On Easter Sunday, news came from Pakistan that a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device filled with nuts, bolts and ball bearings. The explosion killed at least 72 people and injured well over 300 others in a large park in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The explosion was set off near the main gate of the park a short distance away from the swings in a children’s playground.
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Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (“Assembly of the Free”), a militant Islamic group claimed responsibility for the attack. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar made the following statement to The News International:
“We proudly take responsibility for the suicide attack in a park in Lahore. The members of the Christian community who were celebrating Easter today were our prime target,” he said.
When asked if women and children were their target as most of those killed in the blast were women and children, the Taliban spokesman said they were not on their hit list.
“We didn’t want to kill women and children. Our target was the male members of the Christian community,” he maintained.[2]
So how does the Christian community respond to hatred displayed by these militant, Islamic groups? Persecution is not a new concept for the Christian church. From the time the church began in the Roman Empire, the Christian church has been growing in spite of a constant threat of violence from those who oppose the church.
Stephen Neill in his book titled History of Christian Missions, wrote these words, “Undoubtedly, Christians under the Roman Empire had no legal right to existence, and were liable to the utmost stringency of the law. . . . Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life.”[3] Neill’s comments about the church centuries ago sound remarkably modern.
Throughout the history of the church, Christians have known that their beliefs invite a certain level of risk into their lives. The risk of persecution is normal for the church and for centuries, people have been becoming Christians under the threat of violence.
Historically, these persecuted believers have been retaliating with love instead of hate. All the way back in the third century, the Roman Emperor, Julian, was wanting to restore the worship of the Roman gods. He was running into difficulty because more and more people were being drawn to Christianity. He was terribly frustrated with these Christians. The Emperor wrote:
[ The Christian faith] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the…Galileans [who ignore the Roman gods] care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.[4]
It is costly to follow after Christ and our response to this latest tragedy should follow suit with Christians who have faced persecution in centuries past. Our heart breaks for those who not only hate the church but who hate Jesus. Romans 12:14 calls Christians to “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” The Biblical response to persecution is never hate, but increased faith in God:
· Faith that God will always help us in our loss and make us even more satisfied in Him
· Faith that God’s love will sustain His church and that God’s power gives us the ability to forgive others who commit unspeakable crimes.
· Faith that losing our life in this world for the gospel is of little significance in light of never ending life in heaven
· Faith that God can change the heart of a terrorist in Pakistan much like He changed the hearts of so many people throughout history.
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