Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19
Some of the most shocking revelations from the recent butchery of innocent people by Islamist terrorists who attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi were the accounts of how the killers targeted non-moslems. The gunmen allowed those who declared themselves to be moslems to go free, and then they shot the remainder. As horrified as we are at such brutality, it should come as no great surprise, because it is exactly what the vile moslem prophet Mohammed taught. In his deeply satanic book the Koran, Mohammed taught that his followers were to fight against infidels – specifically Christians and Jews until they were completely subjected and humiliated. Mohammedanism teaches hatred, bigotry, and violence against all others, despite the false claims by imams in North America that theirs is a religion of tolerance. Islam knows nothing of the tolerance and the acceptance that are at the heart of the teachings of the Lord Jesus.
In His great commission delivered to His disciples before He returned to Heaven, the Lord Jesus makes no mention of assembling armies or of attacking non-believers. He does not set out a program for taking over control of the nations to which He urged His followers to carry the Gospel. He also makes no mention of setting up kingdoms and governments based on His teachings. His commission contains no hint of hatred, disrespect, or repression. No, His only desire for His disciples is for them to carry the Gospel of the love of God to as many as would accept it, to the far corners of the world. It should be that loving compassion that marks the people of God as we carry out our responsibilities in spreading the Gospel.
Down through the centuries, those who have preached the Gospel have encountered opposition. But the Lord Jesus never advocated that the Gospel be carried forward by force or that the opponents of the Gospel be violently challenged. Especially today, those who preach the Gospel are being met with apathy and rank indifference. But the Lord Jesus never called on His messengers to force their teaching on those who were uninterested or unwilling to listen. The teachings of the Lord Jesus instruct those who preach the Gospel, and all those who support the furtherance of the Gospel, to do so in love for lost souls, in compassion and caring, and in the unselfish and sacrificial manner of our Lord and Saviour.
When the Lord Jesus gave His great commission, He intended that those who carry it out do so as He would Himself. -Jim MacIntosh