Thought for Today
Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.
Joshua 6:2 The LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and soldiers.
Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--
This morning, as I drank my first cup of coffee, I heard newscasters and ‘experts’ pontificate about alleged meetings in progress to determine whether or not to resume the active air strikes against Iran. For several weeks, negotiations have been in progress between both sides to find some pass toward resolving this current conflict. History suggests to me that human conflict resolution may be one of the most difficult activities since the beginning of time. Sadly, far too often the only resolution has proved to be the utter destruction of one side or the other.
Conflicts can and do arise from a plethora of reasons and issues. Often they involve land or resources. Sometimes conflicts are national, international and even global. Other times they are interpersonal. Irrespective of the initial reason for the conflict, far too often one of the results is the loss of lives on one or both sides. The Bible tells us that life itself is a gift from God, is the breath of God. Can knowingly taking or causing the death of a human being ever be justifiable in the eyes of God? Better theologians than I am have debated this issue as long as there have been theologians.
I have mentioned before “Just war theory is a framework of moral and ethical principles that determines when it is justifiable to go to war and how war should be conducted. Just war theory (Latin: bellum justum) is a doctrine of military ethics that seeks to ensure that war is morally justifiable through a set of criteria.” (Copilot Search) Since war itself inevitably involves the loss of life, I do question whether or not such a framework is possible. For me, the phrase ‘just war’ is an oxymoron.
The current conflict between the U.S.A. and Iran is not a religious war, irrespective of the fact that some are attempting to involve religion and faith in this conflict, this is a conflict about nuclear annihilation, trade and commerce. It is not a war over territory; neither country wants to occupy or annex the other.
Yet, equally inevitably, religion does influence this war. As I wrote in February, I cannot help but recall the words of Rodney King, “I just want to say – you know – can we, can we all get along? Can we, can we get along?” (en.wikipedia.org) Truthfully, we can. Truthfully, we don’t really want to get along except to the extent that each side wants the other to ‘compromise’ by accepting the first side’s position. Sadly, capitulation and compromise are not synonymous. And, if one side believes their position, their very existence is mandated by the deity that side worships, how can that side compromise or capitulate?
As Christians, what does our faith demand of us in war? What did Jesus tell us about war? He did warn us that “Mark 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.” He also told us to "Mark 12:17 Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." I don’t find anywhere that Jesus told us anything about ‘just war doctrines.’
I do find an interesting truth, however, in the historical fact that the emperor Jesus mentioned, the ruler of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ Crucifixion by the Romans was not Christian. After several centuries of persecution, the faithful followers of Jesus, the Christians, did convert the Roman Emperor, Constantine, to Christianity.
We need to remind what Paul reminds us, that just as much as life itself is a gift from God, so too is the faith which assures our salvation a gift from God. Jesus gave us 2 simple rules to govern our lives: love God with all you are and have; love your neighbor as yourself. Maybe if we did just that, there would no longer be any conflicts to resolve.
Stay safe, live lives of love, trust God,
Pastor Ray