Memorial Day

I've slowed down a lot in blogging haven't I?

You would think that my brain has simply decided to shrivel or vegetate after the ending of school. But in reality, it is simply overwhelmed with the sudden influx of thought trains, all running through the station of my mind- unattended and unrestrained.

In case you didn't know, tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the U.S., and Christians here generally agree that while they don't support war, they should still support the soldiers that are fighting or have fought.

But as they started praying for the "support of the troops" while a man dressed in military uniform marched down the aisle with a bright American flag today in church, I felt so much horror, confusion and pain in my heart that I simply left the congregation.

Jesus has already given us a new commandment. He says in John 13:34-- "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

As I sat there, I couldn't help imagining all the millions of destroyed lives sitting in the church right there with us as the flag marched down the aisle. Which one of those orphaned children, broken men and women, would praise the name of the Lord Jesus then as we "supported the troops" even though we didn't support the war?

If I were them, I would hate the Christians even more. I would never want to be associated with these people who preached love but supported an army that destroyed everything I ever knew.

I burned with hate for the hypocrisy of it all.

We say war is bad and we have Jesus' commandment (which applies to all things in life, not just small situations), but still we hang on to something that will simply destroy our Christian honour in the view of the Iraqis, Vietnamese, N. Koreans and all the other oppressed nations that Americans don't even know about.

As Christians under the authority of Jesus, we should understand by now the fruitlessness of fighting physical earthly battles. And if we already know it, why do we still support fragments of it?

The battles we are commissioned to fight are spiritual wars, which can only be won through trusting, obeying and believing in the Lord Jesus. I know some people will say that in the Bible, God shows many examples where he supports war and fighting. But that is in the Old Testament, before Jesus came and won ALL BATTLES for us through his death on the cross.

Now our victory lies in Him and only Him, not in our advanced weaponry and military tactics.

If one cannot serve both God and Money, I'm sure you cannot serve both Jesus and War. This is black and white we're talking about.

Here in a safe country with no scenes of war played on the television except in scripted movies, the page is a complete gray blank.

Our sense of right and wrong is now so clogged with caffeine, bright celebrity smiles, the latest summer fashions and NBA scores that we have effectively managed to forget what a bloody blown up body looks like. Or what the terror of being randomly bombed down in your own village feels like.

Well you know what? Here's a reminder.

I'd like to see somebody tell these people that us Christians in America didn't mean for this to happen to them because we love them, and we're gonna support the people who are operating the machines of war anyway because they have no choice- its their job. And I'd like to see someone accuse them of 9/11 while they wail in pain.

How can I tell my fellow countryman at war that I support him even though what I feel he's doing is wrong? Aren't I giving him mixed messages? I'm pretty much saying- go ahead, do what you like, because even though it's wrong, I love you anyway and I'll condone it for you.

You know what, Jesus is more important that anybody in this world. Even family. Jesus did not say to shun your family, but this is the perfect example to show where that command would come in.

I think as Christians, so that we can be in all ways blameless, we should never be mean or evil or contemptuous towards servicemen, but with grace, patience and politeness, refuse to show support for their efforts in the war.

Who would you choose?

What will you tell Him when you have to account for your life?

I hope you have something really good up your sleeve because as they say, it's better to live your life as if there were a God and to find out later that there was none, than to live your life as if there were no God and to find out later that there is one.