Age of Encroachment (Part 4)

Iran is in the news again, but what should Christians want to happen there? As citizens of a republic, Americans should be good stewards of the government God has entrusted to us. In this 4-part series, I offer my thoughts on what American Christians should want in Iran. This is the fourth and final article in the Age of Encroachment series.

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How should Christians respond to the current zeitgeist of Muslim and secular encroachment? 

The answer is not more violence. As a younger man, I thought the United States could militarily defeat the Axis of Evil. However, many critics disagreed, rightfully arguing that it is impossible to defeat an ideology with bayonets, bombs, and bullets. It is a hard lesson, one that we have not yet learned, despite the past 1,000 years of bloodshed. The Crusaders fought Muslims, but Islam still exists, is still in Jerusalem and Europe, and still terrorizes Jews and Christians all over the world. The Allies fought totalitarianism, but it still exists and still terrorizes people in China, Cuba, North Korea, and other places around the world. I have argued against the dangers of secularism, and I have been engaged in combat operations against Islamic terrorists, but both still exist and are still working together against the body of Christ. We have tried and tried again, but we have not decisively rid the world of evil. However, there is a better way.

Just because we cannot eradicate violence with violence does not mean we cannot fight fire with fire. We need more firepower. I’m not talking about bigger guns or more ammunition; I’m talking about the fire of the Holy Ghost and the power that He gives us. You cannot shoot an idea, even a bad one, but you can take authority over it. You can rebuke it. You can cast down imaginations. The demons may suggest ideas to the world, but He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

The world has no antidote for a destructive zeitgeist, but the born-again, blood-bought Spirit-filled church of the living God does. You do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). That’s right. You are wrestling against the rulers of the darkness of this age. You have been divinely commissioned to attack the source of the zeitgeist. You are not fighting flesh and blood, but that’s okay, because the weapons of your warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).

So, what should Christians want specifically with regard to Iran? First, we should want the persecution of Christians to end, the Iranian church to rise and magnify God’s glory in their nation, and the Gospel to be preached to every Iranian. We should want Iran to be a Christian nation, with people born again, delivered, healed, and made whole. We should want them saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, and set ablaze for the kingdom’s sake. Second, we should want the light of divine revelation to burn away the darkness of demonic deception. Daniel identifies the Prince of Persia as a powerful demon that controls that region of the world. I believe that same demon led to the revolution that resulted in the modern Islamic Republic, and that he heavily influences the Ayatollah and government. But his name must bow down to Jesus, the Name above all names. We should want the Word of God and revelation knowledge to flow freely through Iran without confusion, hindrance, or oppression. The third thing Christians should want will follow the first two, and that is an Iranian Reformation. A strong Christian nation in the Middle East will shine forth as a beacon of hope for people living under oppression throughout that region.

Finally, what should American Christians want in their own country during this Age of Encroachment? First, we should want to thrive when the enemy wants us thwarted. We should want to experience revival, awakening, and reformation like our nation has never seen before. Second, we should want the secularists’ and Muslims’ eyes to be opened to how they have been deceived. We should want that revelation to draw them to Christ, and for the Lord to use what the enemy meant for evil as a catalyst for their salvation. Third, we should want a Christian nation, not a pluralist or secularist nation, but one that is boldly and unapologetically Christian. That does not mean driving out the non-Christians, but sharing the Good News of Jesus with them, just like someone was kind enough to share it with you.

Iran is in the news once again, and it is currently run by Muslim extremists who want to destroy Jews and Christians. We will likely engage militarily with Iran once more, and we have a moral obligation to protect Israel and the persecuted Iranians. The United States may drop the bombs necessary to keep us and our allies physically safe, but as citizens, our prayers should be in alignment with God’s will: that no one should perish and that all should come to repentance. Our hearts must be for people, and our resistance must be biblical. We cannot return evil for evil, but must overcome evil with good. God loves each and every one of those people, Jesus died for each and every one of their sins, and our prayer should be for their salvation, not their destruction. I believe that is the outcome American Christians should want in Iran.