Clear & Present Danger

As believers in Christ, we have two visible vicious enemies. They each provide a different approach to destroy us, but they have the same goal – annihilate the Christian faith and replace it with their own.

The first one is secular humanism. This is the faith in human ability and potential. Adherents to this religion believe in will power, self-sufficiency, and individualism. Their hope is to remove all followers of Christ from the public square and shame or intimidate them into silence.

The second one is Islam. Muslims are a cultural, spiritual, and physical threat. Where secular humanists pose only a cultural threat, Muslims are also a spiritual and physical threat.

The secularists only want Christians to be quiet and stay out of the way of their self-indulgent mockery of divinity.

Muslims want to force Christians to abandon their faith and/or be destroyed by the hands of Muslims. The Muslim faith is a path of hatred for anyone who does not believe as they do. Christ teaches those who follow Him to love their enemies. Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

Here are some verses from the Qur’an (the authoritative book of the Muslims) that reveals the evil violent nature of this destructive religion.
2:190–193 “Fight in the cause of God those who fight you … And slay them wherever ye catch them … And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in God … ”

2:216 “Fighting is prescribed for you and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But God knoweth and ye know not.”

2:224 “Then fight in the cause of God and know that God heareth and knoweth all things.”

3:157–158 “And if ye are slain or die in the way of God, forgiveness and mercy from God are far better than all they could amass. And if ye die, or are slain, Lo! It is unto God that ye are brought together.”

3:169 “Think not of those who are slain in God’s way as dead. Nay, they live finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord.”

3:195 “ … Those who have … fought or been slain, verily I will blot out from them their iniquities and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath; a reward from the presence of God … ”

4:101 “ … For the Unbelievers are unto you open enemies.”

4:74, 75 “Let those fight in the cause of God who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who fighteth in the cause of God whether he is slain or gets victory, soon shall we give him a reward of great (value). Those who believe fight in the cause of God and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil, so fight ye against the friends of Satan, feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan.”

4:89 “They but wish that ye should reject faith as they do, and thus be on the same footing as they. But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of God. But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them … ”

4:95 “Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt and those who strive and fight in the cause of God with their goods and their persons. God hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than those who sit (at home).”

5:36 “The punishment of those who wage war against God and His apostle and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land. That is their disgrace in this world and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.”

5:54 “O ye who believe. Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily God guideth not a people unjust.”

8:12–17 “Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): ‘I am with you. Give firmness to the believers. I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. Smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger tips off them. This because they contend against God and his apostle. If any contend against God and his apostle, God is strict in punishment … O ye who believe. When ye meet the unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. If any do turn his back to them on such a day, unless it be a stratagem of war … he draws on himself the wrath of God and his abode is Hell, an evil refuge (indeed).’”

8:59–60 “Let not the unbelievers think that they can get the better (of the godly). They will never frustrate (them). Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies of God and your enemies and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom God doth know …”

8:65 “O apostle! Rouse the believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred. If a hundred they will vanquish a thousand of the unbelievers, for these are a people without understanding.”

9:5 “ … fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war) … ”

9:14 “Fight them, and God will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame.… ”

9:29 “Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and his apostle nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth (even if they are) of the people of the Book, until they pay the Jizya [religious tax] with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

47:4 “Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks, at length when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them).… but if it had been God’s will, he could certainly have exacted retribution from them (himself), but (he lets you fight) in order to test you, some with others. But those who are slain in the way of God, he will never let their deeds be lost.”

61:4 “Truly God loves those who fight in His cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure.”

“A simple reading of such Qur’anic passages makes it obvious how easy it is for many Muslims to feel hatred and enmity against Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims.”^[1]

So what should we do as Christians?

With the secular humanists we must be subversive. We must work from the inside out. Sharing our hope in Jesus with love and authenticity we must help them see the light of Jesus, as their friends and not as their judges. This means we do not need to boycott, intimidate, talk down to, or separate from them.

With the Muslims I recommend we be subversive and separated from them. I believe we must seek to share Christ with them as we would anyone. At the same time we must not be accepting of them in public life. This is a barbaric faith and should not be welcomed by anyone who loves Jesus. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? ¹⁵What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?”

I am not advocating violence, as they do. Nor am I suggesting that we be spiteful. I am suggesting that we be honest with ourselves and with them about what their faith teaches them to do and why. We must call evil what is evil and not receive it as though it were good.

---

^[1]Norman L. Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam : The Crescent in Light of the Cross, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 2002), 320.