by: Jason Williams
ISIS recently released a video and pictures of beheadings with a threat to what they called the #nationofthecross. However, Christianity is not a nation. Nations rise and fall, but God declares His followers to belong to a Kingdom without end.
Nations are composed of an isolated group in an isolated place, but Christ’s Kingdom has no boundaries. It exists in the hearts of believers in every nation, including the ones currently occupied by ISIS. All around the world today millions pray to Jesus, some silently, some loudly, in many different tongues and in many different time zones we bow to Jesus.
A nation has a king who demands obedience, but the Kingdom of the Cross has a leader Who simply asks us to accept His love. He does not demand that we do things to prove this love; instead, He simply shows us His love by reminding us all of that sacred object you included in your videos: The Cross.
The Cross is a symbol of what makes our Kingdom different from any other kingdom. You see, no other kingdom has a king who stepped down from his throne, a lord who abandoned his home, a great who became the least, a god who poured out his heart to romance a world that is torn apart, but our Kingdom does and that King is Jesus Christ.
Our King is the only King Who asks nothing from us, but on a cross gave us everything. Other kings may demand that their followers do things like force their children to kill strangers and themselves, but our King gave Himself for strangers like you and me. This is why the Kingdom of the Cross will survive any and all attempts of destruction.
The love of Christ has helped us survive Roman emperors, the Spanish Inquisition, other kings and rulers, and it will help us survive ISIS.
We are motivated by His love. We are moved my His compassion. We do not feel we must prove our love to Him by dying, but we are drawn to a God who died for us. It is His love that inspires us to serve and tell others about Him.
In fact, the attacks by ISIS have done nothing but motivate the Kingdom of the Cross to share the love of Christ even more. When we saw those pictures and videos, we were moved, but not in the way you anticipated. We were moved to tell even more people about Jesus. We realized that our faith is not focused on petty squabbles within our Kingdom, but should be wholly moved to tell everyone, yes, even ISIS, about our King who never asks that we kill for Him, but Who instead died for us.
Jason Williams
Assistant Pastor
High Street Baptist Church
Columbus, OH
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