My God Doesn't Need Me to Burn Books

I serve a big, big God.  My God is large enough and powerful enough to speak the universe into existence.  My God is above the heavens and wider than the most powerful of telescopes could ever see.  There is no one like Him.

There are many others that men have called gods.  In ancient times they were called by names such as Ra, Baal, Asherah, and Zeus.  Sometimes, they went without names.  Sometimes man would name a stupid, carved-out stick as a god.  Today, they are given names such as Allah.  In any case, they are all worthless and small, and only exist in the minds of those so deceived and deluded to believe in them.   Hope is not found in dead idols but, rather, in the Living God through Jesus Christ.

Because my God is real and living I do not have to fear the religion of others, nor do I have to stoop to the point of proving it through ridiculous means.   Recently, a so-called pastor from Florida thought he would do God a favor and burn many copies of the Koran.  I’m not sure just what he thought he would be proving, but if He knew the God that I know, it would be totally unnecessary.  My God does not need those books burned to prove Himself.  In fact, He has sent those of us that know Him to be the light of the world, with the Gospel message on our lips wherever our feet should take us. 

Fortunately the Florida pastor called it off, but I suspect the FBI and Pentagon had greater influence on that decision than the man’s wisdom did.  Unfortunately, it did not stop others from acting as ignorantly and to the glee of an biased, main-stream media looking for any reason to blame Christians for the source of their troubles.  (Why else would the media give such inordinate attention to an otherwise unheard of pastor of a 50 member church?)

When others protest my God in Arab-Muslim nations and burn the Bible, I do not get outraged.  I do not demand apologies or seek reparations of self-perceived and falsely claimed damages.  Why not?  Because the burning of books does not diminish my God.  The fact is, evil men were the instruments God used to place His own son on the cross.  The Bible is His inspired Word—His revelation of Himself to humanity.  It is not just another book but I can always print more of them. 

Persecution has never slowed the work of my God and His church.  In fact, God often used it as a catalyst for growth of His kingdom.   He doesn’t need my defense.   I’m also confident that the vengeance my Lord will pour out upon them is far more just and severe in its delivery than any speech or demonstration I can pour forth against them.  And, He will judge them!  But, I pray they would repent and receive forgiveness rather than their just reward in Hell.

In contrast, when a deluded pastor who thinks he’s serving God burns the Koran, the Muslim nations that hate us rise up in great offense.   They demand apologies and burn us in effigy.  They call it an act of war.  They prove the smallness of their god.  They prove the inferiority of their faith.  When they imprison and slaughter Christians in the name of Allah, they show that their god is so much smaller than my God that there can be no comparison. 

It is true that the Scriptures record a Christian book burning.  In Acts chapter 19, the account is told of many sorcerers in Ephesus coming to faith in Christ.  When the sorcerers became believers they burned their own books as a demonstration of their repentance and new faith in Jesus.  They weren’t commanded to burn them nor did they burn the books of anyone else.  It is not the same as what the fool in Florida wanted to do.  This is not what God has called us for.

My God loves me, desires me, even uses me…in spite of me!  I am by my own nature a wretched sinner.  Even so, He loved me so much that He veiled Himself in flesh, in the person of His Son, to live a sinless life as a man and accepting the limitations of the flesh.  He lived 33 years on this earth to die a cruel death on the cross at the hands of ignorant, sinful men.  He died, paying the penalty of sin as a righteous substitute for men that could never acquit themselves of their sin.  Three days later God raised Him from the grave that I could live forever if I would simply trust Him.   He has forgiven my sin and I have cast myself into His mercy and salvation where He holds me forever in the palm of His hand.  He has called me that I might call others to have true, eternal life in Him.

My God is life and to be separated from Him is death.  Allah is no god.  He is not even dead because he has not existed.  He is false and his "words" in the Koran are a lie. Therefore, he can do nothing but lead to death.  I do not need to defend my God or demonstrate against something that is not real.  (I may need to protect my wife, children and country from people who do not agree with me, but that’s for another blog.)  My God has always been my confidence and the palm of his hand secures me from whatever evil may come my way.  I have no reason to burn books but every compulsion to give an answer to anyone who asks me for reason for the hope that is in me.  His name is Jesus…and He is THE Living God and the One to whom we will all give an answer.