Our most recent war, as I can best discern, reminds me of the gang that roamed my high school with fists and weapons and successful intimidation. They would deliver a cheap shot to someone for no reason except to show force. Nobody ever threatened them.
How did I survive? I ditched school often. The most common question in the hallway was, “Are you going to your next class?” Oddly enough, I was protected by one of the bullies, a member of my former middle school church youth group.
The bullies were like Saul, the persecutor of early Christians. At our 20-year class reunion, one of the ringleaders apologized. Apparently, he had his own Damascus Road experience. Still, I couldn’t muster up enough Ananias-like courage to speak to him.
Many Christians are now moving in the opposite direction, reversing the transformation, going from Paul to Saul.
Each year, hundreds of thousands gather, in person and online, for the Global Leadership Summit to discuss the characteristics of good leadership. Even though Trump and his minions show none of the esteemed leadership traits, he commands the loyalty of many of those summit-goers.
We are a mess.
Conflict is part of life. Perhaps a little conflict can even bring some necessary growth and change. But what we are living through now goes far beyond that. I long for Isaiah’s vision of a time when we repurpose our weapons into gardening tools. Imagine how good it will be when we no longer study war.
Are we wired for hostility? Jesus’ call to turn the other cheek doesn’t come naturally. If someone strikes us, we are prone to retaliate. Our penchant for destruction is evident at a young age. I watched my grandson eagerly demolish a structure he built with magnetic squares. It reminds me of a Ship to Wreck by Florence & The Machine — “Did I build a ship to wreck?”
Paul’s letter to the Galatians draws a stark contrast between the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. If there is idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, or factions, it is not the work of the Spirit. I once heard someone claim that church schism was “bearing fruit.” Paul, I think, would argue otherwise.
Today, in our culture, there is no cooperation. This spirit has invaded the church. Until the Spirit transforms us to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control, we will remain stuck in this cauldron of hostility.
Ken Burns’ recent miniseries, The American Revolution, showed how Americans became bullies to try to free themselves from British bullies. Those who resist oppression so easily become oppressors. During the later part of the war, it was mostly American on American violence, or Americans committing genocide against the Indigenous people.
The final episode quotes Betsy Ambler, a 15 year old from Yorktown, Virginia, “Our country was thrown into great confusion by the continuance of the war. The churches in Virginia were almost entirely shut up and its holy ordinances unobserved. Most of our men are engaged in the war. Our town had now become a garrison.” Ambler is one of the heroes of the miniseries, as well as our nation. She went on to found the Female Humane Association, now known as the Memorial Foundation for Children. She sounds like Jesus, focusing first on children.
During the American Revolution, the Church was forced to ask “How do you gather people together for worship when they are burning down each others’ houses?
It is the same question we face today.
One Response
War makes people tolerate and do things they would otherwise never consider. A war culture is a rationalization and retribution culture. Consider what it has done to Israel and Iran, for instance. Or to us…. Or to the Church. Crusades? Spanish Inquisition? Runaway patriotism is idolatry. Precious few wars are justifiable when viewed through the lens of history.