The Grip of Fear and the Power of the Gospel

Recently, a beloved friend has been writing me about his fear of terrorism. He related that he believes we ought to "prepare our families to die in mass" at the hands of "Islamofascists." I want to be very clear here, I do not agree with labeling people like that, so I am simply responding to an error here in the kindest, truest way I can. I pray that you read it for your growth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Beloved friend,

It seems that you're not seeing the fear in your own words. I know that when I am afraid, it is because I am not trusting God to take care of me as He sees fit. Look at the early church of Acts 1-4, or the persecuted believers of Hebrews 10:32-39 - they trust God and actually are happy in Him in the midst of heartache and pain and suffering and death. They don't obsess over the pain and the suffering. They feel it and it hurts, so they trust in God and direct their thoughts and prayers and praise toward Him, not toward the persecutors or the persecution.

Hebrews 10:32-39, in fact, is very sobering when it points out that suffering for Jesus can either make us press on in "confidence" or "shrink back to destruction." Then the writer says, "but we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." This is a powerful message, because it tells us that pain can lead us to turn away from God forever or turn to Him forever.

So you say that Islam and murder and death are the "greater evil"? Biblically, that is ridiculous. The greatest evil in the world is hatred and unbelief . . . toward God. The Bible says that when you and I hate someone in our hearts, we have already in our hearts committed the murder that you speak of. We ought to take this very seriously, because it tells us that the ugliest evil is within the human heart, not outside in human hands. The greatest evil is disregarding God and worshipping idols, any idols - including our own comfort, which is what we may be worshipping when we obsess about pain.

[Note - he had said I had advised a poor plan of action.] I have not "advised" any plan of action except believing the Gospel first and foremost. All who trust in Jesus have their minds in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), so if we're not in perfect peace then our minds are not fixed on Him. You and I should start with Jesus and stay on Jesus and look forward to meeting Jesus - whether death and disease and famine come or not.

I for one will not be teaching my family or anyone else to live in fear of Muslims, and neither should you. There are two good reasons for this:

#1 This "fear" of Muslims is just another excuse for hatred toward them. God teaches us to love all people, even our enemies, even when they kill us.

#2 This fear of Muslims ends up being an idol in many hearts that will keep people away from truly trusting in Jesus Christ for their salvation, now and forever.


You and I simply do not have the promise that God will keep us from physical harm in this life - it's simply not true. In fact, He
promises persecution for all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:12), as all Christians do desire. So let's not kid ourselves that death and destruction won't come to us - they surely will, but not forever. That is the Gospel, not that we escape pain and sin in this life but that we escape it through Jesus forever in the next life. Our pain in this life makes our redemption in Christ all the sweeter. Praise Him who saves us forever!

Trust Him tonight, tomorrow, and forever, dear friend; I love you,

Britt

Letter to a Persecuted American Family

My brother and sister,

Hey, I was getting ready to send you an email about something totally different when I realized that something R. told me tonight was indescribably encouraging. He mentioned that his sister offered to help ya'll with a down payment on a house, then added that the money came with a certain condition - that you would have no more children. This certainly meant that this family member disapproved of your life's path in any number of ways, but most likely because of missions and family size. And you turned the money down! Without a second thought! What a beautiful testimony to Jesus! He is more important than anyone's money! He is better than the so-called "wisdom" of our world!

It reminded me of Luke 6:22-23, where Jesus says, "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets." Make no mistake about it - your sister is excluding you from her money because of your choice to follow Jesus down the hard road of family-building and missions. And Jesus says that you are "blessed" - happy - because of her exclusion of you and reviling of your name. So leap for joy today, because great is your reward in heaven. You are just like the prophets! How encouraging is that?

We love you (it's amazing to see how fast God is growing your family),

B.