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London bombings, just war, thoughts
The recent bombings in London should remind all of us that Islamic terrorists are still active and wanting to kill people, for whatever reason. As a Christian, I often ponder the feelings and thoughts I should have towards those enemies of my country (and by extension, myself). I feel I should pray for them, pray the Lord will have mercy on them and save them by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)
At the same time, I realize we live in a world where justice needs to be meted out. My friend Doug reminded me of the following passage from Romans that seems to support actions by governments against lawlessness:
Rom 13:1-4 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For 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.
It is an interesting tension we as Americans are in. In reality, we are the only superpower in the world today with any sort of desire to fight the terrorists, outside of Great Britain, but that is only because of Tony Blair. Maybe the London bombings will change some people's minds. But that is beside the point. My point is, we, as America, have the means to bring about justice, via our military might and political clout. But, at the same time, we have got to be one of, if not the most debased society on earth. We export smut all over the globe, yet we claim to be a "theistic nation". We glorify and pervert the sexuality of women, give people the "choice" to kill unborn children, we love senses violence, we could care less about the elderly, and on and on
It is just amazing to see God's way of doing things. He brings judgment to this nation via a weak church, bad judges, 9/11; yet at the same time, He gives us the awesome responsibility of being the superpower, a force to punish wicked regimes in the world.
Amazing times we live in, may the Lord have mercy. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote about war. It is a good essay, I'll post it in my next entry.
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5:43-45 ESV)
At the same time, I realize we live in a world where justice needs to be meted out. My friend Doug reminded me of the following passage from Romans that seems to support actions by governments against lawlessness:
Rom 13:1-4 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For 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.
It is an interesting tension we as Americans are in. In reality, we are the only superpower in the world today with any sort of desire to fight the terrorists, outside of Great Britain, but that is only because of Tony Blair. Maybe the London bombings will change some people's minds. But that is beside the point. My point is, we, as America, have the means to bring about justice, via our military might and political clout. But, at the same time, we have got to be one of, if not the most debased society on earth. We export smut all over the globe, yet we claim to be a "theistic nation". We glorify and pervert the sexuality of women, give people the "choice" to kill unborn children, we love senses violence, we could care less about the elderly, and on and on
It is just amazing to see God's way of doing things. He brings judgment to this nation via a weak church, bad judges, 9/11; yet at the same time, He gives us the awesome responsibility of being the superpower, a force to punish wicked regimes in the world.
Amazing times we live in, may the Lord have mercy. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote about war. It is a good essay, I'll post it in my next entry.
posted by Joe L. at 18:49
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