ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), sometimes called ISIL (change the Syria to Levant,
which includes all of the Eastern Mediterranean), they all share a commonality. They represent
the unchecked base and depraved nature of mankind that is given over to fully do evil under the
guise of the Muslim faith.
The considerable banter of President Obama and his cabinet with conservative media over why
thousands of young people are flocking to join the terrorist cause has vividly proved that our
leaders don’t or won’t address the root cause. Obama’s notion that providing jobs, education
and a better quality of life will thwart the movement, while somewhat helpful, misses the mark.
His admonition that Christians should avoid getting on their “high horse” in light of the
Crusades, Inquisition and Christian Germany’s persecution of the Jews, is right, but for all the
wrong reasons. His defense of Muslim terrorists on the basis of others having sins is age old
and he needs to be reminded that two wrongs don’t make a right.
Do Christians have the capacity to do wicked things and commit hypocritical actions? Paul said
it best in Gal. 5:16-17, “But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the
flesh, for the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are
in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Further, he
writes in Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in the flesh; for
the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not
do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.” Oswald Chambers put it this way, “There is
no criminal half so bad in actuality as I know myself to be in possibility.” As Christians we
must walk by the Spirit, die to the flesh and put to death the deeds of the body, or we too, have
the capacity for unlimited evil (unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, wrath, malice, etc., etc).
So, what is the attraction of these groups? The terrorist movement caters to fleshly and
demonic desires to cast off all restraints and steal, kill and destroy, and to do so with impunity.
They claim to wage an Islamic holy war by killing all the immoral infidels, while they themselves
commit barbaric atrocities. Their actions are in keeping with a movement steeped in
darkness, supernaturally empowered by the father of lies and devoid of the “Light of Life”.
Next week we talk about this “Light of Life” and contrast His lifestyle with terrorism.
