GOSPEL NEWS: SRI LANKAN SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS WILLING TO DIE FOR CHRIST ON EASTER

In most Sunday schools, the question is an academic exercise.

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“How many of you are willing to die for Christ?” asked the teacher on Easter morning. Every one of the children dutifully raised their hands.

A few minutes later, the Sri Lankan class descended to Zion Church’s main service, passing through an outside courtyard where a stranger was speaking with church leaders. He had discovered there was no Easter morning Mass at the nearby Catholic church in Batticaloa, and was wondering when the service would begin here. He asked about the healing service.

Observers report he was sweating profusely. A pastor invited him to take off his backpack. Then, an explosion—many inside thought it was the generator.

Half the children died on the spot.

“All the children had responded [to their teacher’s question] by putting their hands up, and signaled their fresh dedication to Jesus by lighting a symbolic candle,” recounts a seminary leader [full testimony in sidebar below]. “For so many of those children, it would be their final act of worship.”

In total, at least 26 worshipers—including 16 children—were killed and 100 injured at Zion, a charismatic congregation in the Fellowship of Free Churches in Sri Lanka. Two Catholic churches in and near Colombo on the island nation’s opposite coast were also attacked by suicide bombers that morning, along with three hotels. The death toll currently stands at 253, revised down from 359.

But this is not the only Christian tragedy.

Sri Lankan authorities have now arrested 76 local Muslim extremists and one Syrian, placing the blame on the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) movement. ISIS has claimed responsibility, calling it revenge for the massacre at a New Zealand mosque last month.

In response, gangs of young Christian men are now marauding Muslim neighborhoods. People have been assaulted. Shops have been destroyed. Hundreds of Pakistani refugees—mostly Ahmadis, a persecuted minority themselves—have fled the area around St. Sebastian’s, the Catholic church in Negombo where more than 100 worshipers perished.

“How we process this new reality and respond will determine the character and the witness of the Church of Jesus Christ in Sri Lanka,” Ivor Poobalan, principal of evangelical Colombo Theological Seminary, told CT.

“We are hurt. We are angry also,” stated Zion’s senior pastor, Roshan Mahesen. “But still—as the senior pastor..., the whole congregation, and every family affected—we say to the suicide bomber, and also to the group that sent the suicide bomber, ‘We love you and we forgive you. No matter what you have done to us, we love you, because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Jesus Christ on the cross, he said, ‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,’” said Mahesen. “We also, who follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, we say, ‘For the Lord, forgive these people.’”

6 Biblical Responses to Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings (by Ajith Fernando)

Sri Lanka is an odd place for Muslim-Christian tension, which was virtually unknown before the Easter bombings. An island southeast of India, the population is 70 percent Buddhist and 12 percent Hindu. Muslims constitute roughly 10 percent, and Christians 8 percent—predominantly Catholic but with a sizable Protestant majority.

Islam came in the eighth century, spread peacefully by Muslim traders. Christianity came in 1505 with the Portuguese, furthered by later colonial empires. Both religions have increasingly suffered at the hands of nationalists within local Buddhist and Hindu communities, striking at Sri Lanka’s multi-religious heritage.

The Easter Sunday massacre follows on the heels of the island’s 1983-2009 civil war, when an ethnic Tamil militia pushed for independence from the state and the Sinhalese majority. Christians fought on both sides, and up to 100,000 people were killed.

The Sri Lankan constitution guarantees religious freedom, but gives Buddhism the “foremost place.” The Supreme Court ruled last August that religious propagation is not protected

Open Doors ranks Sri Lanka No. 46 on its World Watch List of the 50 countries where it’s hardest to be a Christian.

Last year, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka reported 86 violations of religious freedom against Christians, and this year tallied 26 leading up to the Easter attacks. Nationwide, a church service had faced disruption each of the previous 11 Sundays.

Most Sri Lankan Buddhists are respectful of their Christian neighbors, said Poobalan, though generally ignorant of their religion. But significant numbers of conversions have irritated some, while others have been affected by propaganda that labels Christianity a “foreign” religion and a proxy for Western interests.

