But Radical Christianity Is More Threatening Than Radical Islam

A few days ago Rosie O'Donnell on the television show "The View", had the audacity to say that "...radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam...." Ms. O'Donnell's outburst spurred a corresponding outcry from the hallowed halls of conservative blogs, fellow Christians and theologians across this great nation. Despite her malicious and venomous stance against Christians, I agree with Ms. O'Donnell, that radical Christianity is more threatening than radical Islam, although I doubt that she and I see eye to eye as to why that is so.

Consider this. During the first century A.D., in the center of the Roman Empire, a group of people were so thoroughly feared and consequently persecuted to the point that they were made into sport and fed to a group of ravenous beasts amidst the cheers of onlookers in the Coliseum.

This group, regardless of age or race, was so feared by the Romans and other denizens of those days not because they regularly impaled themselves against the spear or the sword shouting "Allah Akbar". Nor did they regularly disrupt the peace by their violent demonstrations and illegal protests against the empire. They certainly did not drag catapults around and ram them against Roman temples and palaces in the hopes of collapsing them to kill as many "infidels" as they could in the process.

This group of people were feared because they dared to bow their heads and bend their knees to worship the one true God. In a time and age where the Caesars where considered gods, they dared to publicly denounce these rulers as no more than mere men, subject to God's rule, knowing full well the penalty for such an act. They made a mockery of every temple and every palace built to worship the deity of the day by gathering together in fellowship and worship in someone's humble abode. They made laughingstocks of the different priests, servants and temple prostitutes with the their unwavering faith and obedience to the one true God. And they accomplished all that without shedding other people's blood but their own.

This group of people, headed by ordinary men and women with names like Paul, Peter, John, Apollos, Priscilla, Aquila and Barnabas, traveled throughout the Roman Empire and carried with them the extraordinary good news of a God who loved this world so much that He gave his only begotten Son to die for our salvation. They brought with them the teachings of a God who became man so He may show us the meaning of true and everlasting love. This group of people where considered radicals because of how they loved their friends AND their enemies and their unwavering love and devotion to Christ.

Radical Christians are they not?

Before we go any further, let me make one thing very clear, men and women such as these who first and foremost loves God and are out in the world spreading God's word and His wisdom in a truly loving fashion are not to be confused with the abortion-clinic bombers, gay bashers, hate-mongers, Klan members, or neo-Nazi freedom fighters who proclaim "Glory to God," as they wreak havoc and violence with their actions. They are no more Christians than they are anarchist and they are to be denounced and brought to justice like any other law-breaking individual intent on doing harm.

On the other end, those who proclaim "Glory to God" as they look down on their brothers and sisters and cop the attitude of "I'm holier than you and you're not getting into heaven, neener, neener" legalist may classify themselves as Christians but they are nowhere near radical. They personify the demeanor which existed among the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Christ's day and they, more than anything, effectively illustrate how Christian witness can be turned onto its head "in the name of God" of course.

Today's radical Christians, as with all the others who have preceded before them, hold true to most (if not all) of the following tenets:

"First, that Christianity is objectively true and that the Bible is God's written word to mankind.

Second, because Christianity is true it speaks to all of life and not to some narrowly religious sphere.

Third, in the area of our relationship with God, true spirituality is seen in lives which by grace are free to be fully human rather than in trying to live on some higher spiritual plane or in some grey negative way.

And fourth, the reality of the fall is taken seriously. Until Christ returns we and the world we live in will be affected by the disfigurement of sin." (courtesy of L'Abri Fellowship, www.labri.org)

And finally, because we are fallen, and our nature sinful, God sent His only Son to die on the cross to save us; "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to earn our way into God's kingdom. It has all been done for us.

As radical Christians, we have no mantras nor chants to abide by. We have no need to instill hatred in our young for the chosen people of God. We are not required to subdue and dominate are women and children. We do not cry out for assimilation into a religion bent on conquering the world. We do not call for tolerance on one hand and crush those who dare raise an objection to our beliefs on the other. And most importantly, we are not dependent on the whims and fancies of a willful god and his prophet whose teachings have been skewered to suit a cause rooted in dominance and hatred. We are not required to sacrifice our lives and limbs and take out as many of the enemy with us so that maybe, just maybe, we can earn ourselves a seat on the flight to the garden of Allah and have some 70 young virgins attend to our every needs.

As radical Christians, our beliefs can be summed up in "The Apostles' Creed" the text of which follow, and our way of life is dictated by God's manuscript - The Bible.

We live fully human lives under the grace of an ever-loving God. We are not perfect but as long as there is sincere repentance in our hearts and we come for forgiveness, an always forgiving God guaranteed our place in heaven. And as long as we are obedient to His will, we are able to affect change not by the sword, but by the truth of His word.

We are loving, tolerant, obedient, charitable and generous, not because of some oblique promise of the good life in some obscure garden, but because we are commanded by the God we serve. We are righteous in our anger against evil and the ungodly, and firm in our opposition of injustice not because of some cause we do not fully comprehend, but because we uphold truth and we are perpetrators of justice.

We are vigilant in protecting those who are weak and constantly in prayer to God for we recognize that our strength and our compassion can only come from Him. Our faith demands complete submission and unwavering obedience to an omnipotent God.

As radical Christians, we have a far harder road to travel and yet we journey joyfully, fully trusting that the Lord will carry us through. We have no need for weapons or doctrines of hate, for we are equipped with God's armor and in a world committed to sin, nothing is more threatening or frightening than the love of the Lord Jesus Christ as conveyed through and by His radical Christian disciples.

The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body
and life everlasting
*The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.