Recently, Dove World Outreach Center, a church in Gainesville, FL announced that they would be hosting ‘Burn a Qur’an Day’ on September 11, 2010, as a means to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks as well as an opportunity to denounce Islam. Many Christians felt uncomfortable to say the least with this event, not to mention confused by the words ‘Dove’, ‘World’, and ‘Outreach’, being mentioned in the same sentence as ‘Burn a Qur’an’! Further confusion ensued by the odd turn of events that unfolded when the church’s pastor traveled to New York to meet with the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf to discuss (negotiate?) the Muslim cleric’s controversial plans for a Ground Zero mosque and Islamic center.

This awkward affair now seems to have died a quiet death, so why resuscitate it with further undeserved attention? Despite the strangeness of it all, I believe this story brings to light some important points regarding God’s purposes for His church (not just the FL church) in the world. Here, I offer three reasons you may not have considered why the Qur’an burning event was a bad idea.

• It dilutes the purpose of the church

The New Testament seems to narrowly define the purpose of the church as an institution where the gospel is preached and the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and baptism are rightly administered to believers. The early church, as the church did not directly participate in creating culture, or public policy, or ensuring that a certain political party got elected. Clearly, Christians are called to and must participate in these and other activities associated with this earthly domain, but they do so via their dual citizenship: membership in the heavenly kingdom and (in but not of) the world. In other words, God has ordained His church as well as her human messengers (pastors) as the primary means by which His gospel is preached, both to the lost and saved alike. Having been reminded of the gospel on the Lord’s day (I Corinthians 15:1), God’s people are then ready to go out and be salt and light in the world. However, the gospel of Christ becomes marginalized when pastors use their authority as the shepherds of God’s people as an excuse to go beyond the bounds of their God-given role as preachers of the gospel.

The Bible tells us that for those who refuse the gospel, the stone over which they stumble is God himself (Isaiah 8:6). In Luke 7:23, Jesus said “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me”, and in I Peter 2:8, Peter actually quotes the Isaiah passage in referencing Christ as, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall”. Obviously, Isaiah, Luke, Peter, and Jesus too, all felt that Christ himself is to be the stone or rock that provides the offense we must encounter if we are to realize our complete inability to save ourselves and rely totally on the person and work of Christ. In the case of ‘Burn a Qur’an Day’, it seems that the event was designed to provide an offense to Muslims and a substitute for Christ, rather than allowing the truth of the gospel to serve as the offense or stumbling stone. When we substitute any other offense in place of Christ, we call people’s attention away from the cross, and away from the gospel.

• Their motivation was wrong

Historically, when authorities burned books they were motivated by the twin sentiments of fear, and controlling or oppressing others. The most famous (or notorious) book-burning campaign is probably that orchestrated by the Nazi party soon after Hitler became German Chancellor in 1933. The Spanish Inquisition of the 16th century represents a similar episode in which the Catholic Church, in the name of Christ, was overcome by fear and the desire to control, resulting in extensive book burning, torture, and murder. Instead of placing a reasoned defense of the Christian faith on center stage, public displays that are motivated by fear tend to communicate intellectual laziness and insecurity, and consign the gospel to the cultural margin. However, as the people of God, we have not been given the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind. We are expected to use that sound mind to glorify God by penetrating the culture with words, and provide sound arguments and a reasoned defense for a Christ-centered worldview (I Peter 3:15).

Yes, the Bible actually talks about book burning. In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul was preaching in Ephesus and doing various miracles in Jesus’ name, including casting out demons. Here is part of the story from Acts 19:

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Acts 19:18-20

The Bible does not necessarily condone all it reports, but in this case it seems that the public book burning is reported as a positive event in the life of the church. A closer look at this story reveals three important ways this story contrasts with our current concern.

1) They willingly burned their own books (or scrolls)

v. 19-They brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
This incident was voluntary and not the result of coercion by any authority other than the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of these new believers. Moreover, it was the original owners who burned their own scrolls out of a heartfelt desire to repent of their evil deeds.

2) As new creations, they had no alternative

In other words, there seems to be no way the ex-sorcerers could truly repent without destroying the physical instruments of their sin. Archiving the scrolls, selling them in the market, donating them to a library, etc. would allow the items to survive and potentially serve as a foothold for sin in others.

3) The action glorified God

v. 20-In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
It may seem odd that God would receive glory in this way, but clearly the scroll burning resulted in the spread of the gospel and more people came to faith in Christ upon hearing of it.

The main reason I felt uncomfortable with ‘Burn a Qur’an Day’ is because the purpose was to be offensive rather than glorify God. As Christians, we too were once rebels before God saved us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We should have compassion on those who are like we once were and allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to provide the offense. That is the way the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of unbelievers. That is the way for Christ the Stumbling Stone to become Christ the Chief Cornerstone. And that is the way the word of the Lord, the gospel, will spread widely and grow in power.

SH