PEACE

"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord."
-Isaiah 2:4-5

Did you know that roughly ninety percent of our armed forces profess Christianity as their religion of choice? And that we have the largest and most globally active armed forces in the world? Do you have any idea how many wars are going on today?

It’s incredibly controversial and challenging to think or talk about in today’s society because of the levels of violence in which we live. Defense seems almost required because of the efforts to attack our lives. Terrorism runs rampant. But has it always been this way? What happened to the days of martyrdom?

Isaiah speaks of an incredible time--a day when men will turn weapons of death into tools for life. A day when God will judge and light the nations. I believe this will only happen when we let Him.

Martyrdom fell to the wayside when Constantine decided to conquer under the cross. Believing this "symbol" to be his triumphant charm, Constantine "converted" to Christianity for the furthering of his state. In today’s world, the same philosophy lives within us: we have the right to property; we have the right to bear arms; we have the right to defend ourselves. In the United States especially, this "spirit of Capitalism" reigns supreme. The concept of prosperity helped to found our nation and rests within the mind of everyone following the "American Dream."

But we are also made to believe that America is also a country founded "under God." That Christian values are the basis of our laws and values. If this is true, and the prophecy of Isaiah on the time to come is true, why does it seem like we are deviating from this path of peace? The truth is that being an American and being a Christian have become intermingled and have effectively watered down the power of both.

To be an American today means to love and support your country. It means working hard to move up in the world. It means finding your niche in your city or town and fitting into the webbing of society. But is this what the original definition was? 

Thomas Jefferson once said "to dissent is the highest form of patriotism." The original idea was not to fit in to and accept the current conditions, but to better them. Many concepts like Capitalism and the "American dream" have become common among our citizens, but these shouldn’t be our final goal. Institutions like the military have become the strongest of hiring agents, but as citizens, we don’t necessarily have to be one of the employees. What Jefferson is saying is that to truly love our country is to look for opportunities to constantly better ourselves--not monetarily or physically, but through values and moral treatment. To be a patriot is to realize that the conditions of the nation are more important than the conditions of the individual and the ever-growing status of our bank account.

Christianity in this country has almost been engulfed by the image of the flag. A pastor recently told me they were in a Christian bookstore looking for a Holy Spirit pin and couldn’t find a single Christian symbol that wasn’t wrapped in the American flag. Why is that? What has led us to believe that our country has a better form of our religion? Or even more troubling, what has led us to believe that the two are interchangeable terms?

As citizens we have been fooled into believe that supporting our country that was built on "Christian principles", is a qualifying factor for being a Christian. And as Christians in this country, our faith has been watered down to mean the same thing as being a citizen. In essence, Christianity is patriotism--defending our property and Capitalist ideals are the same thing as defending our faith.

God never intended it to be this way. As Isaiah clearly prophecies, the final plan is the end of war and the encouragement of life. Weapons will be destroyed and reused for harvesting crops, and all along God will judge and shine on creation. God never intended for us to defend our possessions: you might even question what sort of possessions He intended for us to at all. Do you remember how much Jesus and the disciples owned? Jesus once said that He didn’t even have a regular place to lay His head, and yet God would provide. If this is the case, how much do you think God intends for you to have? Even more so, what do you think He would we feel we should defend?

We often make claims to the idea of defending our faith--our country was founded on this freedom of religion. But think about how many martyrs have died for this faith. Think about how many people believed the message of Jesus so much that they were willing to face opposition with nothing other than their faith until they lost their lives. And yet the faith persists. Thousands of lives have been lost and yet Christianity is still the most widely practiced faith in the world. Do you really think God needs you to defend His message? Or are you just unwilling to accept that God’s plan is bigger than ours, and that sometimes for His message to continue sacrifices, even to the extent of death, must occur?

You see God has not called us to offense or defense. God has called us to peace. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, Paul tells us that "God has called us to live in peace." Even more so, because peace can be found no where in this world, He has called us to find peace in Him alone. Paul writes again in Ephesians 2:14 that, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility..." and Jesus Himself says in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Ultimately Americans and Christians have forsaken their core teachings. They have chosen the right to property over the right to equality and peace. Jefferson’s opinion on dissent being patriotic attests to the idea that we should seek change for the greater good because current practices do nothing but benefit the individual. As Christians, we are trying too hard to fulfill God’s role of defending the continued success of His message, rather than fulfilling our role of living it out.

Ultimately, church and state should be united under only one common ideal--that they seek the well-being of its members and the peace and unity of them all. One does not determine the other. Being an American does not necessarily make one a Christian and vice versa. However, both roles can be fulfilled if we are willing to take up a lifestyle of peace--dissenting against individual gain in favor of living equally, and allowing God to defend Himself and living His message of love. As a Christian and an American I can do nothing greater than live a life of peace.

I know many times we defend war as a means of ending social injustice, but maybe it’s because that is all we know. Do you have faith in the power of the message of God? More importantly, do you have more faith in the power of God's Word than you do in our guns and bombs? What might happen if we attacked enemies with love? Of course, there would be loss, but you have to ask yourself if you believe that God’s plan, whether or not it leads to martyrdom, is greater than our own. Hasn’t our message of love outlasted any civilization of force? 

God will certainly bless America when we are willing to give up our own physical attempts at solution and let His reign supreme.