What Should Be Our Stand On War?

Another great question came by e-mail:

If 3 'Bible Scholars' are for war and 3 'Bible Scholars' are against war and all 6 cite specific Bible passages to support their stand, who is correct? What should be OUR stand on the subject of war?

This question suggests to me that the person asking it does not really respect Bible scholarship. It suggests that 1) you can make the Bible say anything and 2) that "scholarship" consists of coming up with a number of proof texts. Who are these scholars? What is their approach to Bible study? Why should I believe ANY of them? What war are they talking about and what exactly are they saying?

The real question is, "What does the Bible say about war?" The answer is pretty complicated because there are many things the Bible says about different wars in different situations, but let's assume that we are talking about modern wars like Iraq or Afghanistan.

This reminds me of an old joke. The husband is talking to a friend and says, "I make all the big decisions in our family... what political party we will support and what our foreign policy should be. My wife makes the little decisions... what we will eat, what we will wear, and what car we will drive."

War is the prerogative of the state, not the individual. Romans 13 says that the state "bears the sword." The state is ordained by God to punish "evildoers." There are international evildoers and certainly a state can and should act to protect its citizens. If it doesn't do this, the state will soon disappear.

(Romans 13:1-4) Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

Will you call 911 when burglars break into your house and threaten you and your family? Assuming that you will, does that mean that you are "for war?" International wars are the same thing on a different scale. The state is acting to protect the lives, freedoms and possessions of its citizens.

If a state is engaged in stealing the resources of others or of bullying its international neighborhood, obviously we should be opposed to that. To be opposed to that behavior generally means being in favor of some sort of war. (Even economic or diplomatic sanctions are an aspect of warfare - isolation, blockade, siege.)

Should we be "for" war? Wars lead to all kinds of tragedy and human suffering. Generally speaking I am opposed to war. On the other hand, should I be happy if our government refuses to protect us from a nuclear Iran, or from Taliban terrorists, or from N. Korea on the basis that I am against war? I don't think so. I think that our government is supposed to protect us and our interests in the world just like the police are supposed to protect our interests locally - and sometimes that requires the force of arms. Will there be collateral damage? Yes - and I'm against it. Will there be errors of judgment? Yes - and I'm against that too. And while I'm at it, I am against strategic and tactical errors as well.

But, it boils down to this - governments are ordained by God specifically to enforce the peace by violence. We wish it never had to come to that, but obviously it does.

Gambling or Investing?

This morning I received this great question by e-mail:

Is investing in stocks considered gambling? If so, should we not do so?

A very interesting question indeed!

(Proverbs 16:33) "The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord."

It is possible to argue that there is no such thing as gambling - because everything is controlled by God.

The problem with gambling is that it is poor stewardship of what God has entrusted to us. Generally, gambling appeals to our sinful and foolish nature with the promise of instant riches. The riches it promises are not the kind of riches that Jesus tells us to pursue, and by pursuing them they become an idol. We are focused on those things instead of on serving Christ.

(Matthew 6:19-21) ¶ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:24) ¶ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

On the other hand, investing is certainly not a problem in the Bible - it is considered good stewardship. Remember that the parable of the talents says that the servant who did NOT invest what was entrusted to him was lazy and wicked!

(Matthew 25:26-27) ¶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

The servant, in his own defense, said that he didn't want to risk the master's money by investing it. The master, however, expected him to do exactly that and take the risk with the expectation that he would probably be careful WHAT he invested in.

It is one thing to invest in relatively safe investments with a reasonable expectation of a return on the investment. Sometimes that doesn't work out, but usually it is good stewardship. It is another thing entirely to spend God's money buying lottery tickets or stocks that have about the same chance of profitability. That is just foolish and a waste of what was entrusted to you.

The most important question is the heart. If we are doing whatever we are doing because of our covetous love of material things and that is taking our time and energy that should be given to God - it is sin.

Are we motivated by sober hopes of good stewardship or by feverish dreams of earthly riches?

Limburger Cheese

How do you know when it is time to throw out your limburger cheese?

On the rare occasions when I've bought limburger - I usually eat some and enjoy it. But then leave it in the refrigerator for a long time.

It always smells bad...

Some people would always throw it out, but they are just not brave enough to eat it.

