Burning the Qu'ran

I get it.  I totally understand the frustration of Christians that even America seems to give Islam a free pass on whatever it wants to do, and yet seems to be fighting Christianity every step of the way.  I understand that it is infuriating when the news media turns a blind eye to attacks on Christianity and then raises the alarm at the slightest insult to any other faith community.  That indignation is righteous indignation, the US Army even burned the unsolicited Bibles that churches sent to Iraq, and it sure didn't make this much news.  The Church, is under persecution.  Persecution doesn't always take the same form.  It is not only martyring believers and throwing the saints in jail, it is also marginalizing and attacking the church socially and psychologically.  That said this indignation does NOT give us the right to lash out against others in anger or pridefully assert our right to do the same thing they did. The Bible says:

How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(Heb 10:29-31)

Let God repay those who act against the Church, let us, in the meantime, act in a spirit of peace, love, and humility. Justice belongs to the Lord of Heaven.  When Paul in Acts 17 spoke to the Greeks, he didn't deface their holy materials, he respectfully used them to demonstrate that they were wrong and shared the Gospel.  The Beast of the Book of Revelation wasn't conquered by protest and book burnings, it was the "word of their testimony" and the blood of the Lamb.  Jesus rebuked James and John for asking that Jesus call down fire from Heaven on the Samaritan village that rejected them.

Standing up for the Gospel in a way that makes you a martyr is one thing, making martyrs out of others (believers and non-believers) is another thing entirely.  Soldiers will die for this book burning.  Believers in Islamic communities will (and have already) die for this book burning.  Are our brothers and sisters being put at risk for the Gospel?  No, this isn't the Gospel.  The Gospel is what those brothers and sisters were already proclaiming in these countries.  This is a show, an act of frustration, desperation, and anger.  The Church, especially the Church that lives under the persecution of Islam needs our prayer.  Here are a few prayer requests passed on by Christian Solidarity Worldwide by leaders of congregations in Muslim lands:

“Things are very, very difficult here…Several Village Heads who reported on Boko Haram have …been killed and then yesterday Boko Haram attacked Bauchi prison. The situation in Maiduguri is very tense. Please be praying for us. We need prayers for God’s grace and survival…We are the ones who are going to bear the brunt of [the burning of the Qur’an]. Since we saw news of what he plans we have been weeping and mourning. Ramadan will end here either end today or tomorrow. People are already moving their families away for safety.”
—From a pastor in Maiduguri, Nigeria, scene of the 2006 cartoon riots and the worst of the 2009 Boko Haram violence

“In northern Nigeria the tension is high. We are in great panic because if this occurs it will be worse than 2006, and most of our churches will be burnt down. If you can plead with those people to stop the burnings it will help us.”
—Anglican Bishop Musa Tula of Bauchi, Nigeria

“As I write the Iraqi Army Colonel has just left. He had a clear message: “There are plans to blow you up because of what the Pastor in Florida has said about burning the Holy Koran”. There is nothing we can do to protect ourselves. The army is being sent to us in force to try and protect us, what they can do is also limited…”
—The Reverend Canon Andrew White, Anglican Chaplain to Iraq
Provided by The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East

(Thanks to Michael Scott Horton for the prayer requests and some of the inspiration for this post)

Please pray for the church.   

This is the church

This is the church, which does the work of Christ on earth. Its members are a little flock and few in number, one or two here and two or three there, a few in this district and a few in that. But these are they that shake the universe; who change the fortune of kingdoms by their prayers; these are they who are the active workers for spreading the knowledge of pure religion and undefiled; these are the lifeblood of the country, the shield, the defense, the stay and the support of any nation to which they belong.


J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

The Church (building) today

I just came across this article by R.C. Sproul on the lessons for modern church design that we can learn for the tabernacle (Here is the link).  I found it quite interesting.  Dr. Sproul points out that the design of the tabernacle in the Old Testament was meticulously laid out by God Himself down to the threads and linens of the gowns and furnished with the most costly and beautiful materials known to man.  In fact, the very first people mentioned in Scripture as being indwelt by the Holy Spirit were the artisans who worked on it.   There are more chapters of the Bible devoted to the construction of the tabernacle than in the whole book of Romans.

Now, obviously the Law has been fulfilled in Christ and the rules of regulations of the Old Testament temple system no longer apply--we don't need to build our churches to tabernacle specifications.  However, Sproul argues that there are principles under those specifications, just like the principles that undergird the Decalogue and the rest of the Law, that should instruct us on what is true and good.

Sproul's argument is that the actual church building is meant to appeal to the senses as a place dedicated to God, something that points to and reflects a Sovereign Lord up above.  He specifically mentions, in modern church buildings, how the church used to be built around a raised pulpit, reflecting the primacy of the Word of God.  Modern churches now have movable pulpits, if they have them at all, so that the church can look more like a concert hall than a place to sit under the Word.  The old testament tabernacle was meant to point towards the heavenly through all senses, through the beautiful sights, the beautiful sounds of psalmody, and even the beautiful smell of incense.  

I'm not sure exactly where I stand on all of this.  A big part of me reacts against the grandiosity (or, occasionally gaudiness) of high church cathedrals and what not, desiring instead a simpleness and humbleness of design.  How much of that, however, is just a function of what I'm used to and my Protestant reaction against all things Roman Catholic?  It also seems like the grand churches, in the Protestant world, are those pastored by shallow televangelist types who care more about appearance and prosperity than really understanding and teaching the Scriptures.  The money spent on beautifying the buildings could best be spent on the community, and in the mission field.  Then again, however, that option existed in the Old Testament too, and that is not how God commanded Israel's resources be spent.  Obviously there is a wrong way to build grand churches (e.g. selling indulgences to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica), but maybe the Romists have this one, at least partially, right.

Does a utilitarian multipurpose facility church really point to the majesty of the Lord the way it should?  I'm honestly not sure.  There's probably a happy medium here (and I think that's probably Sproul's position, coming from a Reformed background), where churches don't have to be spectacular marvels of architecture, but merely are designed in such as way as to display proudly and conspicuously their goal of being a light to the world and the majesty of God.  We can't expect a small congregation the third world to build a cathedral.  In fact many early New Testament churches met in homes, not dedicated church buildings.  Nevertheless, for congregations with some means, there may be a lesson here.  At the very least we shouldn't necessarily leap to judgment when we see a congregation spending seemingly excessively on a new church.  What do you guys think?