Outrage!
By: Doug Long
Some of the things I have heard this week on the radio.
"Lets bomb them back to the Stone Age."
"They have sinned against us, and the wages of sin is death."
"Let's send them to meet Allah."
I am shocked at the images I have seen on TV lately, and I thought
long and hard about writing this article. We have seen unspeakable
cruelty against good people. Where do we go from here? I understand
that people get angry and lash out, but as Christians I think we should
temper our anger. The Bible says in Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:
for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
My own family had experience with this, when My wife's brother was murdered.
She suffered greatly, cried a lot, then she put it into God's hands, and only
there did she find peace. The Bible speaks of this also in Matthew 11:28-30 (sound familiar?)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
The thing that is most disturbing is that people are lashing out against the innocent.
Here is an excerpt from an e-mail from a friend of mine who is Muslim.
"Thank you for your nice e-mail and your concern, We fine so far, but we do not know what
may come next, we are trying to keep a low profile as much as we can."
He is an American citizen, and a good friend of mine. He is gentle and kind.
He was my roommate for several years before I got married. He is scared.
That is wrong.
What is wrong also is when people take God's word and misuse it.
One of the quotes above is from a US Senator. He said
"They have sinned against us, and the wages of sin is death!"
(emphasis on the word death.)
If this isn't a misuse of scripture I don’t know what is. Using God's
word in this way is wrong. I understand that our government must act to protect
our country and its citizens, and I support their actions, but I can never support
their twisting the meaning of scripture to make a point.
Remember this if we go to war. There are good and decent people in Afghanistan.
Some secretly hope that the US will invade and free them from their rulers,
Some have already escaped and come here.
The Biblical principal that I am trying to make here is to put God first, ahead of everything,
including our allegiance to a country or a dislike for a certain religion or race.
In short put hate in a box and don’t let it out. What we should be doing is God's work.
"Lets go therefor and make disciples of all nations baptizing them into the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19.
BACK TO START
"Lets bomb them back to the Stone Age."
"They have sinned against us, and the wages of sin is death."
"Let's send them to meet Allah."
I am shocked at the images I have seen on TV lately, and I thought long and hard about writing this article. We have seen unspeakable cruelty against good people. Where do we go from here? I understand that people get angry and lash out, but as Christians I think we should temper our anger. The Bible says in Romans 12:19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
My own family had experience with this, when My wife's brother was murdered. She suffered greatly, cried a lot, then she put it into God's hands, and only there did she find peace. The Bible speaks of this also in Matthew 11:28-30 (sound familiar?)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
The thing that is most disturbing is that people are lashing out against the innocent. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail from a friend of mine who is Muslim.
"Thank you for your nice e-mail and your concern, We fine so far, but we do not know what may come next, we are trying to keep a low profile as much as we can."
He is an American citizen, and a good friend of mine. He is gentle and kind. He was my roommate for several years before I got married. He is scared. That is wrong.
What is wrong also is when people take God's word and misuse it. One of the quotes above is from a US Senator. He said
"They have sinned against us, and the wages of sin is death!" (emphasis on the word death.)
If this isn't a misuse of scripture I don’t know what is. Using God's word in this way is wrong. I understand that our government must act to protect our country and its citizens, and I support their actions, but I can never support their twisting the meaning of scripture to make a point.
Remember this if we go to war. There are good and decent people in Afghanistan. Some secretly hope that the US will invade and free them from their rulers, Some have already escaped and come here.
The Biblical principal that I am trying to make here is to put God first, ahead of everything, including our allegiance to a country or a dislike for a certain religion or race. In short put hate in a box and don’t let it out. What we should be doing is God's work. "Lets go therefor and make disciples of all nations baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19.