Thinking Through Terrorism & the Refugee Crisis

These thoughts were first shared in Midweek Connection on November 18, 2015 following the ISIS terror attacks in Paris and the resulting debate about how to handle the Syrian refugees. While perhaps late in their relevance, I hope these expanded considerations will nonetheless be a help.

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How should we think about …
 
(1) TERRORISTS

• Mercy — Biblical evidence: (1) Jesus taught us to love our enemies by praying for them and actively doing good to them (Matthew 5:44-47; cf. Romans 12:14-21). (2) God declared that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather have them repent and be saved (Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32; cf. 1 Timothy 2:4-6 [1:12-16]). (3) God patiently extended mercy to the terrorists of Nineveh, evidenced by His sermon, “yet forty days…” (Jonah). (4) God showed mercy towards us when we were His enemies (Romans 5:6-11).
• Justice — Biblical evidence: (1) A common theme throughout Scripture is that we are to do and seek justice (Micah 6:8). (2) We may pray for justice, even in the imprecatory vein of Psalm 10 (cf. Psalm 2). (3) The purpose of government is to  “bear the sword” in order to be “a terror…to bad” people and to be “an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:1-7).

Balance — We pray for both generally, and allow God to act according to His specific will in these situations. We trust government to “bear the sword.” We mercifully preach the gospel to terrorists, perhaps like Jonah even taking the message to them.
 
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(2) REFUGEES

• Compassion — Biblical evidence: (1) God reiterates throughout Scripture that He is a God of the oppressed (Psalm 9:9). (2) The ethic of God’s people is to mirror that compassionate character of God, being further motivated by the compassion He showed us when we were “outsiders” (Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 10:19 [cf. Ephesians 2:11-22]). (3) James says that “religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:26-27). (4) We are exhorted to “love…your neighbor [simply the one near me in need] as yourself” (Luke 10:25-37) and to “not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” but instead “remember…those who are mistreated” (Hebrews 13:2-3).
• Caution — Biblical evidence: (1) One of the roles of government is to protect us from real dangers (Romans 13:1-7): not all Muslims are terrorists—in fact, most are not—but some are, and they have declared their theology/strategy (i.e., Caliphate with sharia law). (2) It is good for Christians to “seek the welfare of the city,” our nation (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Balance — We should pray for our government to wisely determine the appropriate response to this refugee crisis, resting in God's sovereign use of it, whether it makes the decision we want or not. We should show compassion whenever God brings us into personal contact with the refugees (and other neighbors).
 
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(3) SOCIAL MEDIA DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THESE (AND SIMILAR) TOPICS

• Beware ignorant arrogance! Today, we can read or listen to some news headlines, Wikipedia articles, blog entries, and podcast episodes and immediately deem ourselves experts on a topic, declaring our opinion as absolute truth. The resulting Facebook statuses, Tweets, and blogs often reveal a great lack of humility and true thought.
• Beware depersonalized harshness! Social media depersonalizes these complex and somewhat divisive discussions and empowers (often uninformed) language that is often rash, harsh, condescending, biting, and vitriolic. The fact that it was privately typed and submitted into the impersonal cyberspace does not make this language any less “corrupting” than what Christians are clearly instructed to “put off” in Ephesians 4:29. A personal mentor once challenged me to allow three simple words to govern my public declarations and confrontations: "slower, softer, sweeter.”
• Beware pressured opinions! Some confident personalities are able to form opinions rapidly and support them powerfully. And then there are the rest of us. For us, we can take encouragement from James command to “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). In issues as complex as these, it is okay to quietly listen, to learn, to study, to research, to ask, to develop one’s opinion over time, and even to change one’s position. Let’s strive to be good thinkers, even as we want to be good communicators—for if we are not thinking well (John 17:17), then we don’t yet have anything worth opining.
• Beware distracted focus! The real need is for our world to hear from you, not your opinion on whether or not we should bomb ISIS or whether or not we should accept Syrian refugees, but your testimony of gospel truth—(1) that a personal and knowable God created and loves them, (2) that human sin has destroyed the perfection God made and cursed it with multi-faceted hurt, (3) that all the brokenness we daily witness within and without can be fixed only by Jesus Christ, who entered our shattered existence, took upon himself our weakened flesh, and endured our earthly striving unto the death of the cross and out of the empty tomb, that His might personally rescue us from the destruction of sin, and (4) that His work has accomplished the certainty of future and everlasting restoration.

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​Resources

• Albert Mohler, The Briefing 11-16-15, http://www.albertmohler.com/2015/11/16/the-briefing-11-16-15/
• Russell Moore, Stop Pitting Security And Compassion Against Each Other In The Syrian Refugee Crisis, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/19/stop-pitting-security-and-compassion-against-each-other-in-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/
• Kevin DeYoung, Immigration Policy Must Be Based On More Than An Appeal To Compassion, http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/kevindeyoung/2015/11/17/immigration-policy-must-be-based-on-more-than-an-appeal-to-compassion/
• David Crabb, Building His Church in a Refugee Crisis, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/building-his-church-in-a-refugee-crisis
• D. Glenn, Eight Words from Jesus in a World with Refugees, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/eight-words-from-jesus-in-a-world-with-refugees
• Joe Carter, 3 Ways to Pray for Our Enemies, http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-ways-to-pray-for-our-enemies
• John Piper, Terrorism, Justice, and Loving Our Enemies, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/terrorism-justice-and-loving-our-enemies