not most Americans. In the same way, things that affect us as Americans will have some impact on the religious sentiment of most of us in America.
As Americans, we defend and protect America and the freedom we enjoy, using the “sword” as necessary. American leadership is to protect and defend that freedom at any cost. Although America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, that really doesn’t come into play in this role as defender of freedom. Americans of all faiths defend and protect Americans of all faiths.
Joe Rosanthal/AP
As Christians, however, our Christian mandate has little to do with defending our country and the American way. Christians are to steadfastly maintain that there is one true God and he has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ who reigns as Lord. Christians and Christian leaders are to protect and defend that central tenant and seek to draw others into like-minded faith through the demonstration of Christ’s love and preaching of the Gospel. This is true whether in America or anywhere in the world.
There is no compromise on either role. Christians may very well demonstrate religious tolerance but in no way can they accommodate other religions within their circle of faith. Partly Christian is not Christian. It is idolatry.
Americans, on the other hand, must protect freedom. Certainly diplomacy is important but there can be no compromise with freedom. Partly free is not free.
And although America must defend herself, Christians, unlike Islam, never seek to advance or proclaim the faith through use of the sword (or the match). They tried that in the Crusades and it didn’t work out so well. Most Christians know that our battle is not against flesh and blood, and our “sword” is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”[ii]
As I see it, here is a problem we must deal with as American Christians: Although we must keep those two roles separate, Islam has no clear distinction between the roles of their religion and whatever “State” they might have. Therefore, the radicals launch a “religious” attack against the United States (which they consider a nation of infidels), but it is not the Christians who respond, or even religion in general, but America. Therefore, we have a country, charged with protecting freedom, fighting against a religiously motivated group without borders.
Only history and ultimately the return of Christ will determine how this dilemma will play out.
For whatever his reasons, a Christian radical in Florida decides that he wants to burn the Quran. But, in the mind of much of Islam, who is to blame? America? Christians? Yes. That’s the only conceivable conclusion based on the international outrage that the event has inspired. Why else would thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan vigorously protest the planned actions of one old pastor and his congregation of fifty?
For crying out loud, we don’t have “thousands” of Christians crying in protest when a Christian is executed somewhere in the world (Somalia for example) and his Bible burned by Muslims or Communists or anyone else. It’s been going on for centuries. Most Christians and Americans aren’t even aware of it when it happens—much less scream in protest—although admittedly that might change in this present age.
In the end, America must defend America and her freedom. If attacked, whether by Communists, Fascists, or Muslim radicals, America responds and Americans of all faiths join the fight. There is no other choice. Christians, as Christians, on the other hand, don’t take up the sword to advance or defend the faith but stand firm in the faith and pray. Period.
Burning the Quran, if it accomplishes anything, will only serve to incite the haters of America and Christ and further affirm their idolatrous beliefs. I believe that instead of burning the Quran, it would be better to pile them up, surround the pile with thousands of true believers, claim God’s promises, and pray in the Spirit that the one true God demonstrate his power and will in the world…that his Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.[iii]
Leave the matches at home.
In the unlikely event that our Lord sees fit to rain down fire upon the pile and consume it (it’s been done before[iv]), I’ll be there with hot dogs and marshmallows. Maranatha.
[i] Zechariah 4:6
[ii] Ephesians 6:17
[iii] Ephesians 6:18
[iv] 1 Kings 19:38
