"...Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw
sunset glow,..."
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
As Christians, we are expected to keep the peace; however, we are often called to fight against the evil foes that may overtake us. Whether Hitler, the Al Qaeda, ISIS, communism, etc., we must war against the wrong. This is what makes Canada weak. My country is on a "toleration" agenda; we must try to please all people, because we are a "free country." On the other hand, the United States still generally recognizes its very Christian roots and is hated by the world, because they dare to face up to the enemy (aka, Satan in all those forms mentioned above + more).
All these "dead" fought for not only our freedom from those who try to take over the world, but also against the devil who is constantly "seeking to devour us." We cannot let that happen ever. We are called to fight the good fight, physically and spiritually.
There is so much more to say about the good fight; apparently we hate, because we dislike what God has commanded us to dislike. Apparently we should let evil men rule the world, because war is terrible (what's worse??!!). This is a sad, fallen world that we live in today. All because of one little fruit that Eve ate in the Garden of Eden.
For those of you who asked, I've been working on the Reformation Day post - it's been taking a bit longer due to the lack of inspirational words. I'm hoping to get it out soon.
That is worldly thinking and you will not find verses in the Bible to support that. Otherwise Jesus would've gotten rid of the Romans, like people expected Him to do.
ReplyDeleteTrust in God is what saves you, as David says countless times in his Psalms: I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
You need not fight for yourself, except if you love your life, and He that loveth his life shall lose it. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Many brothers and sisters have given their lives for Jesus over the years, we should be glad to do the same, not take up arms, rather hold the other cheek.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
I guess you are partly right. The Bible does not condemn war, but neither does it condone it. If there is a way to solve something peaceably, by all means!... War is a terrible thing, and it does say that in the end times there will be war and fighting.
DeleteThere is one thing that I believe to be true and that is that God stopped Hitler through our troops. I also believe that America did right in killing Osama Bin Laden, and I believe that they did right in dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so that more Americans and Japanese would not be killed.
At the same time, I believe in peace. Trying to peaceably negotiate settlements is a good way, but sometimes, evil takes over and signed documents are nothing but a piece of paper. I am also not necessarily talking about war; when my government chooses to make a new law about, say abortion, I will fight with paper and pen to get that law repealed/ changed.
This is a prayer issue, which is what it sounds like to me when you quote those Bible verses. (David did go out and fight but trusted that the Lord would help them win the battles; "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they..." suggests that they would fight and win because the "good" were more abundant than the enemies; etc.) Sometimes we are called to fight and must trust in God to help us win, and sometimes we must trust in God to do our battle for us. It all depends on the circumstances.
We are not called to kill evil people anymore, like in Old Testament times. A true Christian will not take up weapons and fight. Jesus brought a new law: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." He scolded Peter for raising his sword against the High Priest's servant.
Delete"Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
"Lord, wilt thou that we drop bombs and kill thousands of people, to stop the war?" The answer remains the same. Don't confuse God's ways with the world's ways, his thoughts are higher, and you don't know what would have happened if things had happened differently. You might say it would have been stupid to wait, but I say there's many verses that tell us to wait, and trust.
"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee."
"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us."
"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."
What was Saul's sin? He couldn't wait, and offered the sacrifice himself, and it cost him the kingdom.
Yes, it says there will be war and fighting, and it goes on to say that we should not be troubled. To not be troubled means to not take precautions, to not take up arms, to have faith. Who is troubled about refugees? The ones who cling to their money and earthly possessions. Who is troubled about wars? The ones who cling to their lives. We cling to neither. Therefore we fight for neither.
Also, Jesus says that He has already overcome the world, and therefore have we:
"and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."
We have overcome them, we already are the victors! The real battle was fought 2000 years ago. There remains no battle against some taliban or the muslims anymore, because when you have converted to Christ you have won the game of life, and your inheritance in heaven is sure. Everything else is petty politics which we can leave in God's hand and not waste another thought on, instead worry only about doing His will.
Only unbelievers need to devise cunning tactics and strategies and build expensive war machinery to win a war, of course they would do that, their lives depend on it! But not ours, we can say that our battle is already won and that we are free from the fear of death, who else can say that?
We are only called to follow Jesus. If everyone were to do that, there would be no wars and Hitlers and atomic bombs. All sin is the result of departing from God's word. That's why we need to stick to it only, and not to politicians and faithless people.
Okay, I understand. But what if you saw someone being murdered, for instance. Would you not interfere? I would. We should keep as many innocent lives from being killed as possible, and if someone starts going on a rampage (aka. Hitler) where no peace talks help, what are we supposed to do? Just leave it? World War I and World War II all started because people tried to protect the innocent. And in today's world, people try to negotiate more with peace talks, but if it erupts into a war, what are we supposed to do? Stand by and watch innocent people get killed? Besides, the New Testament does contain some passages about just war. See the follow-up post that I have decided to do.
