Theodore R. Whistlemeyer here with a tale of Woe! Of Danger! I am verily a voice crying out in the wilderness, a watchman on the wall!
Do you realize the mess we’re in here folks? Syria is disgorging its disgruntled masses, “refugees” from their own socialistic mismanagement, all set to flood all of Christendom in the name of political asylum. Kosovo is purging its streets! Albanian beggars and Iranian goatherds have abandoned their hovels in exchange for greener European and American pastures! Nigerians and Iraqis and Pakistanis, oh my!
Let us call this what it is, my friends: war.
This is nothing less than an invasion by Kurds, Turks, Yazidis, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians, Nigerians, Kosovars, Eritreans, Syrians. And let us be blunt, my friends: a Muslim by any other name still smells….well, smells.
Our great and glorious leader, Imam-in-chief Barack Obama has announced his own plan to invite 10,000 of these advance troops to cross the River in order to spy out the land! If nothing else strikes terror into your hearts, consider this, my fellow Southern Baptist Conventioners: there’s 10,000 of them and 15,500,000 of us. They got us trapped between Ellis Island and Pearl Harbor.
You been warned! Now…
Please turn in your hymnals to number 430, “Just As I Am.” We’ll follow with just the chorus from “There’s Room at the Cross.”
Unprecedented.
The refugee crisis on the other side of the world is a mass migration that approaches historical proportions. Roughly 14 million Indians moved in 1947 during the partitioning of India and Pakistan. About 12 million Africans moved to the New World during the slave trade. Eastern Europe saw 20 million people relocated following World War II. Coming in at nearly 7 million, the current multi-national migration has its birth in a perfect storm of economic woes, political turmoil, war, famine, and oppression. The continuation of trouble in various hotspots only serves to enlarge the numbers on the move.
But that’s not what is so stunning.
“Unprecedented” refers to the blindness of the Theodore T. Whistlemeyers of the world. Examine the following map. Study it well because we’ll be reviewing it.
There’s a civil war in Syria, which is spilling into Turkey. ISIS controls increasing portions of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, with an eye on expansion. Lebanon, sandwiched between war on the east and the sea on the west, serves as a highway for refugess and others who join the mass movement along the way. Taliban pressures in Afghanistan and Pakistan chase villagers towards the northwest; of course, an earthquake just shook the region so add that in as well.
Palestinians are tired of dying. There’s more war in Libya. Egypt erupts frequently, starting with Arab Spring. Oppression and poverty in Eritrea drives thousands towards the sea as well. Chad, as always, seems to stagger along. Their citizens join with neighboring human streams flowing northward.
Once they cross, they encounter economic shambles in Greece. To the north, Albania’s unemployment levels reach 60% for some groups. Macedonia isn’t much better, especially for the Roma.
Syria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chad, Palestine, Libya, Egypt, and Eritrea share a certain set of characteristics. They either decline entry to Americans and missionaries, or they adhere to forms of Islam that resist evangelization.
This massive migration breaks hearts, but let’s put this in perspective for Teddy and his ilk.
Roughly 7 million migrants are departing their predominantly Muslim countries – places we cannot enter. They are fleeing their cloistered cultures and are heading directly towards places where Christ’s name has been known for centuries. They are away from laws that forbid their knowing the truth of Christ. They have few mosques in which to hide from the light of the world. They depend on the kindness of strangers; of course, Christians are exactly the kind of strangers who are driven to be kind, and gentle, and patient, and loving.
Christians and their churches have an opportunity like never before, and instead of taking advantage of it they’re hiding behind the curtains hoping the knocking at the door will cease.
What, exactly, are we afraid of?
“They’ll bring their religion!”
Does this threaten you? Oh…I guess your YHWH’s arm is too short. If only you possessed some form of truth that is stronger than their incorrect view of the universe.
“They want to impose Muslim laws!”
They probably wouldn’t if they knew about Christ.
“They hate us!”
Not yet, they don’t. We’ve not rejected them just yet. Give them time, though, and our refusal to love them will indeed earn their hatred. Or – just thinking out loud here – maybe we could love them right off the boat.
I have friends in some of those closed countries we listed. They work hard and obey the law, but always seek ways to share their faith with those who seek the truth. They risk angry families and intolerant officials. They live in the shadow of the Taliban and under the far-off threat of ISIS. Governments are learning how to keep us out, and the day may come when my friends have no choice but to return to the US. How can we tell these people of Jesus, who loves them?
How? Got any ideas, Mr. Whistlemeyer?