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A Christian Response to the Threat of Al-Qaeda

This is a piece written by my friend, Jim. His message may seem counter-intuitive to many of us, but it is eminently Christ-like. When Jesus told us to pray for our enemies, he wasn't kidding.


A Christian Response to the Threat of al-Qaeda

On a recent business trip I was surfing a.m. radio and, during my search, I happened across a talk show discussing the escalating threat of Islamic terrorism. The host’s guest was Dr. Paul Williams who was communicating his reasons for believing with certainty that terrorists have recently smuggled 7 or 8 tactical nuclear weapons into the U.S. He explained that this type of bomb has destructive capability equivalent to the blasts of August 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To be sure, I was troubled, and for two reasons. First, I currently reside in Denver, which Dr. Paul named as a city on the short list of terror targets; second, I had a dream some years ago.

In early 1994, I was experiencing a lull in relating to our Father and this dryness was a catalyst for making a simple request. A few minutes after lying on my bed at the end of the day, I asked God to interact with me in some way, so I could move beyond the staleness. As I prayed, it occurred to me to ask for a dream - not necessarily meaning an immediate one. I even requested this type of communication based on God having given an evil man like Nebuchadnezzar dreams, knowing I was in better standing with the Lord than that ancient ruler.

Within moments I had dozed off, and I received a brief but vivid dream. In it I was standing a few miles to the east of downtown Denver. I was looking west, so the skyline had the Rockies as a backdrop. Suddenly, the unmistakable mushroom shaped clouds of 8 large explosions fanned out across the Front Range from near Boulder to the south of Denver. The wind generated by these blasts blew against my face in the dream, and this sensation awoke me from sleep. The dream may have lasted 15 seconds or so, yet it had clarity like HDTV. I immediately wrote down the details, which is why I recall the dream more than 10 years later.

Rather than raise the levels of fear and hatred by suggesting that the U.S. pre-emptively attack Muslim cities, I offer this alternative response:

Certainly, any committed follower of Jesus recognizes that He loved all people, including those who hated Him enough to participate in His torture and execution. Moreover, He strongly cautioned against hating any human, and instead required His followers to love their enemies. Jesus modeled this to His disciples regularly. He interceded for His murderers when He asked our Father to “forgive them” (Luke 23:34). He also attempted to awaken Judas from his spiritual slumber when He asked him, “Do you betray the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48) In these and many other ways, Jesus exemplified love for His enemies.

Now, in no way am I recommending pacifism leading to catastrophe. Rather, I am convinced that proactive intercession is warranted. When I first began praying about this urgency, a number of scriptures came to mind. So, because I believe that the Holy Spirit was interacting with me in prayer, I am compelled to share the experience with you.

Part of God’s Word that fluttered through my thinking was from Genesis 18. You recall that this is where it’s recorded that God informed Abraham that He intended to destroy Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities because of their outstanding wickedness. Perhaps out of concern for Lot and his family, or for other unstated reasons, Abraham interceded for the thousands of inhabitants of the region by asking God if He intended to sweep away the righteous with the wicked, and whether the Judge of all the earth would do what is right. God was not reluctant to spare the multitude of unholy people if only a handful of upright citizens be found among them.

This truth is reinforced in Jeremiah 5:1 where the Lord tells the prophet that all of Jerusalem will experience forgiveness if “but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth” can be found in the city. Furthermore, we are reminded in Lamentations that God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to humans. II Peter 3:9 and I Timothy 2:1-4 cement the revelation that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (see Ezekiel 18). So I am regularly practicing and highly recommend that we no longer have the attitude of the world concerning these threats, but that we have the mind of Christ as repeatedly demonstrated to us by Him.

Now what about my dream? I believe the answer is found in Jeremiah 18 where it says, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will repent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Vv. 7 - 10). And the truth that “widespread destruction” prophecy is conditional is made certain by the book of Jonah. You remember that when the prophet finally arrived at Nineveh, he declared citywide that these Assyrians had about six weeks left before they would be destroyed. At this, they repented. And Jonah 3:10 says, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

So, it is scripturally established that when people are solemnly warned that their sin is bringing about a certain and unpleasant demise, two things will divert that outcome: their repentance and/or the people of God among them interceding on their behalf.

Lastly, I share with you a brief but enlightening moment from October 2001. It was only three weeks after the terrible events of 9/11, and I was praying in the morning. In recent days, I had been reading from Luke’s Gospel, and I remembered the holy text about doing good to our enemies, including praying for them. I considered who my enemies might be, and no one’s name or face popped up. So, I thought about who might regard me as an enemy and Osama bin Laden came to mind. I willfully decided to pray for him, and immediately after starting to, Galatians 1:23 loudly interrupted me. It says, “he who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

I am certain that the Holy Spirit was directing me to ask the Father to effect this hate-filled man toward salvation. That’s right. I was praying that God would work to save Osama bin Laden. It was somewhat surprising, but I followed that lead and now I’m asking you to join me in these prayer efforts. Specifically, pray that the presence of the righteous among the lost would provide a level of safety not enjoyed by them without us. Next, negotiate on behalf of non-Christians that God’s Spirit would relentlessly move the unsaved toward repentance. Finally, ask expectantly that our heavenly Father would pursue our enemies and overtake them, so that His purposes for them would be fulfilled.

Remember, there once was a religious zealot who despised Christians to the point of killing and imprisoning them, all the while believing he was serving God. However, he finally met this Jesus whom he was persecuting, and the world benefited greatly - even to this day. I guarantee that Jesus’ followers were asking God to confront this man, so that they could be free from his hatred and so that he could be free from his sins. This man is the one whom we call… the Apostle Paul…

posted by cjamster @ 9:37 PM