SE100304
STOP THE WORLD
1. The War on Terror
For the next 5 weeks, I’m supposed to teach on all the issues that divide our nation and are making this one of the most hotly contested and testy presidential races ever. And I’m supposed to do this, in a totally non-partisan way, totally objectively and without ruffling any feathers, or jeopardizing our non-Profit status.
What was I thinking?! What I was thinking was how divided our country is, and how the fabric of basic civility has become so worn and we’ve become so polarized it makes us say:
STOP THE WORLD, I WANT TO GET OFF!
We just might be more polarized now in this country than at any time since the Civil War. Remember the term “landslide election”? It refers to when someone wins an overwhelming majority of support, it implies NOT polarized.
- Arnold won in a landslide in California last year…
- The Islamic party won in a landslide in Turkey in 2002
- Vladimir Putin won in a landslide in Russia in 2002
- Jacques Chirac won in a landslide in France in 2002
…But, we haven’t seen a landslide presidential race in 20 years. And in 2000, the presidential election was determined by literally a couple hundred votes. In fact, that’s part of the contentiousness of things this time around! Some think things in Florida were fixed. Who can forget the problem Floridians had with dimpled chads?
(Actually you’ll be happy to know they’ve fixed that problem for this election. A friend of mine moved to Florida this year and showed me a picture of their new voting system. Let me show it to you ** SLIDE)
Florida just was a vivid illustration of exactly how split we are. SO before we dive into the issues that divide us, let me set the basic ground rules for the next 5 weeks.
- My starting presumption is that Christianity is bigger than right wing or left wing, it’s much bigger frankly than this country or who leads it.
- It’s about the Kingdom of God, which is international. If I can get us to lift our eyes to see the kingdom of God, then I think we’ll get less stressed about what’s happening in earthly Kingdoms – even this one called USA – and then we don’t have to feel that the world has gone mad and we want to get off…
So to begin, let’s dive into:
THE WAR ON TERROR.
Many of you might have seen the debate on TV Thursday. I want to assure you that I’m NOT going to do the CNN thing and tell you what you thought of that debate*. But I will point out that on the general issue of war, both candidates are very similar. This week, New York Times said:
Even on Iraq, the candidates’ sharpest stated differences are retrospective, rather than prospective. Mr. Bush defends the war as central to the struggle against terrorism; Mr. Kerry criticizes it as a diversion. As they look ahead, though, neither man is calling for the immediate departure of American troops; both advocate accelerating the training of Iraqi forces.
And so it’s clear in either case, war is in our future. And as we’ve been seeing soldiers, some friends, neighbors, relatives fight and die for over 2 years now, I’m sure it’s raised the question,
"What does the Bible say about war?"
Basically the driving question about war and faith is this:
- Aren’t we supposed to be all about peace
- Isn’t God a God of peace?
- Didn’t they call Jesus the Prince of Peace?
- Didn’t Jesus said, “blessed are the peace makers?”
Yes. But what does it mean to be all about peace? The answer is found in:
Romans 12:18 "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
So clearly, people who want to follow Christ need to be about peace, AND yet it’s also very realistic about peace. Notice the two qualifiers:
- "as much as it depends on you...
- as far as it’s possible.”
And that sort of defines the two ends of this thing as far as God’s will is concerned. People who are serious Christ followers must pursue peace; in relationships, between nations, among families. We MUST do all we can, the part that depends on us. But that’s all we can do. God says peace is a two way street. There’s a part of peace that we’re responsible for and there’s a part we don’t control and that may mean peace gets broken.
So to find out where our responsibly for peace begins and ends let’s answer some questions:
1. WHAT’S THE REAL CAUSE OF WAR?
The Bible says that most wars are caused by two things: selfishness and pride.
James 4:1-2"Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you haven’t got it; so you’re prepared to kill. You have an ambition you can’t satisfy, so you fight to get your way by force.”
It’s selfishness. And you kind of got a clear example of that back in 1991 when Saddam wanted something that wasn’t his. He wanted oil fields in Kuwait so he just took them. He brought a war on himself. Whenever there is…
- a battle between two nations,
- a battle between two businesses,
- labor and management
- husband and wife,
- parent and child,
- whenever there’s conflict, somebody (maybe both) is exhibiting selfishness or pride.
- I want my way. You want your way. Conflict.
Rick Warren tells the story he read about President Lincoln. He was walking down the street one day with his two boys and they were both crying and frustrated. One man said, "What’s wrong with your little boys?" He said,
"Nothing, just what’s wrong with the world. I have three walnuts and each wants two."
Peace is broken the instant that selfishness causes us to sin against someone. Selfish individuals and yes, selfish countries too. Countries that put their own good ahead of others break the peace. It doesn’t matter if others want to live in peace with them, their selfishness and pride produce wars and bad feelings and quarrels.