DeleteInterfere as in attack the murderer? No. We do not trust in our strength.
Delete"Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." I have yet to meet a man of God who trusts in his own strength. It is mutually exclusive. Trusting in yourself IS departing from the Lord.
Instead:
"Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you."
"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man"
Not even the soldiers should do harm.
Interfere as in give my life for someone if possible? Sure, Jesus gave His life for those who hated Him.
I am not responsible for another man killing someone. A murderer will receive a murderer's judgement, and I believe in a just God, more just than all the judges of the Earth together, who will leave NO ounce of unrighteousness uncovered, or look over those who justify themselves: "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." (Luke 10, 29). If you truly believe that, you will not ask such questions anymore, and instead only worry about your own standing before God.
The Queen of the South will rise in judgement and condemn the evil generation (Mat. 12, 42). That's how good God is, He will let believers judge those who didn't believe. Those who were killed will judge those who killed them. Millions of aborted babies will judge their parents and doctors. Jesus says the kingdom is theirs, because heaven is filled with them. And we should become like them.
You could ask God that question ('Would you not interfere?'). Doesn't he watch all the killings and abortions and abuse without doing anything, who is much more powerful and capable than me? We need faith, God doesn't let anyone touch anyone without His approval (Job).
I know I can't protect anyone, so I leave it in His hands. Jesus did, too, in His most heartwarming departing prayer for His disciples: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17, 15)
Jesus prayed that, who is God! Yet even He left it in His father's hands, to be, as in everything, an example to us that we should follow.
What we are supposed to do? Pray for the government (1. Tim 2). Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. I can't stop Hitler, and other people's wars, big or small, aren't mine ("He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears."(Prov. 26, 17)). That is not the same as James 4, 17: "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." One is doing good, the other is stopping evil. Our job is the first, the latter is wholly God's. And all godly kings who God saved, by killing the enemy king/general, or sending hail on the enemy's army, or drowning them in the sea, or sending his angel, and all other godly men and women who God has saved throughout the centuries will attest to that. You can ask them yourself in heaven.
I can not even protect myself. God has made it so I haven't had an accident in all my years of driving. It wasn't my skill, although it was of course my prayer to become a good driver.
"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds."
Don't be conformed to this world (Rom. 12, 2), like many who say 'Lord, Lord', and don't do what He says, and have long replaced His words with their own.
I have a lot to say about this, but I don't have the time, nor the inspiration at the moment to reply to this. I have also decided not to post on here about this topic at the moment. If the time comes, then my post will come out, but at the moment, no. I'd just like to say, though: if you do not try and keep yourself from being killed, aren't you essentially committing suicide (which does not come from God)?
DeleteWill Doolittle...what would you do if someone would walk into your home and start ransacking it or hurting your child? I'm curious if you would let those perpetrators just simply let them do that.
ReplyDeleteWell, Will. Three things. 1. I'm glad I'm not your child because you would make a terrible father. You would stand by and let your child be hurt, or a used, or killed because you do not belive in taking up arms. 2. I certainly hope that you live what you preach, which I can hardly believe because there are hardly any TRUE Christians anymore. 3. I'm glad you are not the leader of a country. You have quoted the Bible, but wrongly at times in regards to the discussion. For instance, Jesus did throw out the wrong doers of the temple.
ReplyDeleteWill is talking about idealism, but we have to live in this world which is evil. This is realism. Jesus praised the faith of the Centurion which was leading many soldiers. If this would have been wrong he would have ask him to "sin no more" like the women who had many men.... Lazy christians will just "lean back" and say Jesus will take care of everything, but that is not what we are called to do. We need to "fight" the good fight.
ReplyDeleteGod and heaven and judgement are much more real than this Earth, which lasts only a couple of millennia, and heaven and hell, which last forever. You can't even remember what you did last year, how much less will those care about this real world, or who the president is, or what's been legalized and what not, after thousands of years in hell next to the rich man.
DeleteWho says a centurion can't be righteous?
"And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee." (Acts 10, 23)
The one you are speaking of even built the Jews a synagogue. I think Jesus would certainly not have helped the man if he had been a bloodthirsty killer, or had he taken bribes, or allowed his men to do crimes.
Jesus DOES take care of everything, His plan for the world will take place if we do something or not, even the last battle of Armageddon will be fought without a single strike or bullet. He merely gives us opportunity to do good and earn reward for heaven while we live, but He does not need us.
Yes, there is a good fight, but people usually don't mean the same as what the Bible/Paul means ('I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith'), but rather a fight for totally vain and worldly things, that have no eternal value.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
No fighting here.
"For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing."
Nor here.
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."