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A Christian Response to Terrorism

by Willie George
 
When news of the terrorist attacks swept our nation on September 11, Americans reacted with honor, sympathy for the victims' families, and a quiet but angry determination to avenge the deaths of our countrymen.

In times like these, many Christians struggle to reconcile their human desire for vengeance with the Biblical concept of forgiveness. Because most have really not heard what the Bible says, they assume that these two concepts are hopelessly irreconcilable.

They are not.

Over the past 100 years, the popular trend in pulpits is to present God as a loving Father who accepts any and all, regardless of their ongoing behavior The Scriptures do present God as a loving, caring Creator, but they also reveal Him as a God of wrath and judgment. These opposing faces of God are like the two sides of a coin. The image we see is determined by where we stand in relationship to the coin,

Jesus did not teach unqualified acceptance and forgiveness.
In Luke 17:3 (KJV), Jesus said, "Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him." Notice the last words, "... if he repent, forgive him."

The notion that we should extend acceptance and forgiveness to people who do not accept responsibility for their behavior is ludicrous. On the other hand, we do not seethe in resentment lest we be destroyed by hatred. We are prepared to forgive but insistent upon behavioral changes!

If the terrorist networks and the societies that support them were to plead with America for forgiveness, vow to bring about real changes in their policies, and accept responsibility for their actions, I have no doubt that Americans would forgive them. Who among us has not been touched by the images of American and Japanese veterans of World War II embracing at the sites of their bloodiest battles? Americans are the most generous and forgiving people on earth.

Human government has been ordained by God as the agent of His vengeance.
The Bible clearly tells us that we, as individuals, are not to take the law into our own hands. Romans 12:19 declares, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." We have mistakenly assumed that the Bible is telling us that there should be no punishment until the hereafter. However, if we continue to read on into the very next chapter, the Apostle Paul tells us that human government is ordained by God to carry out God's vengeance upon evildoers.

"For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil... For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:3-4).

How do we deal with terrorism?
Unfortunately, there is no quick solution to this global disease; however, it can be beaten - and it must. There are a number of concrete steps we can take:

1) Pray for God to give wisdom to our leaders. Action without wisdom produces only more trouble. God has a strategy that will produce results,

2) Encourage and support greater security measures at our airports and borders. This is going to be inconvenient and costly, but we have no choice.

3) Support the eradication of terrorism at its base. Whether we want to believe it or not, there are entire societies who are bent upon the destruction of the Western nations. Not everyone in those societies is guilty of terrorist activity, but the entire society is culpable because it allows terrorists to operate freely. These nations (and in some cases businesses) are guilty; as accessories to murder, Terrorists must see that their actions result only in hurt for their own people. They must be made to see that suicide deaths do not work!

4) Support the long-term costs of rebuilding our military and intelligence communities. As long as we are the most prosperous nation on earth, we will be the target of evil men. We must be willing to support our leaders in creating effective deterrents. Ignoring the threats won't make them go away.

We cannot bring back our loved ones by taking retribution upon our enemies, no matter how effectively we strike. We can, however, honor their lives by encouraging the complete dismantling of the terrorist networks and severe punishment for the societies that abet them.

A careful study of Scripture reveals that vengeance upon evil and forgiveness are reconcilable truths. If the terrorist organizations and the societies that support them want forgiveness, let them move to the other side of the coin.