CLARITY
A Biblical Response to Current Events – 7-31-20
Aliens Shouldn’t Be Surprised
What’s Happening: “You’d think a courtroom would be safe…you’d be thinking wrong! In an Associated Press article earlier today, U.S. citizen Tahir Naseem was reported to have been gunned down and killed in a Pakistani courtroom where he was being tried on what many consider archaic Islamic blasphemy laws. The U.S. State Department may have complained, but Mr. Naseem was just as dead. Why he was even in Pakistan was not clear…what was clear was that he was being accused of proclaiming himself as a prophet, something forbidden by Islamic law. Although there are scores on death row for violating blasphemy laws, no one has recently been put to death. Asia Bibi, famously found innocent of blasphemy after being held for eight years, flew to Canada recently to join her daughters amid death threats from local Islamic radicals. (https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-says-man-gunned-down-111652610.html). Quoting the article: ‘We are shocked, saddened, and outraged that American citizen Tahir Naseem was killed yesterday inside a Pakistani courtroom,” the State Department statement read.”
Knee-Jerk Response: “I guess it doesn’t matter what country you are from!”
Biblical Response: “Legally, no; you are to be governed by the laws of whatever country you are in…which is why ‘everyone’ wants to come to America. Being here means you get all our protections. Reminds me of a conversation between Pontius Pilate and Jeues where Pilate asked Him if He was a king? (John 18:33-37) We all play by the rules of whatever country we are in. Sometimes that’ Good News (1 Pet. 1:1), sometimes it’s not (Acts 7:6).”
“Peter and John learned this the hard way as they were forced to obey a higher law (read: Acts 4:1-33).”
“Christians? Oh, we believe we are not from around here (Eph. 2:19; 1 Pet. 2:11). Still, being that the Lord saw fit to leave us in this world, we should not be surprised when the laws of this world sometimes are not in our favor. That doesn’t mean we souldn’t try to fashion our own laws to resemble the laws of our kingdom…just to not be surprised that they are different,”
Here’s a Prayer You Can Pray: “Heavenly Father, help us to regard ourselves as the aliens we are…yet to try and conform this world to our perspective; in Jesus’ Name, amen.”
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