Grace for ISIS /// I Loved You At Your Darkest

       

 

      ISIS deserves love just as much as I do, as much as you do. 

      And the truth is, none of us deserve any love. But God still gives it.

      I’m certain that our siblings in Christ, who have been persecuted, tortured, and slaughtered by the people of ISIS would say to us, the people of comfortable Christianity, “Love those who persecute you.” They would tell us not to hold bitterness or hate in our hearts, but to give love and forgiveness.

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you the cheek, offer the other also, and from the one who takes your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. and as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”                                                                                                                            Luke 6:27-31 

     These brothers and sisters, some of whom could be killed for even mentioning the name of Jesus, know better than anyone else the dangers of following Christ. But they also know the joy. They know the love. 

     These children of God know that nothing, absolutely nothing, is greater than Jesus and His love. They have truly learned that Jesus is all we need, and nothing more. They know grace.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”                                              Romans 12:14

     This persecuted Church knows that love is when you, being brutally murdered, look into the eyes of your murderer, and still say ‘I love you.’ I forgive you.’ 

     Isn’t that what Christ did for us up on that cross, on top of Golgotha, the hill of the skull? 

We beat Him. We broke Him. We spat on Him. We drove the nails into His hands and the thorns into His head. 

     And He still said ‘I love you.’ 

"I loved you at your darkest"                                                                                                    {Romans 5:8} 

     That is GRACE. 

     What ISIS needs is our love and forgiveness. Not our hate. 

     What makes Christians any different from ISIS if we act in hate? Who are we to withhold the grace that Christ gave us, from them?

     We who call ourselves children of God, but are so quick to point fingers and cast judgments. How often do we make statements like ‘Her hem is too short and neckline too low.’ ‘They had a child out of wedlock!’ Or ‘He has a tattoo? A piercing? Really.’? 

    And we put a label on them, making them lower than ourselves. ’'it might not be said out loud, but we think that we are above them, more righteous than they are. We, with our holier-than-thou attitudes and religious bumper stickers forget that we too, are sinners. Just. Like. Everyone. Else. We have no room for grace amidst our pews and church clothes. 

     So when we hear about ISIS and the destruction and pain that they have caused, it gives us the seemingly perfect opportunity to let loose our contempt and judgment upon them. After all, they are persecuting our fellow Christians, so that justifies it, right? 

     What if God had had that attitude toward us? What if He had looked upon our sin, our pitch black hearts, and said ‘I don’t love you. You are not good enough.’? And turned His back on us?

“For by Grace have you been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

Ephisians 2:8-9

     No! Instead He looked and saw the darkness, all of it, and still chose to say ‘I still love you.’ He still chose to give us grace. Unmerited favor and love.

     We don’t deserve love, deserve Grace, but God still gives it. 

     It is time that we looked upon the sin in our own hearts and let down the façade of our holiness.

“We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God.’ And hates his brother, he is a liar; for he does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love a God whom he has not seen. And this the commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.’                                                                                                                                                  1 John 4:19-21

     When a scared, hurting young woman sees two purple lines on a pregnancy test are we going to shame her, so that she feels like the only way out is to have an abortion?  Or instead, are we going to pour out love and grace upon her and say ‘We are here to walk through this with you. We love you.’? 

   

     So, the next time we see a homeless person on the street, are we going to hurry past, avoiding eye contact? Or are we going to go and sit with them, having communion right there, with the least of these? Are we going to show love and grace? 

     Brothers and sisters, when the next article comes out on the media about ISIS’s latest acts of horror and carnage, how will we, the Christians, respond? With hate words and contempt? Or with Grace?