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The build-up to the current war in Iraq has been distressing to most of us as we have been listening to American President Bush give his carefully crafted speeches. We've all watched the newscasts showing the frustrated UN weapons inspectors. We've watched the UN Security Council, each one of its members trying hard to protect his nation's self-interest in the region all the while posing as sober, responsible, peace-loving deacons in the High Kirk of International Cooperation. But for me, it was the pictures from Iraq, from the battlefields, the convoys of tanks and armoured personnel carriers racing across the desert heading inexorably toward their various Iraqi destinations, and of course the images of the young prisoners of war, mostly my own son's age, that were most distressing. Praying seemed to reduce some of my anxiety, yet I still had many unresolved fears and uncertainties and most particularly, confusion about how I as a Christian should be reacting. This essay then, is the outcome of my own, personal search for the truth of God in the current conflict in Iraq. I base everything in this essay on the simple premise that God has revealed Himself in Jesus and His purpose in the Bible. As an evangelical Christian, I make no apologies for this bias
I suppose we should not be ashamed to start with the obvious: God does allow war. The question which next arises will not surprise: Why does God allow war? When we ask such a question, we tend not to hear the dangerous assumptions embedded within it: God is not the standard of all justice; God is not the sovereign Lord who has the right and power to do as He pleases with His creation and for His own glory; we are unhappy that God allows war; we are angry with Him for allowing war; we want Him to put a stop to war, period. In our fallen state, even as Christians, we are influenced by the worldly views around us. We often come to believe that man's values and justice are the measure of what is right and what is wrong. In our fallen human pride we forget that, "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." (Proverbs 16:9) Certainly, in the Bible war is commonplace even though we wish to forget. In fact, the Israelites fought their wars as "jihad", that is as Holy War. God went before the Israelite army, leading it into battle while at the same time receiving His just due of worship. Chapters of many Old Testament books are salted with descriptions of battles and slaughters, all seemingly approved of by God. In fact, as often as not, God was instrumental in either the defeat or victory of His human armies. In 2 Samuel 5:19-20 we read the dialogue between Jehovah God and His favourite warrior, David:
So we can see from such passages God's willingness to use war to further His intentions for His chosen people. The slaughter of Egypt's first born as well as the drowning of her army in the Red Sea are well known examples of God resorting to violence in order to carry out His grand purpose. Why should God not use war in such a way when He also uses natural disasters and plagues, as well as more benign circumstances to further His sovereign will? Surely our objections are purely subjective and based on a faulty understanding of the degree of control God has over His own creation and all its creatures. And yet God in His providential wisdom does put limits on war and its effects. And we must always remember that while God uses war to bring about His ends (which are in themselves good) He does not cause war since war, or at least the outcomes of war, are sinful. The fact is rather that wars and battles are caused by the evilness and the sinfulness found in the human heart. They are the outcome of our fall from grace. In that sense war is just the final outpouring of all the wickedness that is in each and every one of us. No one is excused as there are no truly innocent. About sinfulness and war, the brother of Jesus says, "Where does all this quarrelling and fighting among you come from? Doesn't it come from your own lust and greed?" (James 4:1, my paraphrase). And: …the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) Furthermore, I have seen under the sun {that} in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. (Ecclesiastes 3:16) Words like these are hard to bear though, because as a society (both secular and sacred) we have been living under the illusion that we can improve ourselves a little bit at a time until that glorious morning when we wake to find ourselves in Utopia. Then there will be no sickness, no ignorance, no war and no death. This is of course the big lie of the Enlightenment (which was itself just a restatement of the lie promulgated in Eden) and the delusion of such men as Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Adam Smith and others of their ilk. And we have been toiling under this lie for generations while the successes of science and technology have only served to reinforce the idea that we are gradually improving. This however is far from the biblical view. The biblical view is one in which there is unremitting sinfulness by humanity, an ongoing rebellion against God and His purposes, "…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" (Romans 3:23). In the Bible we find no allowance for humanity's gradual moral improvement culminating in a golden future for all. We see rather a view in which God's will is worked out in circumstance, using even man's sin and rebellion as the means for accomplishing His own ends. Instead of a constant improvement in conditions resulting in a wonderful golden age, the picture anticipates increasing strife, discord and suffering, albeit ending in a glorious and hopeful fulfillment in the end:
