USA (MNN) — As the Muslim world continues to react to the decision of a Florida church to burn the Quran, one ministry says the law of unintended consequences could restrict the freedoms of Christians in the United States and other western nations.
President of Open Doors USA Carl Moeller says just the announcement of the Quran burning by Pastor Terry Jones with the Dove World Outreach Center has caused issues for Christians abroad. "We have churches being threatened just with the threat of the Qurans being burned. We're under pressure. We're under threat. And it's just going to get worse."
Moeller says it's not just Christians in Muslim nations that will feel the effects of these "unintended consequences." He believes Christians in the United States will feel it, too. "The backlash here in the United States will probably produce a wave of sympathy for Muslims. We could well see local, state and national legislation introduced that severely limits a Christian's ability to challenge Muslims on theological grounds."
This pastor is playing right into the hands of Satan, says Moeller. "The enemy is delighted when people end up hating one another. Hatred is the law of the enemy. Love is the law of Christ."
Moeller continued, "Brother Andrew [Founder of Open Doors] has always said, [the] Islam [acronym], in the Christian mindset, should always stand for I-Sincerely-Love-All-Muslims. That's a hard pill for some people to swallow."
While many say Islam is a religion of peace, the outcry from this situation speaks loudly. "This religion takes no prisoners," Moeller says. "It is a religion of violence. It really does provide ample opportunity for the extremists to lash out against Christians."
How does this help evangelism? Moeller says, "That's a question that's hard for me to answer. I can only see the human side of this."
What he does know is that God is sovereign and He does have a plan for the Muslim world. However, this controversy will make it difficult for Muslim outreach. "How much harder it is for them to hear that message when they are blinded by these hate-filled invectives against them by this church. It's very hard for us to know."
In the meantime, Moeller has signed a letter that's being published in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal saying, "Christians don't behave this way. It's a clear statement of unity among evangelical conservative Christians and other Christian denominations."
Moeller is asking you to pray that Christians in the Muslim world would be protected from potential violence, that the anger of radical Muslims would be quelled, and that Christians would show love rather than hate for Muslims during this time.