There may be a coming shift.

“The horrific acts have helped Buddhists see how vulnerable Christians really are, and to empathize with us,” he said.

“This may lead to an improvement of attitudes and a deeper understanding of the non-violent and service-oriented nature of Christians.”

CT Podcast: The Easter Attacks Are a Turning Point for Sri Lanka’s Christians

Unfortunately, there is a growing tension between Muslims and Catholics, said Heshan de Silva, chairman of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka. But there is also an ecumenical outpouring.

The local Muslim Council lamented “extremist and violent elements, who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups.” Many Muslims have joined Christians in funerals and protests, de Silva said. Buddhist monks have issued statements in support. And the coming weekend will see a joint Catholic-Protestant prayer vigil in the public square.

“Please pray for national unity,” de Silva, also president of the Sri Lanka Baptist Union, told CT. “Church premises should be a ground for healing.”

But now they may adopt a fortress mentality.

“Churches by their very nature are open places that invite the stranger to come in,” said Poobalan, citing a growing sense of Christian fear. “That the stranger might have a sinister motive poses all sorts of challenges.”

Lal Senanayake, president of Lanka Bible College and Seminary, urged churches to stay calm and forgive, yet to also be vigilant. They should develop plans to check out visitors, assign parking IDs, and monitor CCTV video feeds of the premises. Security is paramount.

He stressed that Muslims in Sri Lanka are friendly, and pillars of the business community. But he told CT he is not optimistic.

“Certainly there will be antagonism against Muslims by all other communities [Christians included], and people might start to look at them suspiciously,” said Senanayake. “The situation might get worse.”

He also warned that the Sri Lankan church faces a challenge to not sacrifice truth in favor of harmony as it enters a phase of new social understanding.

“The church has been the transforming agent of all societies in the world,” he said. “We must learn to engage not only in evangelistic activities, but in holistic mission.”

For some, this includes politics.

“Very serious questions have arisen as to why preventive action was not taken when information was available,” said Abraham Sumanthiran, an evangelical member of Sri Lanka’s parliament, addressing lawmakers.

“Those responsible for this—from the very top—must at the very least resign.”

The MP echoed frustration about the political crisis gripping Sri Lanka, as President Maithripala Sirisena feuds with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The president unlawfully controls the police force, Sumanthiran stated, and Muslims had previously asked for the arrest of the NTJ leader.

The prime minister denied receiving reports of extensive surveillance that intelligence services had performed on the terrorists now arrested.

But the politics of Sumanthiran, former vice president of the island’s Methodist denomination, did not neglect evangelism.

He closed his speech by urging that Muslims not be blamed for the tragedy. But he opened it by defining Easter.

“We believe in Jesus Christ, who came into this world, suffered as we do and took the worst of evil onto himself and was crucified unjustly,” he said.

“But he defeated all evil through self-sacrificial love, which is what we celebrate on Easter: Resurrection day.

“We are grieving, but we will not allow hate and revenge to overtake us.”

The Muslim MP that followed him expressed great appreciation.

“I bow to the Christian community … who have proven their magnanimity in practicing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ,” said Rauf Hakeen, the leader of the major Muslim party in parliament, quoting the biblical verse about turning the other cheek.

“By preaching calm to the bereaved Christian communities at a time of grief, [and] resisting backlash against the Muslim community living in absolute fear.”

Hakeen also praised the Catholic Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, for publicly forgiving the attackers.

But in the moment of grief, Ranjith had also lashed out.

“Only animals can behave like that,” he said. He urged the government to punish them “mercilessly.”

Surekha Hulugalle, a Sinhalese expat and national leader of the Foursquare denomination in Great Britain, feared that Ranjith’s words could instigate a sense of hatred or revenge. He warned against political use being made of the tragedy, and urged the media to report responsibly.

The government acted on such fears. It withheld the identity of the attackers as long as possible, and shut down social media to prevent the spreading of rumors. Already there have been accounts that falsely suggest the attack targeted Tamil Christians rather than Sinhalese, which he and other evangelical leaders rejected.

