The Saddening, Dangerous Remarks of Franklin Graham

6. Graham abdicated his call as a pastor to all and has instead decided to take up politics and division of people into groups of those more and less worthy.

You can’t simultaneously relegate a large swath of humanity to second-class status and also serve them in love. Or if you can, you can’t do it very well.

Graham has a call from God to serve the suffering all around the world and to share the Gospel. The Gospel is not to be preached at the end of a sword that threatens, “Convert or die.” There is a reason why Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. While Graham doesn’t come out and prescribe forced conversion or annihilation, you can draw a direct line from his words to those implications. When we serve Jesus, we must not let our allegiance to God be cluttered with nationalistic substitutes for His kingdom.

Again, Ben Corey wisely points out:

Jesus taught his disciples that it is impossible to serve two masters–it just can’t be done. While Jesus said it was impossible, Franklin has valiantly tried anyway and the result should be a learning moment for all of us. Mark my words: when trying to be loyal to Jesus and loyal to America, America will usually win. When America wins, as it did with Franklin, it will invite us abandon the teaching and example of Jesus in order to protect and preserve the nation, instead of to build and expand the Kingdom.

7. Even when it comes to those Muslims who are terrorists, our first obligation as Christians is to love our enemy.

I’m not advocating sticking our heads in the sand, when it comes to actual extremists. Of course, we must do what we can as Americans to protect our country from extremists of every group, whether white supremacists or Muslims. This includes maintaining our policies barring those with extremist ties from the United States. We live in the real world, and we have to maintain such boundaries against evil.

But when our primary focus as Christians is on the self-protective stance, when we look at Muslims and only see an enemy to fear instead of a person God loves, we have gotten woefully off-course. Where in Graham’s statement is any expression of love for the “other” for whom Christ came? Where is there any sense of Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[i] and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?–Matthew 5:43-46 NIV

These words are difficult. Certainly, if I were face-to-face with an actual terrorist, I would struggle to love him or her. But we don’t get to discard this call of Jesus just because it’s difficult.

I’ll close with these words from Carl Medearis:

Bottom line – if “Muslims” are your enemies, it’s clear what Jesus calls us to do with enemies.  And if these “Muslims” are your neighbors (and many of them are), it’s clear what Jesus asks us to do with neighbors.  Either way I think you’re stuck. You gotta love em.

In the meantime, go out and talk to some real live Muslims. Ask questions. Listen.  Don’t be afraid – God will be with you. For the sake of the Gospel.

Let’s love our Muslim neighbors. Let’s refuse to fear.

For further reading, check out my post: 4 Reasons Christians MUST Reject Islamophobia.

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