Jihad or Jesus?

There are at least 35 places around the world that are currently experiencing Islamic Jihad from Nigeria to Uganda, Syria to Yemen, Pakistan to Afghanistan, Indonesia to Australia.  Some recent headlines read:

Nigeria: Boko Haram Fighters Slaughter Dozens - Daily Mail

Uganda: Cleric Charged in Jihad Murder of 76 - New Vision

Yemen: 142 Dead in Mosque Bombings - Tribune  

Indonesia: Clerics issue Fatwa Against Gays -  Jakarta Globe

Iraq: ISIS Destroys 4th Century Monastery - Daily Mail

In the midst of this ever expanding unholy war, what should faithful followers of Jesus think, pray and do? Here is what Jesus calls us to think, pray and do:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. -- John 14:27

I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” -- John 16:33

“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 children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous."  Matthew 5:43-48

This seems like such an unrealistic, unreasonable, unsympathetic response to our friends in Nigeria who are caught in the crossfire of violent Jihad.  Nevertheless, that's actually the way Jesus dealt with the violence and persecution he encountered and it has continued to be the most "Christ-like" response in every century since then.

Here's the problem: if our belief system was an enchilada, the enchilada would be stuffed with the values of our culture (American, European, Asian, African - take your pick) AND Jesus would be the thin layer of cheese on top. News Flash... to all Christians!

Jesus wants to be the whole enchilada... 

Around the world, non-Muslims have tended to think about violent Islamic Jihad in a couple of ways.

The Way of Acquiescence

The politically correct response has been to minimize the problem. Those who subscribe to the doctrines of political correctness argue that groups like ISIS amount to little more than a small handful of angry hardliners among millions of moderate Muslims. President Obama himself said, "They are the Junior Varsity team."  

The JV team in Nigeria calls itself Boko Haram. They control much of the lighter colored area on the map to the right.  Their goal is to establish an Islamic State where Sharia Law is the law of the land. That law dictates that Jews or Christians living in that area have three choices: conversion, humiliation or death. 

To infer that what Boko Haram is attempting to do in Nigeria is the goal of Islam all around the world seems, well, it seems extreme.  It sounds like the kind of rant you'd expect to hear from a hawkish ultraconservative. Please forgive my lack of political correctness... but Boko Haram's world view has been shaped by a literal reading of the Quran.  They are simply trying to do what the book says.

To say that Islam is a religion of peace requires a very distorted reading of the Quran. The word "Islam" means "submission." The aim of Jihad is forced submission (by violence if necessary) to the will of God as it is defined in the Quran. An honest reading of the Quran will confirm that point of view.

Fortunately, most of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world are as uncommitted to their faith as most of the 2.2 billion Christians tend to be.  Moderate Muslims tend to be as uncommitted to the idea of Jihad as most Christians are to the way of peace.

The Way of War

Most people believe we need to fight fire with fire!  They believe the only way to defeat Al-Qaeda or ISIS or Boko Haram or the Muslim Brotherhood is to carry a larger sword.  Here's the problem with that: as followers of Jesus we find ourselves in a different kind of war. Spiritual warfare requires spiritual weapons.

The Apostle Paul made it clear that our battle is not with flesh and blood but with powers and principalities of darkness.  Look at Paul's instructions:

The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses. In fact, it is just the opposite. My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy. I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ.

When we attempt to confront spiritual darkness with bullets and bombs we only add to the darkness.  Consider this example.  When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, our government began to arm the Afghan Mujahadin

Osama bin Laden along with a small group of Islamic militants from Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestinian refugee camps all over the Middle East, became the "reliable" team of partners hand picked by the CIA to conduct a covert war against the Soviets. Ironic isn't it? We had a hand in creating the very enemy we are fighting against today!

Jesus calls us to a third way

Millions of Egyptians went to the streets to protest the corrupt rule of Hosni Mubarak, and there was celebration in the streets of Cairo when Mubarak finally stepped down.

But the celebration didn't last long when the Muslim Brotherhood came to power.  When Mohammed Morsi campaigned for the presidency he said, "Most Egyptians are Muslims, but the Christians are our brothers."  Then after he was elected his government initiated a fatwa against Christians and that was followed by an outbreak of sectarian violence. Many Coptic churches were either severly damaged or destroyed.

However, the Christians of Egypt didn't fight fire with fire. They fought darkness with light. They began to gather together for prayer. In some places as many as 15,000 gathered to cry out to God in prayer.

As faithful Egyptian Christians prayed, fasted and called on the name of the Lord, God responded. 

On June 30, 2013, 33 million Christians AND Muslims took to the streets calling for the end of Islamic rule... and the Muslim Brotherhood fell.

Things are far from perfect in Egypt today, but the Christians there have showed the world something about the power of prayer.

Jesus calls us to change the world, not with the sword of a warrior, but with the sword of the Spirit through the power of prayer.