Village Schools of the Bible

Iraq: where peace is difficult to find.

As I read the stories of the young American and British soldiers who are being assaulted and even killed, my mind wants to wrestle in two directions. There is that part of me that says, "Oh, those ungrateful people. We have liberated you and you kill the liberators. If that is the way you want it, we will just leave. But don't come running to us when Saddam returns and renews his reign of terror with even more ferocity." Truly, there are times I feel that way...and perhaps some of you do also. Would this be one of those moments when Jesus might tell us to shake the dust from our sandals and go on down the road?

But my second thought is probably more correct. The Iraqi people have just been freed from a reign of oppression and terror that has lasted for nearly four decades. And before Saddam, there was tyranny. Now we have told them that they are free. And I think in their mind's eye they picture being instantly just like us. I believe part of their frustration is a lack of patience. They want a democratic government...now. They want social reform...now. They want full employment...now. They want welfare...now. And, because it is not happening now, they revolt and assault the coalition forces. They have failed to realize that America and Britain and Poland and other nations of the coalition are what they are today because of what has occurred over the past many years. It has taken time and lots of sacrifice on the parts of many. It has taken growth. The Iraqi people have to understand that you can't be liberated from tyranny one day and become a successful democracy the next. It takes time.

Friends, I believe there is a correlation between Iraqi thinking and the thinking of many new believers. Somehow they have the mistaken idea that salvation brings with it instant maturity. They will know all that the Word of God says. They will be able to pray like E. M. Bounds. They will be able to evangelize like Billy Graham. Personally, I have to be careful to relate to those who come to me after class and thank me for the class and then say something like, "I sure wish I knew the Bible like you", that I have been studying the Word of God for over forty years. It is a growing process. I just can't pick up a saxophone and become an instant Kenny G, or take one solo lesson and become an instant Michael W. Smith. It takes time because it is a growing process. Somehow, that is the message we must begin to instill into the minds of the Iraqis as it relates to their freedom - it is going to take time. And in our day of instant gratification it is a message that is often rebuffed.

Return to Max's Musing