Now, I think countries can be schizophrenic - even our own. We are the most unselfish nation on earth in terms of dollars given to developing countries. Our government gave over 200 million dollars just this year to those suffering in the Sudan. BUT, we can also be selfish. For instance:
How about the infamous "He’s an SOB, but he’s our SOB" policy that allowed our leaders to support and nurture dictators and repressive regimes around the world, as long as those regimes supported US. Fuglencio Battista, Manuel Noriega, the Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein are among the tyrants that the US supported at one time.
Now, friends, arguments are made as to how the ends justify the means, but do we think that the rest of the world is too dense to realize this for what it was; the grossest kind of hypocrisy – when we talk so passionately about liberty, democracy and the value of every human being? They see that for what it is friends, the Bible says, that the result of selfishness and pride is going to be quarrels and wars.
The following quote illustrates this vividly. You may write it off because of who said it, but I find it eerily prophetic because of WHEN it was said:
"Because of our sanctions on scores of nations, cruise missile strikes upon others, and intervention in the internal affairs of still others in the wake of the Cold War, a seething resentment of America is brewing all over the world. And the haughty attitude of our foreign policy elite only nurses the hatred. …how can all our meddling not fail to spark some horrible retribution? Have we not suffered enough not to know that [selfish] interventionism is the incubator of terrorism? Or will it take some cataclysmic atrocity on U.S. soil to awaken our global gamesmen to the asking price of empire?"
Who said it? A moderate conservative? No. A raging liberal? No. A peacenik? No. An independent: Pat Buchanan. When did he say it? March 25, 2000. A year an half before 911. What’s my point? To say we deserved 911? No, nothing justifies that murderous, reckless act.
My point is, Proverbs 13:10 "The effect of pride is fighting." And this has application personally when we let pride and selfishness go unchecked, why? Because it benefits us. We tolerate skirmishes because we’re getting what we want. We become peace breakers at the drop of a hat, we’re willing to live with war, because we’re getting ours.
So that’s what starts wars. Selfishness and pride. It happens when we do the opposite of what the Bible says:
Each of you should NOT ONLY look to your own interests but also to the interests of others.
Selfishness and pride causes war. So:
2. IS IT EVER RIGHT TO FIGHT?
Sometimes, yes, and sometimes no. Ecclesiastes 3:8 "There is a time for war and a time for peace." The Bible is very realistic. Sometimes war is the right thing. Sometimes war is the wrong thing. Remember the phrase, no peace without justice? Sometimes justice doesn’t happen unless force is applied.
When my boys are fighting about something, there is no peace in the back seat of the Durango, unless justice is restored. Unless I say, you share for 30 seconds. OK, now you’re turn. And I used my authority and I force justice on the unwilling combatants and then, when justice is restored, peace returns.
So there is a time for war, IF the reason for it is not selfish, but rather if the reason is a return to justice. And yet, here’s where people wonder about what Jesus said:
we should love our enemies and turn the other cheek when we’re hit? Doesn’t that imply pacifism? Doesn’t that mean we never seek justice?
Well there have always been Christians who were Pacifists and in part based on this teaching. But they’ve rarely been the majority of Christians because if you look at ALL of Jesus life, it’s hard to hold the idea that he was a pure pacifist.
- some of you remember the story of Jesus chasing the money changers from the temple. He did that after he fashioned his own whip to drive them out.
- Jesus also allowed his disciples to carry swords, and the swords were not for killing snakes. They were for self-defense.
- John the Baptist who heralded the coming of Jesus, also made a statement when soldiers came to him asking what God wanted of them. He never told them to leave the army.
So Jesus was not a pacifist, and yet a primary thrust of his life and ministry was for peace and non resistance. Seems contradictory? Actually it was brilliant. Jesus brought in the concept of the separation of church and state. He was the first to get us thinking that there’s different spheres or realms that we belong to when he said:
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’s and to God, what belongs to God.
One sphere is the Kingdom of the World. So what belongs to Caesar’s realm? The Bible says,
Rom 13:1-7 …Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. …Give everyone what you owe If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
So genuine Christ followers obey civil authority and pay taxes because God establishes authority to procure justice. Which implies that when a national authority needs to procure justice from another nation, they may have to use the sword, IE go to war.
Now, what about the KINGDOM of God. What belongs to God? In this kingdom, if we choose to belong to it, we turn the other cheek, we forgive, we don’t resist an evil man, we live out the values of grace and non-retribution.
So what if the two kingdoms are ever in conflict. What if the civil authority tells us to do something immoral, or against God’s ways? Well, then we have to disobey because a Christian’s first allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. We acknowledge that sometimes war happens because those in authority use the military force to procure justice and we follow them. But we must not be sheep. We must judge a war by our HIGHER allegiance to the Kingdom.
You see, a Christian is bound first and foremost to follow the way of love. So they must ask, as crazy as it may seem:
Is this war, loving?
