I am a Terrorist

Early this morning, I shot up in bed. Even in my sleep, I couldn’t get the images of Baghdad, Beirut and Paris out of my head. How is a follower of Jesus to respond to these terrorists? I thought about it for hours. Then I realized something. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” & “Love your enemy.” We are commanded to “love our enemies as ourselves.” We cannot love our enemies as we love ourselves and not become our enemy. We are commanded to “love the terrorist as we love ourselves.” We cannot love the terrorist as we love ourselves without becoming the terrorist. If we want to follow Jesus, we are commanded to become what we want to save. Is this not the lesson of the incarnation of Jesus into our evil world? Truly, those who are following the path of Jesus will embrace their enemies so fully that they will bind their person to them. In the coming days, our cry of love for our enemies must be, “I am a terrorist.”

Amen.