What Would Jesus Do?

I am not a political person.  I have never joined a political party or voted strictly along party lines.  And I am not a perfect Christian who always responds to everything in the way God would want me to.  But what I have seen on social media over the past week has struck a chord deep inside me, and I feel compelled to comment.

By all accounts, both the Syrian refugee crisis and the terrorist attacks in Paris and other cities around the world are horrendous; and the lives that have been affected by both issues will never be the same.  I have come to expect that both Republicans and Democrats would find a way to connect these unrelated events and use them for political gain and misguided American patriotism.  What I was surprised, saddened, and quite frankly ashamed to see on social media was the number of people who call themselves Christians siding with the politicians in deciding that terrorist attacks by ISIS in Paris justify closing our country’s borders to innocent refugees.  As Christians, we have a responsibility to choose wisely who or what we allow to inform our thoughts and actions; and I believe that this should never be politicians, fear, or patriotism – but God’s Word alone.  It is easy to allow others to guide what we think and do, instead of listening to God only.  The apostle Paul talked about this in Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”       

Here’s a few facts.  First of all, ISIS does not speak for all of Islam; and mainstream Islamic people oppose ISIS just as much as Christians do.  Mainstream Islamic people are no more of a threat to us than any other non-Biblical or extra-Biblical groups (many of whom masquerade as acceptable churches or religions in our country).  Secondly, not only are not all Syrians associated with ISIS, they aren’t even all associated with Islam.  There are many Syrian Christians who have become refugees in an attempt to save their families from horrible conditions in their country.

 We are told by the apostle Paul to have the same attitude as Jesus did (Philippians 2:5).  Jesus had much to say about how we should respond to the Syrian refugees.  In Matthew 25:31-46, he talks about what will happen at his second coming, when he will separate “the sheep from the goats” based on what we did to help “the least of these”.  The result for not attending to the needs of helpless people is not a pleasant one (verse 46).  Jesus also told us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).  Jesus’ brother, James, elaborated on this principle and condemned playing favorites: “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” (James 2:8-9).  James also tells us that God places great value on how we take care of those around us: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).  Do we dare decide that our own lives and those of our families (and protecting ourselves from perceived or possible danger) are more important than the lives of the Syrian refugees?

ALL people are made in the image of God and loved by God, not just Christians or Americans.  Jesus died for Syrian refugees and ISIS terrorists as much as he died for any of the rest of us.  How we must hurt God’s heart when we act superior and allow fear to rule our thoughts and actions instead of compassion and love.  After all, fear and love can’t exist together, for “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).  When we trust God, there is no room for fear or self-protection, because we are placing our welfare in HIS hands instead of our own.

So, do we really trust God?  We have the opportunity to demonstrate whether we think like the Israelites did when facing Goliath, or whether we think like David did (1 Samuel 17).  The Israelites were ruled by fear and frozen by the possibility of Goliath’s victory; but David was ruled by his trust in God and could only see God’s imminent victory.  Can we, as Christians, be different than those around us and choose to love and care for others instead of acting from a stance of fear and self-protection?  And can we make an effort to use the power of social media to advance truth and God’s ways instead of being deceived by the enemy and his many schemes?  What would Jesus do?