Now when Christians first started to do this, in the 2-4th centuries, this was just radical thinking. It used to be that ALL was fair in war, no rules. But not for Christians. Because war is always so horrific, and Jesus focuses so much on peace making and love, they realized that war should never be participated in by Christians unless it could be justified as the only way to do a greater good than harm.
So Christians developed what is called JUST war theory. The Geneva Conventions are a result of it. NOW, a third question:
3. WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS OF A JUST WAR?
- First, a just war must be declared by a legitimate authority.
- Second, a just war must be declared for good causes
- Third, a just war must be declared with the right intentions
The first condition gets back to separation of church and state. The Bible says that we have no authority as individuals to avenge evil:
"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone" (Romans 12:17a).
But it also says the government has a God sanctioned role in avenging evil. Therefore, as God’s agents, government alone has the right to declare war. So a just war, is NEVER a vigilante crusade, but a response to evil by those whom God has authorized to act on our behalf.
Second, a just war must be waged for just causes. The Bible says:
Do things in such a way that ALL PEOPLE can see you are honorable. Romans 12:18
In his letter to Timothy, Paul urged us to pray for all those in government "so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.” So defending that kind of life is a legitimate cause for a just war.
- to preserve freedom to worship
- to live in peace
- to live free of oppression
- to defend the innocent.
Third, a just war must be conducted with noble intentions. What does that mean? Beyond a JUST cause, Government leaders must evaluate their heart intentions. You can have a just cause on the surface, but your intent could be
- To expand the country’s borders…
- To fatten its treasuries…
- To express the leaders’ hatred for another leader, or people or cultures…
None of these motives for war are just. And as part of noble intentions, Christians said soldiers should always fight with discrimination and proportionality.
- discrimination means, you discriminate between military targets and non-military. No innocent civilians should be intentionally harmed
- proportionality means you use tactics in proportion to your objective. You don’t kill a fly with a jack hammer. You don’t level a city to kill one enemy solider
This heart test can redeem the savagery of war, and can make soldiering loving and noble and good. (2 SOLDIER SLIDES **) William Temple:
"We Christians in war are called to the hardest task of all – to fight without hatred, to resist without bitterness and in the end if God so grants it, triumph without vindictiveness." Then Soldiers came to John the Baptist and said, “what should we do?” He told them, “no shakedowns, no blackmail – [no abuse of your power]” (BLACK)
4. SO, IS THE WAR ON TERROR A JUST WAR?
Well if you look at past wars, you see that no war is perfectly just. Just look at WWII. The cause was just, to stop a totalitarian Nazi regime from taking away freedoms and restore the peace. But some strategies used were very unjust. Like carpet bombing German cities that targeted non-combatants.
The Gulf war in 1991 may have been the most purely just war in history:
- it was waged by legitimate authority, the allies
- it had a just cause, to liberate the Kuwaiti people
- It had noble intentions, it was not to steal their oil, which the allies didn’t do
- And perhaps the only benefit of modern wars being on TV every night, is that they are much more careful to never target civilians.
So what about the WAR on TERROR? Well, as the terrorists violate every single aspect of JUST WAR, using force against them has to be considered just.
- they target civilians
- they have no central or legitimate authority
- their intention, a vigilante crusade to punish America, is not noble because the end is not peace. In fact, they often like to state that their goal is to enflame war.
- their cause, to destroy Israel is NOT just.
So I think the war is just. It has a loving aim, that people in Russia and the USA and the Middle East can do what the Bible says: live life in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity. However, because it’s such a expansive, complicated war, each new front, each new operation, needs to be looked at separately to say,
- does this have a loving intent?
- Will this do more good than harm?
- Are we being proportional, discriminating?
- Can we find a way without force to bring in peace?
CONCLUSION
Friends, you have the unique privilege of having a say, in holding your leaders accountable to seek peace, and if they wage war, to do so JUSTLY. So what should we do:
- vote
- pray
- kingdom of God first, kingdom of the world second
How? Well, let me put it this way. There’s another war going on besides the war on terror. It’s the war we started against God by our selfishness and pride. Now, God is a peace making God. He wants to make peace with us… but as we’ve been saying, there can be no peace without justice.
So you know what God did? He meted out justice by putting the punishment that should have been ours for our selfishness and sin and pride on his Son, Jesus Christ. And when justice is done, that means peace can return. The Bible says:
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith (there’s that word "justice" again, it means the wrongs have been made right in us), we can have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Friend, if you haven’t yet, why won’t you lay down your arms, and accept the peace? Or will you have to wait until a nuclear bomb gets dropped on your head before you’re surrender like the Japanese did. Did they lose their life in unconditional surrender? They were humiliated that’s for sure… but history says that they were blessed. Why won’t you do the same. Lay down your arms, friend… the God of peace wants to be at peace with you.
