Terry Jones and the Koran Stunt

Unless you've been hiding under a rock lately, you know who Terry Jones is and you have heard about his (now canceled) plans to publicly burn thousands of copies of the Koran on 9/11, which is the anniversary of the world trade center suicide bombings. And, like The Good News We Almost Forgot author and Michigan pastor Kevin DeYoung recently pointed out, you have probably noticed that it seems like "everybody and their brother has denounced this event and wants to see it halted." Well it has been halted. But according to the Globe and Mail it wasn't because Pastor Terry Jones bowed to international pressure, it's because he never intended to burn the Koran in the first place. The whole thing was a Stunt With A Purpose. After telling NBC that he will 'not now, not ever' burn the Koran, he explains "that his Gainesville, Fla., church's goal was 'to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical.' He tells NBC that 'we have definitely accomplished that mission.'"

Does This Change Everything?
Now that we know Pastor Terry Jones' reasons for pulling this stunt, namely, that he was attempting to expose Islam's inherent radicalism and extremism before the world, should this change our opinion of him? Let's recap: (1) His stated goal was to 'expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and radical'--not of Muslims, but of Islam: there is a core element of the religion itself which results in extremism; (2) The world panicked, not because it valued tolerance (that too, though,) but because it came to a realization that Islam is dangerous and that a show of disrespect to it could result in the loss of many lives; (3) Where many formerly made the case that Islam is a religion of peace, their logical fear has made them realize that I. that is not true, and II. that they never really believed that in the first place. All in all, dare I say it, the eccentric pastor of 50 in Florida has done pretty well. It's not every day that a small time pastor of a declining church can truthfully claim to have exposed Islam before the eyes of the entire world. Let me clarify, had he actually burned the Koran, I had a condemnatory blog post all thought out, lined up, and ready to roll. But now that he has said "I never intended to do such a thing: I just sat back and let Islam show itself for what it really is," my opinion is changing. My opinion is changing because his intention seems like a good one. I'm no fan of Islam, and I do believe that it is inherently dangerous and not of Divine origin (quite the opposite). My opinion is changing because he seems to have succeeded in his efforts. My opinion is changing because Pastor Jones has done this at the risk of great harm to his life, and because he did it even though all the world would hate him, and he took all of that personal damage in stride just to get this done. Those are things that could change my opinion of this whole debacle.

What We Should Do Now
How should we respond to the events of the last few weeks/months?

First, we should love all Muslims. Christians who believe that the origins of Islam are pretty dark should not respond with hatred, but with compassion: if we believe them to be trapped by a harmful, destructive, and demonic worldview, then our weapons should not be billboards and megaphones and book burnings; they should be our time and energy and mercy; We should "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12.21). Show Muslims the way through love instead of demonstration.

Second, we should not be quick to cut off Christians who take unpopular stands. One of the results of Relevant-style Christianity (see: cool christianity) is that we, in the name of relevance, tend to disassociate from anything or anybody that could make people think negatively about us. Even if those things or people are actually not all that bad in the first place. We do this because we want people to like us and say good things about us, but sometimes we just have to say, about the guy who calls Islam evil on national television, "actually I'm going to have to side with him on this one." Take the hate, and give love. If you only say popular things, you become a sycophant, and nobody wants to hear the words of a flatterer and cultural groveller.

Third, we as Christians should strive to learn about other religions. One of the critiques of Terry Jones was that Christians should learn about people that they disagree with instead of holding small-minded book burnings. That advice is pretty solid, I think. How can we preach to people we don't understand? Find your nearest Buddhist, Muslim, or Wiccan book shop and ask for some recommendations. You can't convince someone to follow Jesus if you don't know what their beliefs are or how their thoughts are being formed through what they are reading. Therefore, be voracious readers: seek to know those who you would try to reach with the Gospel.

Fourth, we should put our identity in Christ, not in our nation of birth. In my original (planned) denunciation of Terry Jones, I was working off the impression that he was letting his felt offense as an American overshadow his real identity as a follower of Christ: I though t that he was doing all of this only because he wanted to send a message to Muslims to leave America alone, or else. Even though his reasons have been stated more fully than that now, Terry Jones reminds us that we should "seek the good of the city" (or nation) where we are in but that we should not necessarily identify with it and see it as our home. Our home is with Christ in heaven; here, as 1 Peter makes clear, we are just passing through.

What are your thoughts on this whole news event?

-SEAN