Terry Jones...Again?

I can’t believe I am writing about Terry Jones again. The pastor who threatened to burn Qur’ans last year made good on his word last month. Apparently the reasons to abstain from this particular public display (public safety, protection for our troops) were outweighed by the importance of the message of warning the world against Muslim extremism.

On the other side of the world, at least a dozen people have been murdered as a result of riots in Afghanistan in reaction to Jones’ Qur’an burning.

I am dumbfounded that one act by one man in Florida can spark incendiary ripples that influence people he’s never seen or met in Afghanistan. I am grieved and disappointed by how he chose to use that influence. We live in a country where the right to burn Qur’ans is protected, even if not condoned. At the end of the day, Terry Jones can burn whatever books he wants.

But that doesn’t mean he should.

In reading and listening to interviews with this pastor, I have been disturbed by his automaton-like response to the deaths of UN workers – “The responsibility should be laid upon the people who committed the acts….The recent events are an example of the violent nature of Islam. Just because a book was burned, they used this as an excuse to retaliate.”

This “see! They are violent!” response lacks any compassion for the people who were killed, deflects any responsibility for inciting the riots, and ultimately preaches a “gospel” of passive-aggressive hate-mongering. This is a far cry from what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Paul is free, and he uses his freedom not to burn books, but to become a slave to all so that he might be a participant of the Gospel.

Terry Jones didn’t pull a trigger. He didn’t lay hands on people and murder them. It would be condescending to suggest that the murderers who did this are so incapable of independent thought that they are absolved of responsibility. Hear me: they are culpable. They are despicable.

But Terry Jones has influence, God help him. And what did Terry Jones do with his influence? Did he share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His grace and salvation? Has the word “Jesus” even come up at all in any of his interviews? Let’s say people watch Terry Jones burn Qur’ans and somehow are led to accept the message that Islam is violent. Then what? What are they turning to?

In Acts 19:23-46, Paul is involved in inciting a riot, and this is the kind of influence I pray that believers strive for. Businessmen and shrine makers are disturbed by Paul’s message because people are being pulled toward Gospel and away from the shrine of Artemis. Paul didn’t hold a public shrine-burning. Paul preached the Gospel.

Terry Jones’ message is more about sensation than salvation, more condemnation than compassion. Our quest as Christians is to aid in saving lives through sharing the healing and transformative message of the Gospel.