Who Would Jesus Bomb? A Serious Response to the Crisis in Gaza
Posted: Tuesday, January 06, 2009
by Aaron Taylor
Aaron Taylor
A wise man once said, The first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. That wise man was Solomon and the saying comes from the book of Proverbs, a book respected as the Word of God by both Christians and Jews alike. As an evangelical Christian born and raised in the charismatic movement, I grew up hearing only one side of the Israeli/Palestinian story, primarily the Israeli side. I always assumed that God gave the land to Jews and if the Palestinians don't like it, well, they can sit on a tack, because everyone knows that Palestinians are the devil. Sunday school songs aside, what's happening in the Gaza strip is serious. Thats why we need a grown-up Christian response. Sadly, that's exactly what's lacking in this crucial hour.
I believe that Israel has the right to exist in safe and secure borders. I also believe that Israel has the right to defend itself. I understand the sentiment of President-elect Obama when he says that if rockets were being fired at his home while his two daughters were asleep, he would do everything he could to prevent it. I believe Hamas is a terrorist organization that espouses an ideology diabolically opposed to freedom and progress. I despise the fact that they persecute my brothers and sisters in Christ living under their thumb and, of course, firing rockets indiscriminately at civilians is never justified. Period.
So is Israel justified in their heavy- handed approach towards the citizens of Gaza? Judging by the fire breathing on both sides of the debate, I don't see a consensus on this one coming any time soon. As for my fellow Christians, we can debate the subject until Jesus comes back and the debate will have largely missed the point. Sure Israel may or may not be justified in their aerial bombing campaign and subsequent invasion of the Gaza strip, but that question alone shouldn't determine the proper Christian response. Why? Because Christians are called to live by a higher standard than what's merely justifiable.
Jesus would have been completely justified in slaying the bloodthirsty Romans of His day. The crimes that the Romans committed against the Jews were every bit as bad, if not worse, than the crimes Palestinians commit against the Jews today. But when Jesus hung on the cross, He showed the world that there's a higher law in Gods moral universe than brute justice. And that law is mercy. When it comes between following the suffering redemptive love of the cross and the enemy crushing way of the sword, Christians are supposed to choose the cross-at least that's what Christians used to believe.
No I don't think that followers of Jesus would be prudent to impose New Testament standards on non-Christians, but what I find particularly odd is that when Palestinian Muslims embrace Christianity (like the case of Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader who recently made his testimony public) we expect them to embrace a new attitude towards their former enemy Israel. We expect them to love, bless, do good to, and pray for their enemies-like Jesus says to do. But when an Israeli Jew embraces Jesus as Messiah, most of my Christian friends don't expect them to be less militant towards their Palestinian neighbors but more militant. We expect them to fight for their land and liberty even if that means that on the other side homes are demolished, land is confiscated, Palestinians participating in non-violent demonstrations are either tortured, imprisoned, or assassinated (this happens all the time in the West Bank by the way) and, as in the case of Gaza, women and children are denied food and medicine for years on end.
My Christian friends would say that problems in the Middle East would be solved overnight if every Jew and Palestinian would simply confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Without meaning any disrespect to people of other faiths, as a Bible believing Christian, I'm compelled to agree. But here is where the argument falls apart when the wrong people use it. Some of the same people who use this argument are also the ones bombarding the White House with e-mails urging our Secretary of State to let Israel fight. They never seem to ask themselves the question of who would Jesus bomb? What a shame that is! Because how can we as Christians say that the world would be a better place if everyone became one of us when were the ones cheering when the bombs go flying?
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Aaron D. Taylor is the founder of Great Commission Society (http://www.greatcommissionsociety.com ) and the author of Alone with a Jihadist scheduled to be released in March 2009. Aaron can be contacted at fromdeathtolife@gmail.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Aaron, I like your remark about needing a "grown-up Christian response" here. Sadly, it almost seems like an oxymoron. As Christians, we often find ourselves giving in to the temptation to rely on pat answers and respond to issues in a knee-jerk fashion, without truly analyzing them. We seem to forget that it's okay to reason things out and utilitze use our mental faculties for critical thinking. God gave us brains and we are not required to discard them when we become Christians.Thanks for injecting a little common sense into the discussion. As for me, I'm all for the safety and security of Israel, but I expect both sides to act within reason. No one has a free pass to do whatever the heck they want, even if God is on their side. And the problem is not so much Israel expressing this attitude as it is the Christians who are cheering for them. As I pointed out in a previous article, this "God-is-on-our-side" mentality is dangerous because often leads to the belief that others are evil and that the end always justifies the means.
Thank you Terry. I agree wholeheartedly with what you said. It's a shame that moderate Christian voices are not the ones with the media exposure. May God raise them up!
Hi Aaron, Yours is a really good article, and I agree with it. We as Christians, should spend our time praying for a peaceful resolution to the fighting rather than praising or criticizing either side.But there is one thing to think about, if all except the terrorists Hamas, were to nuckle down and allow them to get away with slaughtering Israeli children and women, there would very soon be no Jews left in Israel. But with that said, it is not the place of true Christians to try and physically stop the war. God has ordained governments whose duty in part is protecting it's people. Therefore I do feel that Israel, as a nation has the right to do what they are doing.
Aaron and excellent perspective and artilce with mnay good points. However the issue of Israel and its being goes back to the diaspora and the 2000 years before their return to the mountains of Israel. A very significant aspect. The Jews have been fighting the Palestinians for thousands of years for their homelnad, as the Bible and History states. This is not a war of just today it is a war of prophesy. In fact God restored Israel after 2000 years. The fact that the Jews took Jerusalem in 1967 fact, an end time sign. The fact Israel became a state in 1947. another end time sign and after 2000 years is significant. I won't lecture on bible history or prophesy your pastor should know and your right one can talk until the cows come home and it won't do any good. Yet it is stated in God's Word that this is all to be, by God's Word, not man's. So while the battles that rage from day to day are all part of the end. I do agree though if we are who we say we are, then it would show in our works. Yet mercy, compassion, love always yet keep in mind righteous indignation and self defense is not sin nor is it un- Christian. Best wishes.
Shalom,I lived in Israel for 19 years. For five of those years I lived in Beit Sahour with the Palestinians in the West Bank. Having seen both sides of the coin, I can assure you that Israel did the right thing by attacking Gaza. I've been to Gaza many times and have many friends and family who are Palestinian. I also happen to be a Jew. The vast majority of Palestinians want every Israeli dead and they continually carry out terrorist attacks against women and children. The Bible is clear that we are supposed to protect our families even by force if we have to. If Israel did not do that, they would be operating against Scripture. In the Old Testament G-d Himself wiped out entire cities and people groups and at other times He ordered His people to carry out attacks instructing them to destroy man, woman, child and beast. If you truly believe that Jesus is G-d, then it was Jesus who destroyed them. Christians who believe otherwise are not actually monotheistic even though they may claim they are. I am a Messianic Jew, I believe Yeshua (Jesus) is G-d and He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Would Jesus have bombed Gaza? You bet He would.Rabbi Stanley
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