“Sentiments such as these will only cause more harm to our nation,” Hulugalle said. “The entire nation is weeping. This is a national tragedy.”

As it is in England. Its Sri Lankan immigrant community is substantial, and where one of the attackers came for his education. In Leicester, Zion’s sister church held a memorial service for their many lost relatives.

Hulugalle was sent to the United Kingdom as a missionary by his Sri Lankan denomination, presiding now over a mix of nationalities inclusive of traditional Brits. He hopes a similar unity will prove evident back in his homeland. (Several UK churches will host a memorial service on Monday.)

“Tragedy brings us closer, and human love and compassion can rise above our differences,” he said.

“But only Christianity brings every ethnic group together.”

So while Sri Lankan Christian leaders preach calm as their youth are tempted toward radicalization, the hope of transformation hangs in the balance.

Poobalan is a witness, and a participant. The surviving Sunday school teacher in the opening anecdote is one of his almost 1,000 seminary students; a martyred pastor was another one.

“The national situation has dramatically changed,” he said, noting how this terrorist act is so out of proportion to even the rising sense of religious tension in Sri Lanka, yet becoming a mega-trend across southeast Asia.

“These unprecedented attacks have re-emphasized that our discipleship must be lived out in a broken world that lives in rank hostility towards its creator and savior.”

Sidebar: Ivor Poobalan, Colombo Theological Seminary

Ivor Poobalan is principal of Colombo Theological Seminary, an interdenominational evangelical institution founded in 1994. It has since grown to include 9 study centers across Sri Lanka with almost 1,000 students and more than 75 faculty.

He shares the “amazing testimony” of Nitharshan Prabha, a CTS student and a Sunday School teacher at Zion: “During Sunday School, [Prabha] had talked to the children about the importance of repentance and receiving Jesus as Lord. Because a recent vehicle accident had claimed the lives of six Zion Church members, he had referred to that event and challenged the children, asking them if they would be willing to even die for Jesus. All the children had responded by putting their hands up and signalled their fresh dedication to Jesus by lighting a symbolic candle. For so many of those children it would be their final act of worship (2 Timothy 6:6-8).”

A Methodist, Poobalan studied at the London School of Theology, has a ThM in Old Testament and Semitic Languages from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, and a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He is also chairperson of Global Impact, Sri Lanka’s first world missions initiative.

CT asked Poobalan, who also taped CT’s Quick to Listen podcast, to explain more of Sri Lanka’s history and the bombings’ aftermath to CT readers:

How would you characterize the current mental and spiritual state of Sri Lankan Christians, and evangelicals in particular? Fearful? Angry? Forgiving?

The immediate reaction in the country as a whole, and particularly within the Christian community, is one of shock and disorientation. Although churches have faced mob violence, protests, and even the rare assassination of a pastor in the past, suicide bombers have never before targeted churches and certainly not at this level of coordination and intent.

There is also anger mixed with fear. Anger because it has now transpired that the Intelligence Services had known specifics about the threat and had informed their superiors, but no precautions were put in place. Fear because churches by their very nature are open places that invite the stranger to come in. But now the thought that the stranger might have a sinister motive poses all sorts of challenges.

What advice are you and other Christian leaders giving at this time as you shepherd in the aftermath?

We must care for the victims of this terrorist attack. Our seminary will be looking at how we can encourage and console the families affected in the Zion Church in Batticaloa, given the connections we already share.

We must acknowledge the immensity of the tragedy, and accept the reality of what we as a national church now face. Whoever is responsible has deliberately targeted the Christian community.

How we process this new reality and respond, both privately and publicly, will determine the character and the witness of the Church of Jesus Christ in Sri Lanka.

During the last 30 years, Christians in rural regions have suffered persecution through discrimination, abuse, physical assault, mob violence, and the burning of churches. This new threat has instead targeted larger urban congregations, and for the first time we see the employment of suicide bombers.

The challenge is how will the churches maintain their outward stance and welcome of the stranger, while being responsible for the safety of the worshipers and Christian families?

