Father, forgive us/them, for we/they know not what we/they do.

Let me begin by saying that the attacks in Paris were horrific. To go into an urban nightlife setting, blend in for a while, and then detonate yourself killing everyone around you evil at its core. Regardless of a claim of a religious or political war, killing innocents is evil.

France is a country that has had more than its share of atrocities in its history, and each time is has come back better and stronger than before. This also brought back into light the power of ISIS and the realization that they are a legitimate threat not only to those around them, but anyone, anywhere in the world. If they can kill hundreds in Paris, they can do it in America.

Sadly, however, this is neither the first nor the last terrible tragedy carried out by terrorists to rock the globe. As is always the case, the nations around the world hone in on the attacks and offer prayers, condolences, and aid in exacting revenge. Each time something terrible like this occurs, it becomes an unfortunate, yet real opportunity to America and Christians to set a good example to the rest of the world.

We have failed again.

Following the news that ISIS was behind the attacks, I knew what was coming. Everyone would undoubtedly focus their attention not just on ISIS, but on Muslims and Islam.

We experience something like what happened in Paris, and we are quick to react with disgust and support. While these reactions are healthy and necessary, we too often become examples of hypocrisy. Again, as I have mentioned before in earlier posts, I am the worst person to be talking about hypocrisy, but I just can’t keep quiet.

In less than 3 days, we have all changed our Facebook profile pictures, we’ve reiterated our hatred for Islam and Muslims (we may not directly say ‘I hate Muslims’, but our actions make the point clear”, and we’re all ready to kick out the Muslims and make America great again, in the name of God.

How sad.

How sad is the whole situation.

While I, by no means, support Islam, I simply cannot forget that Muslims are people. I feel like when things like this happen, we are so sure that these people are the epitome of evil, and therefore God hates them, which we use to justify our hatred for them. Instead of calling for the refusal of refugees, and for the heads of the terrorists, shouldn’t we be praying for them and showing them the love of Christ? I mean…that’s what the Bible says, so why do we assume there’s an “exemption clause” in the Bible for terrorists who blow themselves up among the innocent? God loves an ISIS terrorist the EXACT SAME AMOUNT as he loves my favorite preacher and your favorite worship group. His love covers all and everything, except the terrorists, apparently…

Now while I realize this may come off to many people I know as a defense of Islam and terrorist, don’t worry, its not. It’s a defense of the love of God that I’ve personally experienced. I live in an area of the world that hates Muslims, and pretty much anything not evangelical Christianity, which is sad. When events happen like in Paris, I cannot help but feel my heart break not only for those who died, but those who killed. No, this isn’t a changed perspective after the fact either, this is honestly what I feel when I hear of things like this. My mind goes from the second they detonate their suicide vests, backwards. I rewind and wonder what they were thinking the morning of, day before, week prior, and years leading up to their death. I cannot fathom the kinds of horror and hell they must have been exposed to that somehow persuaded them that blowing themselves up in a crowd was the best possible way to use their life.

I look around me and see people throwing up their Jesus shields. “I’m a Christian, so I’m against Muslims, and they’re my enemy since they do not believe the same as me and people murder in the name of their religion.” The same day of the Paris attacks, 2 ISIS suicide bombers blew themselves up in Iraq and killed nearly as many people as the terrorist in Paris did. THE SAME DAY. Where was that news? Where were those prayers and thoughts? Who changed their Facebook pictures for those people? Somehow Parisian lives are different than Iraqi lives. Somehow, woman and children being slaughtered in the Middle East on a daily basis is barely news-ticker worthy. We hear of those things and think, “well, that’s just what they do,” so we are unaffected. Tens of thousands of butchered, burned, raped, and enslaved in Africa EACH DAY, yet that is just normal to us.

As Christians, our offenses are misplaced. We are offended and moved by an attack on hundreds in Paris, but indifferent when hearing of attacks on thousands on a daily basis in other parts of the world. We’ll voice more opinions over Starbucks’ “war on Christmas” than we ever will about the innocent dying.

I once heard a story of a speaker at a Christian college that will forever change the way I view events like this. The story goes…

            A speaker was once invited to speak at a Christian college. He knew that Christian college students attended chapel services so regularly that all the speakers and sermons blended together, and they were seemingly numb to the speakers’ efforts to “shock them” into paying attention. Knowing this, he began his talk by laying out some facts about starvation and poverty. “Every hour, 30,000 people die from fixable food-related problems. So in the 30 minutes that I will speak, 15,000 people will die, most of whom will have never heard of Jesus Christ.” The room was silent, maybe a random sound of attentiveness. “15,000 people will die without hearing of Christ’s love for them, and none of you give a shit.” Gasps. More Gasps. The President of the college and other professors don’t know whether they should interrupt him and escort him out, or let him continue and notify him afterwards that he is never invited back. People are definitely paying attention now. “See, that’s our problem” the speaker says, “we barely move a thought towards the news of people dying of starvation, but I utter a single word of profanity, and we are up in arms ready to fight.”

This is where I find myself. I find myself being the speaker in the situation. I was once a student in the story though. Sticking to my “I’m saved, my family is saved, let me hurry and die and go to heaven before I slip up and sin.”

We cannot be that way though. Its anti-Bible. Christianity is a movement of the realization that we are nothing, God is everything, and that despite our nothingness, He loves us with His everythingness. Being angry and upset at terrorists is natural and ok, but to remain that way is to disallow the grace of God that saved us, to save others that may not be like us.

Again, I often ramble and have a hard time condensing novels of though into a few pages, but I hope this makes sense. In my “Jesus-high” moments where I feel His love more real than anything, I cannot help but to be pulled back into a realization that more people have never experienced this feeling than those who have.

Yes, we should be careful who we let into this country, but to reject all refugees seems very unbiblical to me. I cannot picture a Jesus living among us today agreeing to refuse those in need. Could bad people hide among the good? Of course, but that’s a chance we are called by Christ to take. We should jump at the chance to help those in need. While I may disagree politically with allowing entire countries-worth of people into ours, when I look on the grace and love God has shown for me, I am left with no choice. While hanging from a cross, half dead, with nails in His hands and feet, and a sword shoved into His side shortly after receiving the literal most amount of lashings possible before death, Jesus didn’t pray just for those He loved and who agreed with His ideas. He prayed for the very soldier shoving the sword into His side.

We say be follow Christ, but we only follow the things we like. If these men can be radical for their faith (at least they think its their faith) and kills people, are we not then supposed to be radical for ours and love. They kill without thought, therefore, Jesus calls us to love without thought. We go to church and feel warm and fuzzy inside when we say we hate the sin and not the sinner, but when we see the sinner sinning by murdering innocent people, we suddenly don’t think that applies to them.

I have to be better. We have to be better. The majority of Muslims are like us, non-violent and tolerant of people. So, if they see the “bad apples” in their religion making a bad name for them, and Christians responding with love, then their reaction will be one undoubtedly of curiosity as to who the God is that Christians serve.