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I think it’s easy to get scared when we think about the future. What if Trump becomes president? What if ISIS takes over America? What if China becomes more powerful than America? What if the world ends?

People are scared.

They’re scared of the end times, of illness, of finances, of relationships, of the next president, and even of Syrian refugees.

Refugees are dying as they try to escape their war-torn nation, but people are so afraid of them that some nations are literally building walls. This diagram gives a really good idea of about the walls nations are building to keep others out.

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This is not meant to be a political debate on whether or not nations should build walls to keep immigrants out. This is meant to be a discussion on the fear I see in the world; and why Christians are living in it.

We are afraid of poverty, of disease, of religions, of people who are essentially different than ourselves.

Meanwhile hungry and desperate people are fleeing their war-torn nation for a shot at life, at survival. And people are responding by building fences and throwing tear gas at them. The refugees not only find themselves homeless, but also unwanted at every turn.

Can we stop for a second and imagine what that feels like?

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Think back to a time in your life where you felt unwanted, where you were chosen last for a sports team, or you weren’t invited to the party, or your best friend turned on you. Remember how that felt? Try multiplying it a couple thousand times and then maybe, just maybe, we might understand what they are going through.

I don’t care about their religion, their race, their culture, what they look like or smell like. They are people, with families, feelings, and dreams, and should be treated as such.

One of the women on the World Race just wrote this blog in Bulgaria about how locals feel about the Syrian refugees. One of them said: I don’t believe they are refugees… It is an invasion. Maybe 10, 20% are women and children. They will destroy Europe.”  

People are afraid of refugees coming and bringing their muslim beliefs with them. It seems to me that people with fear of being “taken over” have completely forgotten the power of the gospel.

The last time I checked God has overcome evil. The battle was won when Jesus died for our sins. And it is our responsibility to live like we have won, like conquerors.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  Romans 8:37

Conquerors aren’t governed by fear. They don’t build walls to keep people out. They don’t hoard away their goods. They go out and seek to overcome darkness with light.

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And it’s not just in Europe that people are afraid, I know of a lot of Christians stateside who are terrified of the world we live in. They plan to hide in their nice house with plenty of food, until Jesus comes back and saves them from this evil world.

I just can’t see hiding being God’s plan for redemption. We are the light of the world. As such we should bring light to the darkness by going there.

The Christians who live in hiding completely ignore Jesus’ final commandment: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. They are living like Love has lost. It hasn’t.

Love is the most powerful force on the planet; it’s the only thing that has overcome death.

So why are we living as if it has lost?

It seems to me that a lot more Christians afraid of what is to come than excited for what Christ can do in and through us.

Maybe the problem of fear is not really trusting that God and his love really won. It’s not fully understanding how all-consuming God’s love is. It’s not believing that perfect love casts out fear.

We are God’s grand plan for bringing his love for the Earth, we are co-heirs with Christ, and Jesus himself said he will do greater things than him (John 14:12). So why are we letting our fear hold us back from doing what we were put on this planet to do?

It’s time for us to stop letting fear dictate how we treat the poor, the broken, the homeless… the refugees.

Church, fear has had us building walls and hiding for way too long. We are the agents of change on this good, green Earth and it is time for us to start acting as if we believe it.

 

3 Responses

  1. SO GOOD! But seriously, why is the church going into hiding when we already won the war? This message is overdue and sorely needed.