Winning the War on Terror 9-30-2009

The failed attempt to bomb Fountain Place in Dallas last week brought back visions of the twin towers in New York. It also brought the war on terror closer to home, a stark reminder that we live in a different world since September 11, 2001. A year after 9-11, my wife and I visited ground zero in New York, stood in silence and pondered what happened there. Ground zero has become a pivot point in history. It is sobering to realize that there are now children in the second and third grades who were born after 9-11. They have never known any other world.

For every generation there are a few dates and places that stand as markers, places where the world as we knew it was altered. For my generation it was the assassination of JFK at Dealey Plaza, Neal Armstrong’s first step on the moon, Watergate, and 9-11. For my parents’ generation it was the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, D Day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki..

When the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, all our old securities collapsed with them. Prior to that moment, we lived with a sense that we were protected from the dangers and atrocities that plagued the rest of the world. All of our wars since the Civil War were fought on foreign soil, thousands of miles away. We watched images of Vietnam and Desert Storm, but they were distant places that did not threaten our neighborhoods or our work place. With 9-11, the security of two oceans that protected us from the enemy vanished. The whole idea of a “star wars” protective shield from missile attack became obsolete. Our world became far more dangerous than we had ever known it.

Every generation has lived with the threat of war, injustice and terror. When Jesus was born at Bethlehem Herod’s henchmen ransacked the city stripping infants from the arms of wailing mothers, dashing their sons to death upon the stones (Matthew 2:16-18). Jesus’ death by crucifixion was an act of terror. The Roman army created crucifixion as a gruesome public torture to strike fear and terror into the hearts of its citizens. Under Nero, Christians were burned upon crosses where they were crucified in the streets of Rome..

The resurrection of Jesus broke the grip of terror because it broke the grip of death. Early believers knew they were going to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ. Even Nero’s attempts to strike terror into their hearts could not stamp them out. Faith in Jesus Christ prevailed until three centuries later it permeated the Roman Empire.

The war on terror is ultimately won or lost in our own hearts. When we live in fear, terrorism wins. When we live with confidence and faith, it is defeated. Jesus said, “In this world you will have terror (tribulation), but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).