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On the news recently is a church in Gainesville, Florida that is preparing to burn copies of the Koran (Quran) on September 11, 2010.  9 years after the horrific acts of violence against peaceful civilians perpetrated by fanatical believers in Islam, the world continues to wonder, “Where is the outrage by the members of this “peaceful” religion?” Many of us remember the dancing in the streets in muslim countries around the world.  We remember the words of hate against our nation by members of muslim communities living within our borders.  What we did not see was outrage at the acts of violence nor did we hear muslim leaders denouncing the senseless, barbaric murder of thousands of non-combatants and the destruction of private, non-military property.

And that is what marks the difference between Islam and Christianity.  As this congregation in Gainesville calls for destruction of copies of the Koran, thousands of Christians around the world are lifting our voices in outrage at this act.  No, we do not believe that the Koran is a “holy” book in the same way that we believe in the Bible, but we DO believe that the destruction of objects held to be holy by over a fifth of the world’s population is not conducive to guiding the adherents of that religion to knowledge of the Truth and to freedom from what is obviously a religion based on hate and falsehood.

There is a great difference between the two religions.  Islam has been spread at the point of a sword from the beginning.  The contents of the Koran incite muslims to kill those who do not submit to conversion to their religion.  But what does the Bible say about these tactics?

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Islam spreads at sword point. Christianity spreads as people come to knowledge of the Truth and freedom in Christ as ideas are compared and as patterns of thought are changed.  No where in the New Testament are we taught that the Christian religion should be spread by violence.  On the contrary, we are called to turn the other cheek to those who come against us.  We are taught to treat kindly those who revile and persecute us.  And thus we have.  After September 11, 2001 many Christians have gone to countries where Islam is the only allowed religion – and they have served the people there in love.  Doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers and more have gone to places where to profess their faith publicly in Christ would result in their death.  And many of them HAVE been put to death.  One of the latest incidents of which I am aware took place on August 5, 2010 when a team of western aid workers was put to death by members of the Taliban.  Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility. He told reporters, “They were Christian missionaries and we killed them all.”  The men and women who were put to death were in a remote area giving eye exams, dispensing glasses and also taking care of dental needs and maternal needs.  For this they were put to death by “The Religion of Peace”.

Yes, there are many differences between Islam and Christianity.  But Christian weapons for the spread of the Christian faith are not of this world. We teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His message transforms the heart and mind of the hearer.  We are not forced to capitulate to the call to follow Jesus the Christ – He respects our free will. And so, as Christians, we denounce those who DO appeal to worldly weapons such as fire.  We stand against those who use violence to promote supposed faith in Jesus the Christ.  This does not mean that we agree with the Koran or that we believe that those who follow its teachings are not in danger of hell.  It means that we prefer to talk with them and reason with them.  Just like the Lord said in Isaiah, “Come, let us reason together.”  The teachings of Jesus the Christ stand on their own merits.  We do not have to destroy other holy books, the Bible has undergone such persecution and yet it stands stronger today than at the beginning because now we have two thousand years of history showing the power of the Gospel to transform lives.

Together with this condemnation against those who do acts of violence in the name of Jesus the Christ, I also bring a challenge to the adherents of Islam.  If, as you claim, Islam is about peace – STAND UP PUBLICLY AND DENOUNCE THOSE WHO DO VIOLENCE IN THE NAME OF ALLAH.  If you are not able to do so, then it is obvious that we are right in claiming that Islam is a religion of violence and war.  Real Christians will not burn the Koran, nor will we kill those who follow it simply because they do not believe what we preach. We do not hate muslims.  Our enemy is not flesh and blood, he is spirit.  And so our weapons are spiritual weapons. Our battle for the minds and hearts of those who believe in lies that satan has crafted with the purpose of deceiving the world and turning them against their Creator Who loves them and prepared a Way in which they can turn to Him and obtain true peace.

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