Walls were a huge part of my world culture as a teenager. Speaking of post-WWII Europe, Churchill said that "an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." The Berlin Wall was a very real manifestation of that barrier that closed off much of Europe from the outside world.
The "Commies" were seen as enemies, hiding behind a mysterious and impenetrable curtain, sneaking out only to infiltrate us and destroy our culture. Nikita Khrushchev's ominous threat to the West was remembered long after it thundered through the meeting hall of the Polish Embassy: "We will bury you!"
I can remember the joy that I felt when the iron curtain lifted and the Berlin Wall crumbled. What had seemed so insurmountable only a decade before was now a pile of rubble.
There's another wall left in our world, more like a silken veil, covering the Muslim world. Don't be fooled by the delicacy of the silken veil -silk is stronger than steel. This wall has resisted over a thousand years of attempts to breach it -by force of Crusader arms, political intrigue, and peaceful Christian missionaries. A region which contained 20% Christians as little as a century ago has seen that decline rapidly to an estimated 5%. There are many scholars who fear the disappearance of the Gospel from this land altogether.
Like the Iron Curtain before it, the veil hides people seen as enemies -"terrorists" who sneak out only to infiltrate us and destroy our culture. Like the other wall, once we get a chance to peek behind it, we find people who are a lot more like us than we thought.
Walls keep things out. The enemy has placed this silken veil around a whole region of the world to keep out the message that Jesus saves men from their sin, that we can be born again, that we must be born from above to inherit the kingdom of God.
The veil is doing it's job, according to the Joshua Project, only 2.5% of the foreign missionaries sent by the US actually go to unreached areas. An astonishing 80% go to countries where Christianity is already the predominant religion. Why? In part it's because in our minds the veil is big, and scary, and so is what lies behind it. The veil is also a real barrier in some ways, with laws that keep out those who seek to spread the Gospel.
How will such a formidable veil ever be torn?
We find the answer in the Words of Isa:
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Isa will build his Church, and the veil will not withstand it. He is already tearing it apart with dreams and visions, drawing men and women to him just as he promised he would:
If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.
The veil won't be torn down with military might or political rhetoric. It won't be torn down by facebook, Coca Cola, and blue jeans. Only Jesus has the power to save those behind the veil. The veil should not stop us, it cannot stop us. It challenges us to do more, to seek the great treasure that lies trapped behind it -nations in need of the hope of the Gospel.
The Holy Scriptures teach that we must "throw off everything that hinders" and be willing to "suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ." We must throw off culture, pride, arrogance, and the smug satisfaction of our own supposed superiority. We must throw off even our religious culture, and the pretense that American Christians have all the answers. When we strip away everything but the glorious truth of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God he preached, then we will be ready to follow him through the veil. Will you join those praying for that blessed day?
The "Commies" were seen as enemies, hiding behind a mysterious and impenetrable curtain, sneaking out only to infiltrate us and destroy our culture. Nikita Khrushchev's ominous threat to the West was remembered long after it thundered through the meeting hall of the Polish Embassy: "We will bury you!"
I can remember the joy that I felt when the iron curtain lifted and the Berlin Wall crumbled. What had seemed so insurmountable only a decade before was now a pile of rubble.
There's another wall left in our world, more like a silken veil, covering the Muslim world. Don't be fooled by the delicacy of the silken veil -silk is stronger than steel. This wall has resisted over a thousand years of attempts to breach it -by force of Crusader arms, political intrigue, and peaceful Christian missionaries. A region which contained 20% Christians as little as a century ago has seen that decline rapidly to an estimated 5%. There are many scholars who fear the disappearance of the Gospel from this land altogether.
Like the Iron Curtain before it, the veil hides people seen as enemies -"terrorists" who sneak out only to infiltrate us and destroy our culture. Like the other wall, once we get a chance to peek behind it, we find people who are a lot more like us than we thought.
Walls keep things out. The enemy has placed this silken veil around a whole region of the world to keep out the message that Jesus saves men from their sin, that we can be born again, that we must be born from above to inherit the kingdom of God.
The veil is doing it's job, according to the Joshua Project, only 2.5% of the foreign missionaries sent by the US actually go to unreached areas. An astonishing 80% go to countries where Christianity is already the predominant religion. Why? In part it's because in our minds the veil is big, and scary, and so is what lies behind it. The veil is also a real barrier in some ways, with laws that keep out those who seek to spread the Gospel.
How will such a formidable veil ever be torn?
We find the answer in the Words of Isa:
I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Isa will build his Church, and the veil will not withstand it. He is already tearing it apart with dreams and visions, drawing men and women to him just as he promised he would:
If I be lifted up I will draw all men to me.
The veil won't be torn down with military might or political rhetoric. It won't be torn down by facebook, Coca Cola, and blue jeans. Only Jesus has the power to save those behind the veil. The veil should not stop us, it cannot stop us. It challenges us to do more, to seek the great treasure that lies trapped behind it -nations in need of the hope of the Gospel.
The Holy Scriptures teach that we must "throw off everything that hinders" and be willing to "suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ." We must throw off culture, pride, arrogance, and the smug satisfaction of our own supposed superiority. We must throw off even our religious culture, and the pretense that American Christians have all the answers. When we strip away everything but the glorious truth of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God he preached, then we will be ready to follow him through the veil. Will you join those praying for that blessed day?
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