What's the Christian response to terrorists?

"But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." – Matthew 5:44

Do you know what to make of terrorists such as suicide bombers? Do they seem like alien beings who have taken human form to torment mankind? Are you capable of loving them? Can you ever imagine praying for them? Can you imagine doing good to them? Did Jesus really mean to include them when He said "love your enemies"?

These are questions that many of us perhaps have never thought about, and with good reason: The immediate gut reaction we have when we hear of another suicide bomber blowing himself up along with 50 other people is one of revulsion, disgust, incomprehension and anger. Have we ever considered that each and every one of these suicide bombers was created by God and that God loves them as much as He loves you and me? What should the Christian response be to terrorists such as suicide bombers?

A good place to start would be the words of Jesus in His sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:44: "But I say unto you, love your enemies ..." Just like the question "Who is my neighbor?" put to Jesus by a lawyer triggered the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29) we must ask "Who is my enemy?" Aren't the enemies I'm supposed to love people like the rude driver who cuts in front of me in traffic or the boss who didn't appreciate my talents and gave "my" promotion to someone else? Are we really to give terrorists the honor of being our enemies so that we have to love them? Isn't that carrying things a little too far – I mean, who can love these people who want to blow us up and destroy our very way of life? You and I can, and must, if we are to follow the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus didn't say "love some of your enemies" or "love only those enemies who aren't trying to kill you" – he said very clearly: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44). Well, the suicide bombers certainly hate us and are persecuting us, so they perfectly fit the description of people Jesus commanded us not only to love, but to bless and to pray for. How do we bless suicide bombers? How do we pray for them?

We can bless suicide bombers by praying for them. What should we pray? God may direct each of us to pray different things for them, but some things that come to mind are (1) that they repent from becoming suicide bombers; (2) that they fail in their attempt to blow themselves and others up; (3) that Jesus touch their hearts and they accept Him as their Lord and Savior; (4) that they stop believing the lies of Satan as told to them by so-called religious leaders – such as they will instantly enter paradise upon blowing themselves up; and (5) that God forgive their sins.

Should we really pray for God to forgive the suicide bombers? Well, if Jesus can pray "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" for the very people that nailed him to the cross, and St. Stephen can pray "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:60) for the people who were stoning him to death, I do not think it is too much for us to pray for the forgiveness of the suicide bombers.

I believe that one reason suicide bombers have so greatly proliferated and seem to be increasing in frequency each day is that the Body of Christ – the Church – has failed to pray for them. It seems that we believers, as the Body of Christ, have totally excluded suicide bombers from our prayers because we are so stunned by the total depravity and inhumanity of their acts. Well, you and I can change that by beginning to pray for them right now. If millions of Christians worldwide began praying for the repentance of suicide bombers and for Jesus to touch their hearts, I am confident that God would answer those prayers in the spiritual realm and that we would see the difference in the physical realm. I believe that if we all started praying fervently, the seemingly endless supply of suicide bombers would begin to dry up, just as the supply of abortion doctors has dried up in answer to our prayers.

After all, as St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Like every problem that plagues mankind, fighting terrorists and terrorism is a spiritual battle that must be fought in the spiritual realm, with trembling, prayer and fasting.

One of the many blessings I experienced in preparing this article is that I began to pray for the suicide bombers and for God to bless them and to touch their hearts and for them to turn away from the path they have chosen. I believe that God is eager to hear all of our prayers for the suicide bombers and that He will honor our prayers.

As St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). If we fail to pray for the suicide bombers, I believe we are allowing evil to overcome us. But if we pray for them, we are overcoming evil with the goodness of our prayers. Let's start praying for them this very day and keep praying until each and every one of them has been delivered from the clutches of Satan. When we pray and show God's love for the suicide bombers, we may be surprised to learn that the suicide bombers are not the only ones who have been delivered and that we ourselves have been healed from the hurt in our hearts.

Source: Cyrus Zal