Motivation: Fear or Love?

From Roy Oksnevad, director of Muslim Ministries at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College posting on Warren Larson:

It is my contention that the Christian community or Church needs to keep its priority on presenting Christ in the midst of turmoil. The Church is to be compelled by the Love of Christ (II Cor. 5:14). In fact the love of Christ (I John 4:18) should be stronger than our present fear. Books such as Hammonds focus on the bad in Islam. I doubt that it has any feel for the struggle that Islam is currently facing. The sad thing is that Muslims have no answer to the current crisis. The Church does!

When I speak in churches and I am asked about the dark side of Islam, I talk about the current political situation in which Jesus found himself. The Romans had perfected human torture to a fine art form. The government was very corrupt necessitating Jesus’ parents to flee as refugees to Egypt and to move out of the area of Jerusalem for self-protection. The religious leaders were corrupt and had lost the true vision of their faith. Yet, Jesus’ message was not to feed the fears, apprehensions, and tensions under which the occupied peoples lived. He preached the gospel. We the Church need to do the same.

Read the whole thing. (2 pages)