Chinese Christian missionaries are training for jobs in Muslim lands, learning Arabic, and relocating their families to these areas in order to build churches and train disciples. There is no word among them about the threat of Muslims in China or elsewhere. No doubt they would strongly condemn terrorism and have no affinity for extremists such as Al Qaeda, but if they do, that's not the story they lead with. You never feel that these Christians view Islam as a threat or Muslims as enemies. Instead, the only sense you get is that these people feel deeply the love of God for the lost. They are acting as true salt and light to the world.
Compare that with much of the alarm among U.S. Christians that Islam is taking over the Western world. Legislation barring Sharia Law in Oklahoma (what the heck?!), rumors that the President is covertly a Muslim, and threats to burn the Koran are the most extreme examples of this alarm. If U.S. Christians do acknowledge the need for evangelism to the Muslim world, they do so only quietly after catching their breath, having wasted it screaming about the Islamic threat. It's hard to imagine these people conceiving a vision similar to BTJ. They certainly are not salt and light as Jesus described.
In my opinion, the basic difference between Chinese and U.S. Christians in how they view the Islamic world is the definition of the kingdom of God. Instead of framing their worldview in terms of the universal kingdom of God against a general world system (selfishness, hatred, and rebellion against God), they conflate the kingdom of God with earthly kingdoms, much as Christians did after the Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in 312 A.D. Many U.S. Christians conflate Christianity with America, democracy (as long as it doesn't elect Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood), Second Amendment rights, and capitalism. This is wrong and unbiblical.
Jesus was clear about his distinction apart from the Roman emperor, the king Herod, the Sanhedrin, and every other worldly governmental power at the time. When cross-examining Jesus to determine if he was guilty of sedition, the Roman governor Pilate asked if Jesus claimed to be a king. Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
What Jesus understood, and many U.S. Christians do not, is that God’s kingdom is uniquely over and above, and not in competition with, any earthly kingdom. God’s kingdom is not in opposition to worldly kingdoms because they exist on different planes. Later when Pilate asked Jesus, “Don’t you realize I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” All authority belongs to God, and there is no earthly authority that God has not established. The rise and fall of governments and nations will always be in God’s hands. In contrast to the impermanence of worldly governments, God’s kingdom even today continues to expand and brighten, like the rays of the sun breaking at dawn, and no power, earthly or spiritual, can stop it.
Jesus warned against salt that lost its flavor and against light hidden under bowls. When Christians cannot distinguish between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world then they mistakenly believe that God favors one nation over another, or one political party over another. They compromise their unique message by thinking “It’s my country, wrong or right” or otherwise excusing the ways in which their nation or party deviates from God’s standard of righteousness and justice. They self-servingly highlight scriptures from the Bible that support their partisan viewpoints while ignoring or misinterpreting those that might undermine their ideology.
Moreover, they see the success of their nation or party as the success of God’s kingdom—and see their rivals as opposed to God’s kingdom. This view leads Christians to label nations or political opponents as “heathen” or as opposed to the kingdom of God. But, if they do that, then they misidentify their enemy. As Paul wrote, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Like Jesus, Paul emphasized the otherworldliness of God’s kingdom—that it was not set up in opposition to earthly kingdoms, but rather existed on a completely different plane over and above them.
2 comments:
Great Post! I think the US 'western' version of Christ and HIS kingdom has been perverted due to false doctrine.The US evangelical churches emphasize "Church Growth" and false conversions versus true repentance,and thus they have a 'kingdom now' theology. American 'Christians' idea that Christians are going to turn back the hands of time and create some sort of righteous state is a farce and anti-biblical. There are Christians dying all over the world for their Faith in Jesus who witness to Muslims. In the US there is a bigoted hatred-yes; even coming from the Conservative Religious Right Camps.Rather than seeking to save the Lost they just prefer the Muslim to not come to the US and/or to keep their religion in the closet.Persecution will come and it will be that those in our own 'home' (Churches) will turn us over and deliver us up. rather then stand up for Christ these apostates and wolves will turn over the Christians who won't stop witnessing to the LOST. Anyway that's my rant-great Post!
Sorry I didn't reply to your comment sooner. You paint a scary picture of the future, but it's what the Bible says we can expect if we want to stay faithful to Jesus and His gospel. I hope that I'm ready.
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