We must not be surprised, because our Lord warned his disciples that suffering and hardship awaits those who choose his way (John 16:1-4). Sadly we sometimes imagine a Christianity that entails no suffering. These unprecedented attacks have re-emphasised that our discipleship must be lived out in the context of a broken world that lives in rank hostility towards its creator and savior.

We must distinguish between misguided people who choose to practice terror as a means to power and influence, and the religious community of Muslims in general. Despite the fact that the perpetrators of this crime were all Islamic, Christians must be disciplined to avoid racism and condemnation of people purely on the basis of religious or ethnic identity. This is a grave wrong that we must avoid.

I have noticed that the Associated Press reports how the Archbishop of Colombo has called for those responsible to be punished mercilessly, “because only animals can behave like that.” Would you share his conviction? Moderate it?

I see the comments of the Cardinal as an emotional reaction in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7), so there is no moving away from the call Jesus has clearly made, to be merciful. In fact this is the time for us to genuinely live out our calling to “love your enemy” and “pray for those who persecute you.”

It is our opportunity to apply the prayer of Jesus that we all meditated upon on Good Friday: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Of course it is incumbent on all citizens, including Christian citizens, to pursue justice for the sake of the victims of criminal acts and for the safety and wellbeing of our neighbors over the long term. The due process of justice may involve punishments that are appropriate to the offenses.

Do Protestants have friendly or cooperative relations with Catholics? Are there any joint mourning ceremonies planned, for example?

Most contemporary Christian traditions in Sri Lanka were introduced during nearly 500 years of European colonization. Although some of these denominations had fought bitter religious wars against each other in Europe and these conflicts did occasionally spill over into the new contexts, they did not persist for too long.

The Catholic Bishops Conference and the National Christian Council (Protestant) are in constant communication and often consult each other and share important information.

Do you think this attack will strengthen relations with the majority Buddhist community, or cause more tension? What about with Hindus, especially in Tamil areas?

The majority Buddhist community is largely ignorant of Christian traditions and activities. Most Buddhists are respectful of their Christian neighbors, although they might not understand the essentials of the Christian faith.

The horrific acts have helped Buddhists see how vulnerable Christians really are and to empathize with us. This may lead to an improvement of attitudes and a deeper understanding of the non-violent and service-oriented nature of Christians, over and against the propaganda that has been streaming that accuses Christians of unethical conversions and of being proxies of Western governments.

As Muslims have also been targeted as a minority group, how will this development impact your relations with them? Have you had good relations in the past?

Sri Lankan Muslims have been on the island since the eighth century AD. They have the amazing historical record of not initiating aggression, and rarely retaliating violently, toward any ethnic or religious group. This is the very first incident of radicalized terrorism under an Islamic identity.

Such an historical example is rare in the context of world Islam, and is partly due to the fact that Islam arrived in Sri Lanka not through the common pattern of violent overthrow but through peaceful trade.

Muslims and Christians in Sri Lanka have enjoyed extremely cordial relations throughout our shared histories. This is true of all religious communities in Sri Lanka—Christianity being the last to arrive just over 500 years ago!

What would you like American evangelicals to understand, and what would you like us to pray for?

To understand that Sri Lanka has been a religiously pluralist society for over 2,000 years and religious communities generally coexist peacefully.

To understand that Christianity was in decline since the 19th century, but has experienced a small but definitive resurgence due to the faithfulness of evangelists who were willing to pioneer work in unreached areas since 1970. Significant numbers of conversions have provoked a reaction from the other religious groups and led to radical anti-Christian rhetoric and actions.

And to understand that these circumstances have led the church to greater expressions of unity. Colombo Theological Seminary, for example, is an interdenominational school that has over 700 students from all major Protestant, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Independent churches in the country.

To pray that the church will be guided by the teachings of Jesus about how we will respond to this violence, especially Matthew 5:1-12.

To pray that this tragic experience will open up a national conversation about the dangers of religious extremism and how we can move toward pathways to peace.

And to pray that Christians in the US will engage more thoughtfully and intentionally in guiding America’s immense influence in global politics, to model justice and promote peace among nations and communities.