Meanwhile many have watched with horror at the extreme persecution of our brothers and sisters around the world, especially in Africa. I saw this story posted on Facebook and found it encouraging.
Nigeria: Christians Will Not Retaliate Church Attacks - CAN
Akure — National President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor yesterday said Christians will not retaliate
despite killing of their members and attack on churches in some parts of
the north.
Oritsejafor said at CAN's extra-ordinary council meeting of in Akure
that the association will continue to pray for the peaceful co-existence
of the country.
"We will not encourage our people to carry arms against anybody
whatsoever the situation may be. For those that are behind Boko Haram,
you come to us with AK47, bombs, charms and other dangerous weapons, but
we come to you in the name of God.
"I want to assure Christians in Nigeria that Christ has always been
with his people. He will never give victory to those persecuting
Christians and the Church. Whoever is trying to exterminate Christians
and Christianity from Nigeria is neither pleasing God nor his people",
he said.
Why do Americans not trust God and rest in Christ in this way? Perhaps we don't really believe what He has said, that He will never leave us or forsake us, that we are blessed when we are persecuted, that we must overcome evil only with good. Why is it that those who face real persecution for the faith seem the least concerned with defending themselves?
The general attitude in America is that we need to send missionaries and clergy to Africa to teach them about the Gospel.
Sometimes it sounds to me like we need Africans to come to America to teach us instead.
4 comments:
We in the West have no clue.
The CAN leaders and the church in Nigeria are to be commended for their stand. Praise God for the example they are setting.
But can you give an example in which an American church has been attacked and then sought retaliation against its attackers? I don't think so. So actually, you are assuming a hypothetical here. ("If this happened in America, church leaders would be promoting violence.") That's a monstrously huge assumption.
Debbie I think you forcing an assumption into my post. It is without question that the general notion of personal defense through violence is widely accepted in American evangelicalism (thus my point about hypothetical situations).
We in the West have no clue.
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