Based on the title of this note, you can see where I’m going with this, so buckle up!
As you may have heard, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida made international headlines by declaring September 11, 2010 “BURN A KORAN DAY”. Pastor Jones somehow managed to provoke an official statement from the Whitehouse, President Obama himself even condemned his plans. I must admit, whether you agree with it or not, it’s AT LEAST a marvelous publicity stunt. Pastor Terry Jones went from pastor of a 50 member church, to potential VP candidate for the republican party. 
In agreement with all loving and compassionate Christians, I firstly want to say, that I believe burning the koran accomplishes absolutely nothing in the spiritual realm where the war is really fought. God loves muslims, Jesus died to save them, and He is, at staggering rates. One of the greatest revivals in the history of the world is happening right now across the middle east. The Son of God is continually reaching into the hearts of muslims across persecuted, war-torn lands everywhere. His love is winning the day.You see, Islam is not our problem in America, nor is it a threat to the church. The greatest threat to America is not the deception of the koran, it’s actually the truth of the bible. Let me explain. America is filled with people who identify themselves as “christian” in census reports and polls, but as we know, nothing could be further from the truth. America is not a Christian nation, nor has it ever been. In fact it’s impossible to have a “Christian nation” The only Christian nation would be the New Jerusalem. Over the course of history, sure some of our leaders were men and women of devout faith in Jesus, but their salvation is not imputed on the USA, anymore than me standing in a garage makes me a car. Salvation is a gift which can be freely received by all men, the blood of Jesus must be appropriated by faith, or else we remain guilty before God. YES, hell is real, Jesus literally resurrected from the dead on day 3, and He’s coming back. So there’s my disclaimer, let’s talk about the koran.
- Would Jesus burn the koran?
The day is coming when everything will destroyed by fire. The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
Which being translated means… Planet earth is a ticking time bomb.
Throughout the old and new testament, throughout church history, Christians have always lived with the confidence that the day of justice was coming. John heard a choir of martyrs under the throne of God crying out for justice in Revelation 5,“How long till you avenge our blood?” When they were sawn in half, beaten, crucified, burned at the stake, fed to lions, forced out of jobs, tortured, and imprisoned it wasn’t simply because they circled “Christian” on the census report, it was because they were faithful and true witness of the TRUTH of God’s word. With their lifestyles and with their preaching they testified against the evil deeds of the world and exalted TRUE LOVE. They were not conformed to the patterns of the Roman Empire or the Church of England during the time of the reformation. As Christians we have a long history of being salt and light in a dark and blistered world. We were told by our Lord to expect persecution, to take no thought of our lives, to live for eternity, to die to ourselves, that we might live. However, we were also called to love our enemies, which is where most of the confusion settles into the church. If God loves muslims, how could we burn a koran? What type of Christian would do that ? What type of love is that demonstrating? These are the questions Americans have been asking themselves lately. I’m amazed at how many people who call themselves followers of Jesus actually disagree with nearly EVERYTHING JESUS taught, rather than looking to the word of God, we find popular preachers to agree with our heretical views. The majority does not determine truth, the majority is always against truth. Here’s a (sarcastic) hypothetical thought to consider. Let’s just say that Jesus really does love the whole world , let’s just say He really does desire all to know Him… let’s say, that He is standing in the midst of the mosque with outstretched hands, pleading with muslims to turn to Him. What is the first thing Jesus would do if He went into a mosque… I mean we know what He did in the synagogue, He flipped the tables over and went rage against the machine for second… so picture it… Jesus standing in a mosque in front of a table of Korans…. unlike Pastor Terry Jones, he knows the demonic lies inside of those books, He’s well aware of how many countless millions have been killed because of those lies, He knows the name of every little girl that has been raped, beaten, tortured, He knows all of the Rifqa Bary’s who never made it to the bus stop. Does Jesus stand there and ask the iman to sit down for coffee in an ecumenical sort of way? ABSOLUTELY NOT….
- So what does that mean for us?
The bottom line is this…. there is a wrong way and a wrong time to do a right thing. The battle is not ours, but the Lord’s. Our weapons are not carnal, but mighty in Him. I believe that the koran along with every wicked “sacred” text from every false religion should be burned… but that won’t solve the problem. The problem is in man’s heart. If we burn all the books, cd’s, magazines, etc… mankind would find an animal and worship that animal, if we killed all the animals, mankind would paint a picture of a mythical creature and worship that. This is why as Christians, our calling is not to burn korans and curse islam, our calling is to follow the way, walk in the truth, and preach the life of Jesus. Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me” He was referring to His death on the cross, not being mentioned in a sermon. As the church we must begin to preach the message of the cross. In order preach that message, we must understand what it represents. The cross of Jesus Christ is far more than our ticket out of hell, it is the demonstration of God’s love, righteousness, justice, peace, and character. 1 Corinthians, says that the cross of Jesus Christ is both “The wisdom of God and the Power of God”. Preaching without the cross, is both foolish and powerless. So on one hand I applaud Pastor Jones for his willingness to make a statement that the koran is a lie, but I would suggest rather than burn them, we simply hold out the word of life, which is not just the bible, but us well, we are the living letters that muslims and the world should be reading. If our bible is true, but our lives our false, we will correct the wrong problem, which is precisely what Pastor Jones is doing. In His heart of hearts, I’m sure he’s sincere, but he has zeal not according to knowledge. The day is coming when every knee will bow and tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. For some those will be the last words they utter before being cast into the lake of fire. My heart as a Christian who has been found by God is to demonstrate the love of God by preaching on the cross, by telling men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel. Because of His death, we can now live. Rather than exchanging bibles for korans, let’s exchange hearts that are dead in sin, for hearts that have the law of God written on them, that have been pardoned by the blood of Jesus.