I am perplexed by a Florida pastor's decision to burn copies of the Koran on September 11, 2010. According to all of the reports, the pastor plans to burn the books in order to "send a message" to radical Muslims in the USA, and it is certainly nothing more than a publicity stunt. From my perspective as a citizen, I understand the grave danger that such an act places our troops in, as General David Petraeus has warned just this week. But even more important, from my perspective as a Christian, a church gathering to burn copies of the Koran seems to ignore the mission of the church altogether. What does that have to do in connection to the gospel? How will this better help us reach Muslims for Christ around the world?
I'm reminded of a passage of Scripture in Acts 19 where Paul went to Ephesus to preach the gospel. With great power, Paul preached the truth of Christ and did many great miracles. Verses 17-18 tell us that the fear of God fell on many of the Ephesians, and in response to the gospel, they came to faith in Christ. As a result of their conversion, the Bible says that they went and gathered all of their false religious books and burned them publicly. Interesting to me was that Paul wasn't the one who initiated the book burning; the Ephesians burned what they knew to be lies only after the truth of the gospel had changed their hearts!
It seems to me that the Florida pastor has totally confused his congregation about what the true mission of the church is. With all of my heart, I believe that when you and I share the truth of the gospel with Muslims, only the power of the gospel and the conviction of the Holy Spirit will change their heart. Once they experience the truth for themselves, they will come to reject all other substitutes. Our responsibility is to be salt and light in a dark and dying world. Muslims around the world need to see Christ in us, the hope of glory! Let's keep the gospel front and center.
0 comments:
Post a Comment