A Reminder of Whose We Are

John Piper weighs in on the Muhammad cartoon controversy:

Being Mocked: The Essence of Christ's Work, Not Muhammad's

What we saw this past week in the Islamic demonstrations over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad was another vivid depiction of the difference between Muhammad and Christ, and what it means to follow each. Not all Muslims approve the violence. But a deep lesson remains: The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery.

If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was his saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God. Already in the Psalms the path of mockery was promised: "All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads" (Psalm 22:7). "He was despised and rejected by men...as one from whom men hide their faces...and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3). ...

... How should his followers respond? On the one hand, we are grieved and angered. On the other hand, we identify with Christ, and embrace his suffering, and rejoice in our afflictions, and say with the apostle Paul that vengeance belongs to the Lord, let us love our enemies and win them with the gospel. If Christ did his work by being insulted, we must do ours likewise. ...

If the reaction (or overreaction) to these cartoons is an indicator of anything, it's that the world is still in need of Christ. Let us be reminded of whose we are and what we are called to do.