Christophobia
Pastor Steve Nash
Writing for First
Thoughts, Mark Movsesian sounded some notes
of caution against the use of “Christophobia”:
“The
hostility to Christianity one encounters in the West is mostly ideological.
What we have is a struggle between competing worldviews, one of which seeks to
win by excluding the other, which it sees as irrational, from public debate.
This strategy is illiberal, ill-informed, and childish, but it is not really
“phobic” in the way we normally use that term. It reflects not so much a
visceral antipathy to Christians as people as a desire for Christians to keep
quiet and stop retarding social progress.
Now, things may be changing. When critics denounce
Christians as “bigots” — for maintaining the traditional understanding of
marriage, for example — that does imply a personal judgment. Bigots are bad
people; you wouldn’t want them living next door to you or building a gathering
place in your neighborhood. You wouldn’t want your children to associate with
them. Maybe the ideological struggle in the West is becoming a personal one, in
which Christians are seen as comparable to racists. I don’t think we’re there,
yet, but I concede there’s evidence we may be heading that way.”
The above writer seems to be contradicting himself in the
same paragraph. “Things are
changing!” May I suggest that “Christophobia”
is more than a label that describes someone who opposes a Christian world view
or ideology? I believe this growing fear
is much deeper, residing in the innermost being of a person’s soul or
spirit. It is not merely ideological; it
is spiritual. One could compare this
unwarranted hatred to that of “anti-Semitism.”
Have you ever noticed how some people hate others and don’t even know
why?
I also believe the use of the word “phobia” is
correct. When one “fears” another they
often respond with hatred and aggression.
As John puts it in his epistle, “perfect love casts out fear because
fear has torment.” This deep-rooted kind
of fear or “phobia” is the opposite of love.
The question is why would some hate Christianity to the point where they
want to kill those who embrace this faith?
In countries like Egypt, Mali, Pakistan,
Nigeria, and Syria, Christians are being murdered and forced to leave their
homes in large numbers. Churches are
being destroyed and Christian villages emptied.
“Phobia” accurately describes this phenomenon. If anything, “phobia” is too mild a term: what
we are seeing in these places is the widespread
persecution of Christians.
In the countries listed above, we see a
common denominator: radical Islam.
Wherever radical Islam is allowed to flourish, Christians and Jews are
severely persecuted and exterminated.
These haters of light have no tolerance for opposing faiths, a truth
that cannot be denied! But it is not
only the radical Islamist; it is anyone who embraces a world view that is antithetical
to Christianity or a biblical world view.
To offer a graphic illustration, let me
offer the one I often use in sermons.
Have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night, turned on the
kitchen light and noticed the cockroaches or mice scatter? Hopefully we don’t live is conditions like
that but some of us have at one time or another. The cockroaches scatter because of the
“light.” Light opposes and exposes
darkness; they are contrary to one another.
Jesus said He was the “Light of the world” and that we are called,
“children of light.” When we actively
practice our faith in a very dark world, the forces of darkness will not only
become disturbed; they will fight to extinguish the light that exposes their
sorry souls. As time moves on, we will
see an increase in “Christophobia” all over the world. This hatred of Christianity will not only
come from the Islamist; it will come from anyone who opposes the message of the
Gospel and the morality that Christianity proclaims as being God’s standard for
the human race.
Easter is all about “light.” As dark as the scene came to be during and
immediately following the Resurrection, Sunday morning brought great light and
hope to those who sit in darkness. The
demons do scatter when the “light of Christ” is manifested. We ought to embrace the “light,” not run from
it!
What are we to do? How are we to respond to the
“Christophobic?” I embrace the words of
Paul from Ephesians 5: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather expose them…for all things are exposed by light…therefore,
awake you, who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light! See then that you walk carefully, not as
fools, but as wise.”
Unlike our enemies, we are to love
those who oppose us. We are to love them
because we do not fear them. We are to
look beyond their fault and see their need.
We are not to be “afraid” of anyone or anything. After all, most all of us were at one time
possessed by the same fear that our Christophobic friends now embrace.