If it turned green, I would throw it out.
If it got hard, I would throw it out.
If it began to taste like it smells... maybe that would be a clue - it does smell bad.

Maybe I should just throw out whatever is leftover. Why leave it in the refrigerator at all?

Catch Up Work

The problem with getting behind in your work is that getting caught up is harder than doing the work on time. The work itself is the same, but if you are clearing away a backlog of work - you have more than a normal amount of work to do (you still have your normal work) AND when you get it all done you will not be ahead - you will be even at best.

I've been working on getting the last few weeks of sermons posted to my web page. I hadn't posted anything since last month so I had about six messages to find, edit and upload. It is sheer drudgery - best taken in small doses. It is one thing to do two messages a week. It is another thing to do six messages in one day.

But, praise the Lord - my other work is caught up and I have the time to do this.

The lesson is, don't let yourself get so far behind on something that you know you are going to need to do eventually.

After this I need to go home and clean up the huge mess I've made over the past six months in my room. I should hire an archaeologist... and maybe a dumpster. I don't wanna! But I promised my sweet wife.

Uncertain Riches

(Proverbs 18:10-11)
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
11 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own esteem.

The truth of this is evidenced in the current panic over the "economic downturn." People thought that if they had enough money saved and invested, they would be safe and secure. But it proved to be a false hope. Big companies were overextended and failed. Stocks lost their value. What was invested turned out to be lost.

People are left frightened and confused... how will they make ends meet?

But the name of the LORD is a strong tower - it will never falter or fail. He is our Righteousness. We are right with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ. These heavenly riches are completely secure.

(2Corinthians 8:9) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

(Ephesians 1:7) ¶ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

By God's grace the financial crash will become a blessing. While most people in America never considered themselves rich, they were blessed with prosperity beyond the imagination of the rest of the world. We have had a rich man's perspective - that this world is good and "the good life" is about being prosperous.

(Mark 10:23-24) ¶ Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!

Maybe recent events will shake people's trust in earthly riches and open their hearts to their need for riches in Christ Jesus. Only heavenly riches will matter in the end.

(1Timothy 6:17) ¶ Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

Producing Fruit

(John 15:5) ¶ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

I feel the force of this verse. On my own I am a dried out stick... brittle and unfruitful. Without Christ, I can do nothing.

But Christ can do all things. With God nothing is impossible.

I am a branch - and Jesus is the Vine. He is the source of life for me. It is His life that flows into me and through me to produce fruit.

It is not my fruit, but His. I cannot produce fruit by focusing on fruit production. I cannot produce fruit by trying hard. I need to focus on my connection to the Vine. If I abide in Him and He abides in me... surely He will bring forth fruit.

So Jesus is my proper focus. I must study the word of God - not just in a cursory way, but with energy so that it abides in me. I must apply myself to prayer - not just a routine of recitation, but with the agony of self examination and honest supplication. I must give myself to obedience - not just formalistic rituals, but a conscientious application of God's truth to my relationships and to every circumstance I encounter.

I want fruit. I would like to see fruit. I want new people to be saved and saved people to grow in their walk with Christ. I want the church to do the right things in the right way. I want to see God honored in my life, in my family, and in the church.

But I cannot DO it. I cannot control it. I cannot produce fruit. All I can do is keep on giving myself to Jesus. I need to abide in Jesus and let Him abide in me. He can produce fruit.

Mundane Faithfulness

While we dislike crises, they are often the times when our relationship with God is strengthened. In a crisis we are focused and we more easily come to the end of our supposed self sufficiency. In the crisis we either throw ourselves into the arms of God and rely on Him, or we collapse. In the crisis our faith is clarified and made obvious.

But we don't want to pray for crises, do we? We know we are NOT heroes. The crisis doesn't show our ability to cope - but the ability of our God to sustain us.

What about depending on God in the mundane circumstances of everyday life without any big crisis? A crisis is dramatic. A crisis is intense, but doesn't last forever. Sometimes we are deceived into thinking that we can handle everyday life in our own strength. We might think we especially need God in a crisis, but that we need Him less in normal routines.

In fact, we are helpless and hopeless apart from God in every circumstance. Our very existence depends on God. Without Him we can do NOTHING!

Don't dream about being a hero of the faith in some crisis. Rather, be faithful in complete dependence on God through every step and duty of every day. Give God praise for everything you accomplish today - because without Him - you can do nothing.