Repent or Die

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An old message is crying out from the wilderness and the city streets these days.  It is the message of John the Baptist and Jesus, to repent and turn back to God.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ - Mark 1:14-15

But while Jesus and John before him appealed to their brethren to change their ways and find salvation in the Kingdom of God, the modern-day prophets and messengers have decided to be more convincing, using threats of execution and brutal acts of rape and torture as their methods.

Miriam and her family

You may have heard of Mariam Ibrihim, the Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for marrying a Christian.  Here release orchestrated by the Italians and the American Embassy has attracted a great deal of attention, especially after her visit to the Pope.

Charged under a law that punishes anyone who dares to convert from Islam, Miriam's case got special attention since she was a Christian all along.  “I was never a Muslim,” she told the Sudanese high court during her apostasy trial. “I was raised a Christian from the start.”

I can't help but think there is a right way to appeal to people to change their ways and return to God, and there is a wrong way.  Some, though, may not see a difference between the threats and promises of salvation.  Telling someone they will be granted eternal life if they believe and follow the laws and they will perish if they don't is the message I grew up with.  But I didn't live under the threat of execution if I chose to do my own thing.

We are looking at extremes here.  Christians are being given an ultimatum.  Repent, convert, pay a tax, or face the sword.

Millions are fleeing their homeland to seek refuge elsewhere.

What do we do about it?

Talking about it is a start.  We cannot go on pretending these atrocities aren't happening, nor can we rely on the occasional exceptional case, like Miriam's to comfort us.  Governments alone cannot fix this.

The irony is we believe in the same God.  Maybe we all need to give him a call.

More to come...