July 12, 2015
Alex, a 23-year-old Sunday
school teacher and babysitter, was trembling with excitement the day she told
her Twitter followers that she had converted to Islam.[i]
That
is how the New York Times story
begins. It ends with her secretly
logging on to Skype to receive this message from Faisal, a man she had never
met in person.
I
told [your grandmother] I would never communicate with you again. But I lied.
Between
that opening and closing we get to know Alex, an isolated young woman in a
rural community in the state of Washington.
She lived an isolated, lonely life, sharing a home with her
grandparents. Mabin Shaikh said this is
exactly the type of person recruiters seek out online.
Mr. Shaikh was himself a member of an
extremist Islamic group. After leaving
that group he went on to testify before the United State congress about the
mechanics of radicalization. He said of
extremist recruiters, “We look for people who are isolated.”
They can pick up on someone’s
loneliness by following their twitter account, trolling them on Skype, and
paying attention to their Facebook “likes,” their posts, and their comments in
chatrooms and forums. Mr. Shaikh identified
this method of seeking out those Americans who lived isolated lives. He said, “If they are not isolated already,
then we isolate them.”
Illustrating this point, Faisal, the
man who reached out to Alex, surprised her when she told him she had convert to
Islam. She excitedly told home she had
found a Mosque near her home. His tone
went cold. He told her to stay away from
the Mosque. She did not know any
Muslims, not in person anyway. He
warned, Muslims in the United States are persecuted and she would be branded a
terrorist. She should keep her new
identity a secret and live a double life.
She complied.
By the way, he lied. I recently attended a dinner Muslims have to
break the fast during Ramadan. It was an
invitation to Christians to come and see what non-radicalized Islam is
about. It was a lovely time where they
offered us generous hospitality. I do
not think Islam and Christianity are compatible, but we can be friends. We can show generosity to one another. I was treated with great respect by these
Muslims and everything about the evening was transparent. Faisal did not want Alex to discover this
peaceful, open version of Islam that does exist in American and other
places. She listened to Faisal.
So, if she could not associate with
other Muslims or go to the Mosque, how could she (a) become a Muslim and (b)
grow in her faith? He told her to become
Muslim, in the presence of witnesses she needed to repeat the phrase, “There is
no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” So she tweeted the phrase, and Faisal acted
as her witness along with another Twitter follower, one of Faisal’s associates,
Hallie Sheikh.
Within hours, her number of followers
on Twitter doubled. That night she
tweeted, “I actually have brothers and sisters.
I am crying.” Of course these
‘brothers and sisters’ were names and twitter accounts, not people Alex ever
met or touched or looked in the eye.
At some point, she suspected Faisal may not be
telling her everything. She looked him
up online to discover that he had twice been arrested in England for possession
of massive amounts of illegal firearms and explosives. He was in his 50’s, married, and had children
– he had not shared any of this with her.
Moreover, her grandmother discovered
the secret life she led online. She,
called the FBI who came to the house and downloaded her entire electronic
communication history. Alex handed over
control of all her online accounts to her grandparents who shut them all
down. But they forgot to close the Skype
account. On family vacation, while her
grandparents were out on the beach, she logged on and Faisal contacted her
immediately.
Why is this story important? To whom are we listening? Fox News?
NPR? A preacher on TV? What angle
is the person to whom you listen closely taking? What is that person trying to get you to do?
Consider Rehoboam, the king who followed
Solomon. His story is found in Second
Kings chapter 12. Solomon’s reign was
Israel’s Golden Age. Nations around the
world admired the greatness of Solomon and Israel under Solomon. But, he also had his own failings, most
specifically, adultery which led him into unfaithfulness to God. He died and his son Rehoboam took over.
As soon as his took the throne, he inherited the
pressures of leadership and it came in the form of complaints that Solomon had
been too tough on the 10 Northern tribes.
Led by Jereboam this is how the exchange went.
Jeroboam
and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father made
our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his
heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you.” 5 He said to them,
“Go away for three days, then come again to me.” So the people went away.
6 Then King
Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon
while he was still alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?” 7 They answered
him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak
good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants
forever.” 8 But
he disregarded the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted with the
young men who had grown up with him and now attended him. 9 He said to them,
“What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten
the yoke that your father put on us’?” 10 The young men who
had grown up with him said to him, “Thus you should say to this people who
spoke to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for
us’; thus you should say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s
loins. 11 Now,
whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father
disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”
King Rehoboam listened to the advice of men with no
more experience that himself. If he did
what they recommended and ruled with an iron fist, it might make him and his
court wealthy, but it would continue to weaken and emasculate the rest of the
country. The people whom he counted on
for support would come to hate him. But
those advisors around him told him what he wanted to hear.
To whom are we listening? Who has my ear or yours? Are they telling us things we want to
hear? If we follow their advice will it
greatly benefit them? Are they leading
us down a path that will needlessly create enmity as we help them and maybe
ourselves but hurt others?
Alex, the 23-year-old recruit into radical Islam, was
told to hide her new life from the people she had always lived with, her
family.
To whom are we listening? Are they telling us to keep secrets? Are they telling us to pretend to be one
thing? Are they turning us against our
own family? Are they secretive about who
they are?
If your family or your circle of friend is into hard
core drug use or pornography, separate from them. Don’t stop loving them but remove yourself
from their influence because the things they are into are destructive and
deadly.
But if someone from a religious group or a new circle
of friends or a new life philosophy is actively paying attention to you in
order to get you to follow the path they walk, ask why? Why do they want you to keep things secret
from your parents or your spouse or your friends? Why do they get uncomfortable when you ask “why?”
I encourage you to question everything I teach. Hold the words I share up to scripture. Talk to trusted friends in our church or
people you trust outside out community.
We have no secrets.
We believe Jesus is Lord, salvation is found in Him, and the way to joy
and eternal life is through Him, his cross and resurrection. We believe all
people need him. We say this openly and
we try to be transparent in our presentation of the Gospel. We want all people to become passionately
devoted followers of Jesus. Tell
everyone you know that this is what we are about.
And test everyone who tries to influence you.
That’s the bottom line this morning. Identify the most powerful influences in your
life. It could be a parent, a TV
personality, an author, a friend, a pastor, a spouse, a sibling, or a boss or
role model. Take a moment, step outside
yourself, and identify to whom you listen.
Who is it you respect the most?
Now critically assess what that person is sharing
with you. I know you aren’t necessarily
like Alex whose feelings of isolation made her vulnerable. But you and I – we have other
vulnerabilities. We have blind spots and
in those blind spots, the enemy, the devil, will draw us away from our devotion
and loyalty to Christ. We will find
ourselves led down a path we never imagined we’d travel, a path rife with
snares.
How
do we guard against being deceived?
First, look to Solomon. Early in
his reign as king, the Lord spoke to him and offered him anything he might
desire. He said to God,
“9 Give your servant
therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between
good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”
10 It pleased the
Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him,
“Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or
riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself
understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do
according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind.”
Ask God for wisdom, as Solomon did.
Second, pay attention to advisors who are looking out
for your best interests and are pointing you to Christ. First John chapter 4 begins this way:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to
see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the
world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and
every spirit that does not confess Jesus[a]is
not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard
that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. 4 Little
children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you
is greater than the one who is in the world.
Finally, seek God in prayer. Hebrews 4:16 says we can “approach the throne of grace with
boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We are invited to bring all our concerns into
God’s presence. Why would we ever not
take advantage of such a generous divine invitation?
I pray God will rescue
Alex from the allure of the seductions that have latched onto her. And I pray you and I can live in wisdom and
share the truth of the Gospel as we live our lives.
AMEN
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