WAR
The thought of going to war has stirred up an awful lot of emotional responses
lately. There have been late night “peace vigils,” sign-carrying picketers outside the
Whitehouse, and Hollywood actors coming out of the Hollywoodwork to speak their
piece of mind.
Certainly as individual Christians, we need to follow our conscience and speak
our mind, as long as our mind represents nothing that contradicts the mind of God as He
has revealed it in Scripture. But how should the church respond? The church, that is, as
described in the Bible: The Body of Christ. How should they react as a church? Just
what is the proper reaction to the possibility of war?
There have been many wars since Adam and Eve sinned. The first human war
was between two brothers, which ended in Cain killing Abel. They’ve only gotten worse.
War is ugly, no matter how you look at it. Even when God has used war in the past to
accomplish His purposes, it was ugly nonetheless. But that is our God; He can use our
ugliness to show His righteousness. Only God can do that. So the question then
remains: How do we know when God is using us in war for His righteous purpose?
That’s very difficult if not impossible to determine.
What God asks us to do is twofold. Trust in Him for the things that are beyond
our control. All things—and He means ALL THINGS work together for good to those
who love Him (Rom.8:28). The second thing He wants us to understand is that His rule
involves both a right and a left hand. The right hand is the church, whose head is Jesus.
The left hand is the Government, and their purpose is much, much different from the
church. And though some politics have entered into the church, that is not the purpose
for which Jesus began it. The church is primarily to be about the business of proclaiming
God’s forgiveness and reconciliation to the world through His Son. The Government, on
the other hand, was given the powerful sword to keep order while the church goes about
her business. Romans 13 would be a good place for you to study this distinction.
The bottom line is that we have somewhat of a paradox. We U.S. Christians are
part of two kingdoms: the kingdom of the right(Christianity), and the kingdom of the
left(citizens of the U.S.). And while on the one hand, we know that God desires peace,
we also know that His Son has told us that His peace is not of this world, and that we are
to expect wars of this world (John 14:27; Matt.24:6) And the Government is of this
world, and so we should render unto God’s left hand the responsibility that He has given
it. Governments are not forbidden by God to enter into war; individuals are. In other
words, we are not to take the law into our own hands. Where it would be wrong for me
to go to Iraq and kill Sadaam Hussein or O’Sama Bin Laden, it would not necessarily be
wrong for my government to do so. Again, Romans 13 will support this.
If, like the Chinese Government inflicts, we were being forced to abort our
children, then the church would have not only the right, but the responsibility to speak
against this ruling (Acts 5:29). Such a case would be God’s right and left hands balling
up as fists and fighting each other. God never fights Himself, so one would know
something was wrong. But in the case of a government defending its own nation and
other nations, God has no such prohibition, and His two hands could go about their
individual business.
None of us really want war. And on one level, we could say the same thing of
God. War is the result of sin, and God is certainly opposed to sin. But the answer to sin
is not less war, but Jesus Christ Himself, even in the midst of war. One need only
contemplate the upcoming cross of Good Friday to see the dichotomy of true peace in the
midst of war.
Our Christian and civil responsibility is to support our Government in this horrific
time, and yet pray for peace unceasingly. Let us give more time in prayer for the souls of
our enemies, and trust God with whatever answer He gives. And then, the peace that
passes all human understanding will be a part of us, both now and forevermore.