But God, in working out his will (which, we must learn to understand, brings Him glory, not us) and in His providential care, has not left us entirely at each other's mercy. He has, in His infinite wisdom and compassion, provided for the restraint of sin. This restraint is part of God's common grace which is "…the undeserved beneficence of the Creator God expressed by his general care of creation and of persons everywhere without discrimination (Ps 36:5; 119:64; 136:1-9)."1 This means that God upholds and preserves the various activities of nature, the provision of liveable conditions, and of sustenance and shelter. Also, through the Spirit, God limits the extent of human wickedness as well as facilitating what is good in various human activities such as medicine, art, technology and the like. Through the Spirit, God convicts us of sin and shows us how we should live. Finally, He provides the institution of government as well as its human authorities to exert just control and management of human affairs. In Romans 13:1-7 and again in 1 Peter 2:13-17 we find brief statements concerning the role of government and our Christian duties in regard to it. In Romans, Paul says that we are to be "…in subjection to the governing authorities" and that these "…are established by God." This tells us we must not be rebellious citizens, for in resisting the authorities we have "opposed the ordinance of God; and…will receive condemnation…." This may seem harsh to our ears, but only because we lack faith and obedience--faith in God to carry out each and every divine purpose and obedience to Him from whom nothing is hidden and for whom nothing is impossible to accomplish. In this passage, Paul tells us to be obedient to our ruling authorities because if not we will be inviting God's anger upon us since we are placing ourselves--in our fallen wilfulness--as an obstacle to God's intended purposes. Also, as Christians who should know right from wrong we will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, using our consciences, to show us what we ought to do (v. 5). Our governing authorities are God's ministers, ordained to avenge wrongs and the practice of evil, using violence (the sword) as a justified means. Peter says we should submit to "…every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake" (1 Peter 2:13) whether such ordinances are from the highest authority in the land or from designated governors. We should do this, says Peter, as people free to choose and act. Such actions should be consistent with the moral and saintly lives we now have as God's adopted sons and daughters. Peter's qualification--that we should act this way for the sake of Jesus (who said to give Caesar his due as well as God His due) and as His bondservants or slaves--also introduces the notion that there may legitimately be times when obedience to human authorities places us in opposition to the will of God. Again, Jesus warns us through His word that we cannot serve two masters, God and wealth (or power). And Jesus calls for our entire allegiance and devotion. In Acts, Peter and John are thrown into jail and later are brought before the Sanhedrin or ruling council (the proper and legitimate governing authority of the Jews). After some interrogation the Council decided to order them not to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Peter and John both responded by saying words to the effect that the Sanhedrin could do as it pleased (which could have resulted in the stoning of the two apostles) but that both of them would continue to testify about Jesus. Thereupon, due mainly to public pressure, they were released. This scene is important as it shows the two seemingly breaking the apostolic admonition to obey the authorities. We see in this case that the Sanhedrin had, by the time of the apostles, become corrupt through the gradual turning away from the law as given by God's Holy Spirit and the ossification of the institution into a largely man-made structure ruled by tradition. Jesus recognized the same thing when he confronted the rulers and called them "white-washed sepulchres". So then we are normally to obey authority except when that authority actually becomes an obstruction to God and an instrument of evil (as in the case with Saddam Hussein and his regime). When this happens the authority abrogates its God-given responsibility and opens itself up to wrath and retribution. The fact that the American military is acting more or less unilaterally should not by itself cause us concern just as it should not cause us concern if we were the only ones brave and obedient enough to prevent a mugging, a robbery or a beating as others simply looked on. In His sovereign control, God can use whatever tools He sees fit to carry out His purposes, which purposes are normally beyond the reckoning of our limited abilities to understand. This extends to choosing what nation shall become His instrument for re-establishing justice, regardless of its own merit or moral rectitude:
If God chooses to use the armies of America and Britain as His tools to accomplish His greater purpose then are we not powerless to stop Him? But we must learn to see in God's sovereign control a different aspect to this conflict than merely our own indignation at the actions of others who are wittingly or unwittingly being used as God chooses. But does this mean then, that I am merely a pawn of God's, unable to choose how I will react, having no heart, no compassion in any of my members? By no means! Our own personal (as opposed to societal) response to unjust circumstances can be illustrated by one of Christ's most famous and loved parables. In it, a man is robbed, beaten and left by the side of the road for dead. He is passed by and ignored by two travellers, both representatives of the proper authorities who presumably did not want to become ritually unclean and who perhaps tried to avoid further trouble for themselves. However, a contemptible stranger--a Samaritan--is also on the road that day and discovers the beaten man. His immediate response is to help the man and get him to a place of safety so he could convalesce in peace, even providing the wherewithal for him to do so. This parable is used by Jesus to help us understand what His message is about and what expectations He has of His followers. And in this parable, I believe I see how I am to respond to the current war in Iraq. Many Iraqi people (including Iraqi Kurds) have suffered terribly at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his supporters--they have been beaten and robbed if you will, not by strangers, but by the very authority ordained for their protection and welfare. While we are cautioned by theologians not to see parables as allegories I cannot help but see the allegorical implications found in this parable. But doing so puts George Bush and (to a lesser extent) Tony Blair in the place of the Good Samaritan, an idea that is preposterous for many. (I admit that to believe George Bush is a Good Samaritan in and by himself is difficult. How could such a man find favour in God's eyes? Yet was not David also a great sinner, a liar, an adulterer, a murderer? Still he found favour with God.) It also puts the present UN Security Council in the place of the Scribe and the Pharisee of the story, who were so concerned about their self-interests that they completely ignored God's injunction from Leviticus, "…you shall love your neighbour as yourself." Jesus, I believe, in telling His story is saying that the definition of who our neighbour is must be expanded and thought of in a completely new way. Our neighbour, according to Jesus, is the one who suffers when we can rescue, the one who struggles when we can lift up, the one who cries out in despair when we can comfort. In this way the common Iraqi is our neighbour and our duty to him is clear. If you or I were walking down a road in a strange land and ahead we saw a man being beaten, a woman being robbed or a child being molested would we walk by, doing nothing? In John 15:13 Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." War is costly, involving sacrifice. For most people the sacrifices may be many but seemingly insignificant (although Mother Teresa of Calcutta thought otherwise. I believe she said something like "We can do no great things, but only small things with great love.") Your sacrifice might be as simple as giving some time or money to put together a relief kit, consoling a confused friend, working toward providing humanitarian aid, praying for peace. But others are called to greater sacrifice. Some are required to make a singular and total sacrifice in order to fulfill, not only their duty, but also a higher calling. For them, the example of our Lord shines bright and clear. They are being asked to lay down their freedom, their bodies and their lives so that those who are under the heel of oppression may one day see a brighter future for themselves and for their children. Surely a more noble sacrifice there never was, nor ever could be. To these brave ones who walk the sacrificial way of love taught us by Jesus (whether they are Christian or not) we can offer up nothing less than our admiration, respect, gratitude and honour. In the midst of war in all its hellishness, great beauty and love can sometimes be seen, shining like diamonds in a pool of muck. Nevertheless, war is a condition of the human heart, which is fallen and sinful. Ethical thinking, good works, emotional denial and civil protest will never eradicate war. I believe that as Christians, our only course is to be faithful to Jesus Christ as our saviour and redeemer, for He has paid the price of our ransom. We are no longer of the world, even though we are certainly in it. As His followers and disciples, we are to acknowledge His lordship over our lives and to be obedient to Him. Let Christ dwell richly in us. Let His Holy Spirit guide our hearts, our minds, and our bodies. As a Christian confronted by war in Iraq I must rest in Him, having no fear, sure in the knowledge that the real war has already been fought and to Him is the victory. In prayer I must acknowledge His sovereignty in my own life and in His creation, over which He exercises providential care. But in doing so I must not retreat into a quietist denial. Jesus has left us in this world so that, I believe, we may be a kind of leaven, not for changing the world, but rather for offering His hope, His light to others held captive in this sin-darkened place. We are His salt, but if the salt has lost its savour, what is it good for? In summary, I believe I can do no better than to stand beside that great evangelist Francis Schaeffer, and echo his words:
1. Demerest, Bruce The Cross and Salvation p. 76, Crossway, Illinois, 1997 2. Schaeffer, Francis Who is For Peace? Thanks to The Discerning Reader for this quote.
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