Finished writing something at the water's edge site. I'm not going to post it here, but I think it would be worth your while to read and think thru rather than simply say I am on a "Rhine rant." (which may be partly true too...)
Monday, December 20, 2004
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3 comments:
A Rhine rant..that's a good one! I think it means,"spoken with great passion"! The war in Iraq is a messy business with many lives on the line. But many lives were also on the line before we arrived there. That's true all over the world. Many people live under the constant threat of governmental fear. They are the down-trodden, the oppressed, the forgotten faces of "throw-away" lives. Yes, like the shepherds of more than 2000 years ago. The good news is that Jesus was born for people like this, and He blesses those who free the captives, bring hope to the oppressed, and tenderly bring comfort to the broken people of this world. Christ-serving ambassadors of peace...ahhh how they are needed for such a time as this!
Ah... yes. For clarity, here is part of my struggle. It is NOT that U.S. troops may be doing some good in Iraq. (only history yet to be written will tell this story accurately)
The larger issue IS that we as Americans somehow believe that we ARE God's witness to the nations.
Let's think through this: The nation of Israel was God's chosen people. God's rule and reign are centrally located within this nation. Christ comes, and with his death the temple curtain is torn in half. The holy of holys is now open for everyone to see, and finally the disciples figure it out... the gospel message and the God of the gospel is no longer embodied within this one nation. It is good news for everyone. And it is now embodied within those who commit themselves to following Jesus. He is Lord. He demands our total alliegance. We as his followers are called to live out this message of goodness, kindness, peacemakers, and all with the perspective that the Spirit of God lives within us.
Beyond Israel there is never any reference to 'nations' being chosen or called by God. For us to think that we are a "Christian" nation flies directly in the face of gospel message. Or to put a cross on something that says "Bless our troops" for a war that we chose... for the good news is not embodied within these forms of power.
Our alliegence is either toward the Jesus of the gospel or toward our nation. While we can be good citizens of the USA, we can't serve two masters. Either we believe in the powers of the Christ and call him Lord or we put our alliegence in America.
I would suggest that in many cases we find it easier, safer, and more popular to put our trust in the later.
Interesting post. I will say though that words can be interpeted differently by different people. I'm sure some people can interpet "Bless our troops" as having God watch over them and bring them home safly, not necessarily as the war in Iraq being a holy war. There are also some socioeconomic factors that play into that bumper sticker. You live in West Michigan (church on every street corner), West Michigan is predominatly a middle class area, most people in West Michigan belive that the founders of this country were Christians when in fact they were Diests, many people in West Michigan think of the United States as a noble nation that does good but we enslaved African Americans, refused to let Asians migrate here, insisted in seperate but equal post Civial War, and are not quite the goody-goody nation some people tend to think we are. People in West Michigan tend to think of America as a more Christian nation. How many million abortions do we have every year? How pure is Hollywood? What exactly are people calling "Chritian"? That term can mean a whole host of things to different people.
Yes, God does not work through nations anymore. He works through people. That is sort of a major point of Christ's comming, dying, and rising. Gentiles can now be saved and serve as God's children. So no, there is no such thing as a holy war. I do believe that each Christian is to ba witness to whomever they are around. So the Christians over there are to be witness to the people who are around them, we as a nation are not witnessing to another nation.
However, with what I said about most people in West Michigan tending to think of America as a Christian nation, I can see how the two could easily be combined for some people. It could possibly go in thier minds, that we the Christians of this nation are over there, so we as a nation are witnessing to another nation. Some people may combine Iraq with Islam and America with Christianity and therefore, we Christians are witnessing to those Muslims.
Although I can see how some may interpet all of the media news/bumper stickers/etc. into a holy war, I do believe that it is not. We as a nation are not all Christians. Iraq as a nation is not all Muslims. Individal Christians are the instruments God works through, not nations.
If any of this does not make sense I do apologize. It is now 4:15 am. Have a great day everyone. Good-night.
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