It is too bad that they didn't use this opportunity to educate their members by telling them that the vast majority of people in this country of middle-eastern background are actually Christians rather than Muslims. Christians who have come here for refuge, having fled the pure hell of life in a Moslem society. These people are our friends and our brothers in Christ. They need our understanding, sympathy, prayers, respect, and help. It is all too easy for uninformed and thoughtless Americans, in a moment of rage, to fail to see any difference between middle-eastern people who are Moslems and those who are Christians. These brothers and sisters need our help right now, and possibly even our protection.
Hybels missed a very important opportunity to be genuinely useful for the work of Christ's Church. While Christians are supposed to love our neighbors, we have a special and higher obligation to first love our brothers and sisters in Christ. He just plain got his priorities wrong, and as a minister of the gospel, he of all people should have known better.