Remember Ambassadors

Sharia law is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, causes of Christian persecution in today’s world.  Sharia is the system of law based on Islamic holy writings - the system of law that governs, to one extent or another, in every Muslim country.

But Sharia is not just a system of law with Muslim underpinnings or a general Islamic worldview.  It is an imposition of Islamic values on everyone it controls - Muslim and  Christian alike.  In fact, Sharia puts a very real and overt pressure on any non-Muslim, and stringently denies anyone but a Muslim the freedom of religion.  While Sharia does not make it a de facto crime to simply be a Christian, it makes it a crime to convert from Islam, or to evangelize among Muslims.  In some cases, these “crimes” of converting and witnessing are punishable by death.

But Sharia law is not a static force.  As Islam expands, so does the impact of Sharia’s persecution - and hardline Islamic fundamentalists are determined to spread Islam by any means possible, including violence.  We’ve talked about Nigeria before (link goes to PDF document), where in recent years the Islamic incursion has brought very real terror and destruction to the Christians.  In other places, too, Islamic influence is growing - Indonesia and Malaysia, central Europe, even western China.

The latest stories are coming out of Somalia, where fundamentalist Islamic rebels are taking over the country piece by piece.  Wherever they go, they impose a drastic, almost unimaginable version of Sharia law.  They’ve made recent news by stoning a teenager to death for the crime of “adultery” after she was forcibly raped, and for murdering aid workers.

As the world kind of looks on at this growing persecution of Christians, let us pray.

I’m sure that you have breathed that wonderful sigh of relief when you return home from a trip.  Even if you enjoyed the trip, there is something wonderful about returning to the familiar and friendly place you call “home.”

I have to wonder what it would be like to return home after leaving because of persecution - something that Christians in Mosul are experiencing right now.  What would it be like to return to the neighborhood and city that had been so hostile, so full of fear and violence just weeks previously?  What would it be like to live in a place where your life was threatened simply because of your faith?

I can only imagine the answers to these questions, but as I ponder them, I am reminded that as Christians, their real home is not in Mosul.  In fact, it’s not on earth at all.  During their pilgrimage here, they have been put in tough circumstances, but their hope is not in stability and peace here, but in heavenly eternal peace.  How hard it must be to focus on this future hope in the presence of present suffering and fear!

As we pray for them, let’s pray that they would keep their focus on eternal hope.