How would Jesus respond in a world of war and violence?

Our world is full of violence -- and not just the kind you find in American cities. Think Sudan; think West Bank; think Iraq. As Christians, what should be our response to this? What should our response be to our current war? I supported our presence in Iraq and removal of Saddam Hussein because he was a cruel dictator responsible for the murder of thousands. I supported this because I believe we should all do our part to protect those who are being oppressed (especially those being violently oppressed) and to do our part to bring an end to violence. But where do you draw the line? Can you justify violence (i.e. war) to end violence?

A few of Wallis' words got me thinking about all of this. He says it best so I'll let him: “In a world of violence and war, the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God,’ are not only challenging, they are daunting. The hardest saying of Jesus and perhaps the most controversial in our post-September 11 world must be: ‘Love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you.’ Let’s be honest: How many churches in the United States have heard sermons preached from either of these Jesus texts in the years since America was viciously attacked on the world-changing September morning in 2001? Shouldn’t we at least have a debate about what the words of Jesus mean in the new world of terrorist threats and pre-emptive wars” (Wallis, 2005, p. 16)?

Humility or Arrogance?

Here are a couple of brief excerpts from God’s Politics that I have been thinking about…

“God’s politics challenges narrow national, ethnic, economic, or cultural self-interest, reminding us of a much wider world and the creative human diversity of all those made in the image of the creator” (Wallis, 2005, p. xix). I feel like so many Americans are only concerned with America and protecting our own self-interests, but God doesn’t love Americans any more than he loves any other people group. He loves the Sudanese, Iraqis, Russians, Palestinians, Canadians, Vietnamese, and every other nationality just as much.

“Abraham Lincoln had it right. Our task should not be to invoke religion and the name of God by claiming God’s blessing and endorsement for all our national policies and practices – saying, in effect, that God is on our side. Rather, Lincoln said, we should pray and worry earnestly whether we are on God’s side. Those are the two ways that religion has been brought into public life in American history. The first way – God on our side – leads inevitably to triumphalism, self-righteousness, bad theology, and, often, dangerous foreign policy. The second way – asking if we are on God’s side – leads to much healthier things, namely penitence and even repentance, humility, reflection, and even accountability. We need much more of all these, because these are often the missing values of politics” (p. xviii). In my reading of Scripture humility, rather than arrogance is the way of Christ. Does my worldview and do my political views reflect this? Hmmm….

What are God's politics anyway?

I started reading God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It by Jim Wallis while I was on my honeymoon. It’s very thought provoking and I’ve been moving through it very slowly because it requires me to wrestle with a lot of issues. I’ve always been fairly ignorant of national political issues but at times of the presidential race I do at least pay attention to what’s going on. Moral issues have always been important to me but I am realizing that I have been focusing my attention on only a few hot moral topics, namely abortion and gay rights. But Wallis points to the fact that poverty, the environment, war and peace, among many others are also moral issues. The Bible actually speaks to most of these issues far more than it does to the issue of homosexuality. So why have I focused my political views on a short select list of moral issues when there are many others important to God? I’m hoping Wallis’ book can help me come to a place of greater passion and sensitivity to all of the issues that are dear to God’s heart. With that said, expect to read a lot of commentary on God’s Politics in this blog in the weeks ahead.