An Open Letter to Christians in Iraq

“What are we holding on to, Sam?”

“That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

To the churches that are in Baghdad, Anbar, Fallujah and all in the nation of Iraq, greetings.

I ask that the Lord we all worship bless you in every way He will; keep your faith strong, your spirits high, and your hope secure, that in your country’s time of trial and tribulation you may work to bring peace, joy and stability to a region that so desperately needs it. And join me in thanking Him for every blessing in your life, every reminder that He is there, He is sovereign, and history ultimately marches toward His plan of redemption for every tribe, nation and tongue.

Over here in Singapore I fear most of us cannot empathize with your sufferings, and for this I beg your forgiveness. We will probably not know what it is like to live in fear for your life, fear of militants roaming the streets and setting up stations of death and bloodshed all through your cities and streets to take the lives of fellow image-bearers of the Lord. But in closing his epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul said we should bear one another’s burdens, and I hope in this address to you we fellow Christians may keep you in our burden of prayer and, I hope one day, brotherhood in the kingdom of God.

Before the Americans came you enjoyed a period of relative freedom from persecution by Saddam Hussein—he preferred to conduct campaigns of terror against his Shi’ite rivals and the Kurdish minority to the north. Now he is gone, but his programs of bloody hatred live on; in the al-Qaeda occupiers and Iranian Revolutionary Guard units that continue to spill the blood of American and Iraqi alike.

These terrorists, no matter what name they may go by, are the true occupiers of your land, eager to throw you under the same blanket of terror you endured under Saddam and his Ba’athist believers in Syria, but worse—sharia law as interpreted by bin Laden and his ilk, a horror to rival the persecution of our forefathers and brothers in China, Burma and elsewhere. Maybe worse—the Chinese and Burmese governments have no desire to repress faith outside their own borders, while the Islamists readily export the carnage whenever they have the chance. Have any Americans discussed this with you, in whatever times you can safely share matters of faith and politics?

And bear in mind that with Saddam’s departure, your freedom to speak of such matters is assured; under him you would never have had so much of a whisper. Now, you have freedom to choose what government you want over yourselves. This gift is America’s to you—they come not as conquerors but liberators from Saddam’s regime, and that you may create a future that tells al-Qaeda in no uncertain terms that you will join the battle against the poison of their ideology. Plus, that the God whom they reject now stands as their forgiver… but in the future as their Judge.

Don’t hold it against America either; as every nation will, one day her people will stand before His judgement seat. Contrary to the propaganda of your aspiring masters, God will not find them the Great Satan; He will most certainly not find them angelic paragons of virtue either, so many are their own errors and strengths, their lapses in moral judgement and their righteousness, their sin and rot, honour and courage.

You know; like people. We like sheep have gone astray—and even when the Shepherd calls us we do not always follow. But continue, in His strength, to love us, love one another, and love whatever is good, honourable, righteous and holy.

And extend that love to your enemies, as Jesus Himself commanded. Speaking of which, here I want to share a weapon with you; a weapon that, when wielded with faith in God and trust in His word, will go a long way in breaking down the walls of hatred that divide your people. I’m not a sociologist, but as a fellow-labourer I urge you to pray.

And I don’t just mean privately. I don’t just mean in the confines of your own church, or wherever you meet for a time of prayer that isn’t likely to draw the attention of the militant thugs to you. I want there to be a day and/or night of prayer, where thousands dedicate the future of their nation to God. Christ said as a city on a hill cannot be hidden, neither can His people pretend their actions have no consequence on the lives of others around them.

What do we have that the thugs do not, and how can we make the eternal love and value of every human life in heaven known to the average Iraqi? I’m afraid I’m going to be rather short on specifics, but I feel a prompting to suggest:

Be more visible.

We want to hear you denouncing and actively rejecting the seeds of communal discord bin Laden wants to plant among the soil of men’s hearts. Jesus used the analogy of ideas as seed, sown according to the farmer’s wishes in this soil—some of it is rock- hard and unyielding to the Word, other areas are poor soil that take it in but never let it germinate and grow into the strong plant it was meant to be. Still others let it grow into a nourishing tree.

(I’d like to add another category. Some take poisons deep within the soil, and with the evil one’s help infect the seed and corrupt it into growing thorns and strangler figs. An eyesore and a deadly hazard to any plant nearby.)

I am sure the call is clear; resist and help expose the strangler figs for what they are. Rather than throwing out the American “conquerors” they have only shown their desire to rule over you, no matter how much innocent blood they must shed in the meantime. One of the things the Lord hates is “feet quick to take innocent blood”. Are these, you people of Iraq, the kind of rulers you want?

Still upon the subject of prayer, why not hold a rally? You have seen the Islamists do this, loudly roaming the streets and chanting against the Americans under the charms of clerics like Moqtada al-Sadr. Men like him know they have magnetism, visibility and all the trappings of charisma—and they use this power for destruction of their fellow Iraqis. How much more can these qualities do, when wielded for the side of good? Show them we have a Lord who was dead and is alive again, and who stands ready to forgive rather than judge? “I tell you the truth,” He told the thief hanging beside Him on the cross, “today you will be with me in Paradise.”

(The Islamists are frankly like the other thief, who see salvation in plain sight but still insult—worse, reject—it.)

Book a stadium, or an aid station—anywhere you can gather in numbers enough to send the message of a united front—and launch into a time of corporate prayer for your country. Have your pastors meet, commiserate, and share plans to reach out to the needy, the weak, and yes—the enemy. It doesn’t matter how small a percentage of population you make up, for God can work mightily with one man or a thousand, so long as your lives are consecrated to Him. Learn from great revivals of the past, like Ireland in the 1920s or Cali, Columbia in the nineties—when His people unite, God can and has accomplished great things even in a world as sin-darkened as this. Iraq will do His will; but remember He is a merciful God above a vengeful one, and takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. “If my people,” he promises, “who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Do not fear the extremists, or anyone who can only harm the body but do nothing to the soul. Easier said than done, but God has placed His angels where we least expect them—and for your pain and loss I will grieve with you. Why He did not prevent these disasters I have no answer but this--that their sacrifice will not have been in vain if your country can, with His blessing and aid, maintain the freedom so much has been given for.

And I can point you to the words of Christ Himself, who says it all better than I can:

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

(Revelation 2:10, KJV)